New Principal, Budget Increases for Lubbock ISD

During a Lubbock ISD Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, June 18th, a new Elementary School Principal was announced along with the approval of the 2020-2021 budget.

Raina Torres was named the new principal of Harwell Elementary School. Torres has served as the assistant principal at Harwell since 2014.

Raina began her teaching career in Lubbock ISD as a dual language teacher at Harwell back in 2003. She earned a bachelor of arts in Spanish and Latin American and Iberian Studies and a master of education degree in bilingual education from Texas Tech University.

Trustees also approved the 2020-2021 budget. The adopted budget of around $245.4 million is an increase of about $5.3 million over the 2019-2020 budget. The tax rate remains unchanged at $1.235.

The budget includes a pay increase for all employees who are compensated on the district's step schedules. Those employees include teachers, nurses, librarians, counselors, diagnosticians and LSSPs, among others.

Lisa Thompson was also announced as the new Executive Director of Payroll and Benefits during the meeting. Thompson comes to Lubbock ISD from the Lubbock Heart Hospital, where she has been the acting Chief Operating Officer since October of 2019.