Mark Porterie has been named among the top five finalists for the state’s 2018 Superintendent of the Year Award.

Porterie is superintendent for Port Arthur Independent School District, a Region 5 educational district.

“I’m happy for the nomination, but I also share the nomination with the board of trustees, the 1,300 employees of the district and the over 8,000 students and entire community,” Porterie said.

“Because they are the ones who have moved forward in order to get the district where it is today. I accept the reward for the entire community.”

Porterie was announced as the 2018 Region 5 Superintendent of the Year by the Texas Association of School Boards in June. Porterie has been the superintendent for Port Arthur Independent School District since January 2014.

“It’s well-deserved,” PAISD board member Robert Reid said. “Everything he has done since being superintendent in 2013 has been one big accomplishment after another.”

Porterie served as interim superintendent before taking the reins in 2014.

Reid has been with the board since 2013 and said, according to his research, no other Port Arthur superintendent has earned such a distinction as Region 5 Superintendent of the Year.

“The district has taken leaps and bounds under his leadership,” Reid said.

Porterie has made a lifelong career in education, serving as everything from a teacher and principal to an assistant superintendent — all within the Port Arthur school district. He has served the district in one form or another since 1994.

The other four finalists are Tim Harkrider with Willis ISD in Region 6; Kenneth Border with Shallowater ISD in Region 17; Juan Martinez with Clint ISD in Region 19; and Brian Woods with Northside ISD—Bexar County in Region 20.

The 2018 Superintendent of the Year will be announced Sept. 28 at the Texas Association of School Administrators/Texas Association of School Boards Convention in Austin.