Galveston school board president on lone finalist for high post: 'I believe that Dr. Matt Neighbors will be a fine superintendent'

The Galveston Independent School District (GISD) Board of Trustees named Dr. Matthew Neighbors as its lone finalist for superintendent on Wednesday.

The move came more than two weeks after Dr. Jerry Gibson tendered his resignation in response to the fallout caused by his comments at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Ball High School project.

According to a report from Galveston’s lone major publication, GISD began its search for Gibson’s successor close to a week ago, to which one trustee expressed his opposition.

School board president Anthony Brown said the district had legal authority to shorten its search, The Galveston County Daily News reported.

State law requires a public school district to wait three weeks before extending a contract of employment to its sole superintendent candidate.

Neighbors is a longtime veteran of GISD, having begun his employment with the district in the early 21st century. 

Per The Galveston County Daily News, Neighbors has held a variety of positions ranging from teacher to executive director during a 19-year period. 

His LinkedIn account showed that he recently earned his doctorate from Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

“I believe that Dr. Matt Neighbors will be a fine superintendent,” Brown said in the report. 

On May 8, the school board unanimously accepted Gibson’s resignation at a special meeting, Houston Daily reported. 

Gibson called the women on a political action committee (PAC) that assisted with the acquisition of funds for the $189 million replacement of the district's lone high school “worker bees.” 

“They are going to get it done behind the scenes and keep pushing and take care of the details,” Gibson, whom GISD hired in 2021, said during the late April ceremony. “Isn’t that right, men?” 

“They do their best to make us look good even though we don’t give them much to work with,” he added. “But we need a man to push this through.”

GISD and Gibson also agreed he’d stay on through June 30 so he could lend a hand in the leadership transition.

According to The Galveston County Daily News, Neighbors’ first official day as superintendent could be July 1 pending the acceptance of his state-mandated superintendent certification.