Arts leader won't rest in retirement

Randy Talley may be retiring as ECISD fine arts director, but he won't be sitting at home watching TV Land reruns.

He said he will continue to support the district's fine arts and work part-time doing music at his church. Talley has served the district as fine arts director for five years and Permian's choir director for 11. He also worked at OC for 12 years.

"I came here expecting to stay a few years, and now my wife and I expect to the stay the rest of our lives," Talley said.

He said working in the administration department has broadened his horizons while also teaching him about strong leadership. Several John Maxwell leadership books sit atop his office desk.

"It has been a wonderful experience and given me a much more global view of what's good for kids, not just fine arts. When I first came, that was my only focus, but now, it's bigger," he said.

In fact, though he officially hands over the reins of fine arts director to Permian's Shawn Bell, who led the school's choir just like Talley, he will stay until the end of August to work on a number of other projects, including the district's strategic plan, demographic study and desegregation case.

"We're going to miss him. He offers a lot for the district beyond just fine arts," Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Operations Steve Brown said.

Brown said Talley has contributed to numerous discussions on overall issues for the district and has a knack for common-sense ideas to district problems.

Talley cited several issues facing the fine arts department, including the squeeze of the 4x4 initiative and eligibility requirements from the UIL. He said Permian's band lost 43 kids in the first six weeks of school due to a high failure rate in coursework last school year.

"The directors have to work very hard to keep kids passing," he said.

Students get pulled from class for TAKS remediation and the 4x4 initiative means students have fewer opportunities to take elective classes and still meet the required four years of math, science, English and social studies to graduate. However, he said that could change depending on legislative action.

Talley's son Brett has been accepted into SMU law school this fall, and he said the arts played a key role in his success.

"One of the reasons he was accepted is because he was in choir, tennis and student council while in high school," he said.

Though leaving ECISD, Talley said he will still do clinics and go to concerts. He is working part-time at First United Methodist Church to lead the traditional service's choir.

"I also hope to go to conferences and do some judging. I have had to turn that down for the last 20 years or so with my schedule," he said.

Talley said the department is in good hands under Bell. The district has hired Aaron Hawley from Denton to replace Bell at Permian.

For Talley, one point of pride stands out about his work in the district.

"We managed to keep fine arts at the forefront, not always easy," he said.

TALLEY

Randy Talley's work in fine arts:

>> Fine arts director, last five years.

>> Permian choir director, 11 years.

>> Odessa College, 12 years.