November 2025 - Wayne Schaper
How long have you been in education and what positions have you had?
This is my 43rd year in education, all in Spring Branch ISD, 15th in textbooks. I've been a Teacher, Coach, Manager, Assistant Principal, Principal, and Director of Logistics.
Region IV IMCAT – Member, President Elect for Region IV, President
State IMCAT – Member, Board Member, President Elect (2X), President, Past President
What would you tell a person new to this job?
Don’t panic, breath deeply, everything will be okay. Take this job a little bit at a time and ask questions. You don’t have to learn it or fix it in a day. There are plenty of experienced people throughout the state that can help you get your job done. Become a member of IMCAT, ask for an IMCAT Mentor. These are some of the most experienced folks that I know and they are always willing to help. Also, use your administrators for help. They put you in this position for a reason, so when campuses aren’t being cooperative, use their leverage.
What is the most unexpected challenge you have faced in this role?
Learning an entirely new system to ordering books. When I started this role, we would order textbooks from the state on a requisition, and they would just send them to us. IMTA did not exist, yet. After I thought that I had that system down, SB 6 passed, and Legislature changed the game. We now had a “checking account” with TEA called the Instructional Materials Allotment or IMA (changed to TIMA and now IMTA) and we had to decide whether to use a requisition or a disbursement. Now it’s changed significantly again with HB 1605. New terms like; IMRA, HQIM, OER, Bluebonnet, Evergreen, etc… The good thing is, as you learn new things, you keep growing as a professional and it keeps you on your toes. It’s great to have IMCAT here to help us with everything that we need to learn.
What is one skill you would love to learn and why?
I would like to learn to be more computer literate. I can do the basics, but being able to have more elaborate tech skills would be beneficial. Especially when preparing the schedule for conference.
