Lone Star Investment Pool Honors HISD 

For release: December 10, 2021
Contact: Sylvia Wood, 512.467.3665, sylvia.wood@tasb.org

As part of its 30^th-anniversary celebration, Lone Star Investment Pool recognized its first investor, the Houston Independent School District, at its Dec. 9 school board meeting with a special proclamation.

 “HISD continues to be a strong supporter of Lone Star and we’re looking forward to making this presentation to the district’s trustees,” said Cole Hentschel, director of sales for First Public, which administers the investment pool. “Serving school boards is exactly what Lone Star set out to do 30 years ago and what we continue to do today.”   

Specifically, HISD became the first district in the Lone Star Investment Pool on Sept. 18, 1991, when it invested $10 million. The goal of the Pool was to help public entities manage their funds by providing safety of principal, liquidity, and the highest possible rate of return.  Since then, the Pool has grown to serve more than 650 school districts and local governments with an average of more than $14.6 billion in annual assets.

The proclamation presented at HISD’s Dec. 9 meeting was approved Nov. 3 by the 11-member Lone Star Investment Pool Board of Trustees, all of whom serve on boards of school districts that are Pool participants.

“We thought it was important to recognize HISD’s foundational role in the success of the Lone Star Investment Pool,” said Robert Westbrook, who serves as the Pool’s chair and is a trustee from Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD. “Not only was HISD the first investor but it also provided key leadership and support over the years to help us better serve our members.”

Two of the district’s Chief Financial Officers served on the Lone Star Investment Pool Board, beginning with Leonard Sturm, from 1991 to 1997, and continuing with Melinda Garrett, from 1997 to 2006.

Hentschel attended the Dec. 9 meeting to present and read the special proclamation to HISD trustees in person. “It’s great when we can connect the work of the Lone Star Investment Pool to the school districts and governments we serve here in Texas,” he said. “By providing investment fund options that comply with the Public Funds Investment Act, we’re doing our part to ensure a stronger future for our students and our communities.”