Families at Wylie High School, East Intermediate and new South Elementary are starting the 2026-27 school year with new principals after a wave of retirements triggered what Superintendent Joey Light called a domino effect across the district.
The changes, detailed in a district feature published Aug. 14, put new faces in charge at three campuses and created two new district-level positions. As we reported July 29, Wylie ISD also opened Hampton Intermediate and Parker Junior High this fall, bringing the district to nine total campuses serving more than 5,500 students.
"We've had such an unusual amount of stability that any change is noticeable," Light said. "When Mrs. Bessent decided to retire, that kicked in Mr. Bessent to retire. That made several dominoes fall at the same time."
The trigger was a retirement. West Elementary principal Lisa Bessent decided to step down, which prompted her husband, longtime assistant superintendent Craig Bessent, to also retire after 34 years with Wylie ISD and 44 years in public education.
New principal at Wylie High
TiAda Radke, a 32-year educator and former assistant principal at Wylie High, takes over as principal. She replaces Reagan Berry, who served four years as the first woman to lead the campus. Berry moved to a newly created role as the district's first director of state and federal programs.
Radke's assistant principal team includes Gabriela Bundy overseeing seniors, Randy Willis handling juniors, Amy Overton with sophomores and Dr. Denise Patton working with freshmen.
East Intermediate gets its third leader in three semesters
Hillary Hernandez, who spent 16 years in Abilene ISD before joining Wylie ISD as an assistant principal at East Elementary last year, now leads East Intermediate. The campus, which opened in January 2022, had two principals during the 2025-26 school year alone.
Hernandez said she wants to be a collaborative problem-solver, adding that every voice matters, whether students, parents or teachers.
South Elementary welcomes nearly 600 students
South Elementary, at 5450 Beltway South in Wylie, opened Aug. 13 as the district's only campus spanning kindergarten through fifth grade. Principal Alison South, a 24-year educator who previously served as assistant principal and counselor at East Junior High, leads the school. Enrollment is nearing 600 students, including families from Dyess Air Force Base.
Fifth-graders moved to South Elementary from West Junior High, where they had been the youngest class. The campus layout splits grades K-2 on the west side and grades 3-5 on the east, with color-coded hallways for each grade level and a designated storm shelter.
New safety leadership
Ricky Bacon, who began student teaching at Wylie ISD before 2000 and was in the second school marshal class in Texas, stepped into the assistant superintendent of school operations role vacated by Craig Bessent. He oversees transportation, facilities maintenance and safety procedures.
Mike Eames, a former firefighter/paramedic who has been a school marshal for eight years, joins as head of campus security. The district plans to have two school resource officers and 12 school marshals across its nine campuses this year.
Bacon said safety is the district's top priority but stressed the goal isn't to make schools feel like prisons.
Tax rate hearing ahead
The board of trustees voted 6-0 on Aug. 10 to schedule a public hearing on the proposed 2026-27 budget and tax rate for Monday, Aug. 31. The proposed total rate is $1.1171 per $100 valuation, split between $0.6445 for maintenance and operations and $0.4726 for debt service. The Aug. 10 vote did not adopt the final rate.
