Katy ISD Superintendent Dr. Lance Hindt announced that he will step down in January 2019 at a special board meeting yesterday. According to Dr. Hindt, the social media firestorm surrounding the accusations against him was detrimental to him and his family.

“I can not justify putting my wife and family through it any more,” Dr. Hindt said.

Katy ISD also plans to pursue a defamation lawsuit to protect the district’s reputation.

Allegations against Dr. Hindt began in March when community member Greg Barrett publicly accused him of bullying in middle school. Later, a lawsuit surfaced that he had beat a man into a five-day coma when he was 18 years old, but the subsequent investigation did not result in any charges. Most recently, Katy parent Sean Dolan uncovered evidence of potential plagiarism in Dr. Hindt’s dissertation.

Dr. Hindt will remain through January as the district begins the process of searching for his replacement.