Former District 210 Superintendent Dr. Sandra Doebert earns prestigious NAFIS award

Former Lemont High School District 210 Superintendent Dr. Sandra Doebert recently was honored with the Virginia Allred Stacey Founders Award by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS). Doebert accepted the award – the highest NAFIS offers – at the 2019 NAFIS Fall Conference in Washington, D.C., last month.

Doebert was honored for her leadership, dedication and service to the Impact Aid community and the students NAFIS serves. Impact Aid reimburses school districts for the loss of revenue caused by the presence of nontaxable Federal property, including military installations; Indian Trust, Treaty and Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act lands; Federal low-income housing facilities; and national parks, national laboratories and other Federal buildings and property. Impact Aid helps ensure students who attend schools on or near Federal property have access to a quality education.

Doebert has been active on Impact Aid and in NAFIS for many years. She served as President of NAFIS for multiple terms, steering the organization through a seamless leadership transition and multiple legislative victories, including significant increases in funding for federally impacted school districts. Her concerted outreach to the entire NAFIS family enhanced a unified voice and helped move the NAFIS agenda forward. Doebert also served as President of the Federal Lands Impacted Schools Association (FLISA).

Doebert arrived at Lemont High School District 210 in 1994 as an assistant principal, a role she filled for seven years. She spent one year as an assistant superintendent before moving into the superintendent’s role. The first female superintendent in school history, she is one of only four individuals in the district’s history to serve in that role for at least a decade.

During her tenure as superintendent (2002-12), Lemont High School became one of the state’s premier high schools, demonstrating marked improvement in many areas – from student success in academics and extra-curricular activities to improved facilities – all while its student enrollment grew by 33 percent.

Doebert has served the district as its Director of Alternative Funding since 2012, with a primary focus on ensuring the district continues to receive appropriate Federal Impact Aid funding. She initially became engaged in the Impact Aid community because of the Federal government’s impact on Lemont High School District 210, which includes Argonne National Laboratory within its boundaries.

NAFIS represents the 1,200-plus federally impacted public school districts that together educate more than 10 million students across the nation. For more information, visit www.nafisdc.org.