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Michael J. O’Guin, Sr., became superintendent of schools for Wharton ISD in June 2020. He is an experienced, servant leader with more than two decades’ worth of experience in education improving academic achievement, enriching student experiences, building bridges among teacher and staff teams, reducing disciplinary problems and absenteeism, embracing parent and community involvement, and fostering a championship mindset for all. Dr. O’Guin began his career in education in Fort Bend ISD in 2000 as a social studies teacher, coach, and team leader. In 2008, he was selected as the athletic director and head football coach for Van Vleck ISD, a position he held until 2010. Dr. O’Guin returned to the classroom as a teacher at Galveston ISD and again at Fort Bend ISD.

In 2013, Dr. O’Guin entered his first school leadership roles at Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, serving first as a campus instructional specialist, and then as a middle school assistant principal, and the principal of the 9 th Grade Academy. From 2016-2018, he served as the high school principal in Nacogdoches ISD. During this time, he was able to increase academic achievement scores, improve student attendance, and dramatically reduce student discipline referrals.

In 2018, Dr. O’Guin was hired by Hays CISD as a deputy academic officer, which is a senior leadership position equivalent to assistant superintendent. In Hays CISD, he managed two high schools, as well as multiple middle and elementary schools. He also served as the interim chief academic officer for a time, during which he was responsible for the academic leadership of the entire 21,000-student, 25-campus school district. Under his leadership at Hays CISD, all five of the elementary campuses for which he was responsible earned distinctions. And, two of the three secondary campuses under his direction improved their A-F accountability scores. Before the 2020 COVID-19 crisis that suspended the state’s accountability system, every campus under Dr. O’Guin’s management was demonstrating increases in student achievement based on standardized district curriculum assessments.