(a) The superintendent is the educational leader and the chief executive officer of the school district.
(b) The board of trustees of an independent school district may employ by contract a superintendent for a term not to exceed five years.

(c) For purposes of this subsection, “severance payment” means any amount paid by the board of trustees of an independent school district to or in behalf of a superintendent on early termination of the superintendent’s contract that exceeds the amount earned by the superintendent under the contract as of the date of termination, including any amount that exceeds the amount of earned standard salary and benefits that is paid as a condition of early termination of the contract. The board of trustees that makes a severance payment to a superintendent shall report the terms of the severance payment to the commissioner. The commissioner shall reduce the district’s Foundation School Program funds by any amount that the amount of the severance payment to the superintendent exceeds an amount equal to one year‘s salary and benefits under the superintendent’s terminated contract. The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to administer this subsection.
(d) The duties of the superintendent include:
(1) assuming administrative responsibility and leadership for the planning, organization, operation, supervision, and evaluation of the education programs, services, and facilities of the district and for the annual performance appraisal of the district’s staff;
(2) except as provided by § 11.202, assuming administrative authority and responsibility for the assignment, supervision, and evaluation of all personnel of the district other than the superintendent;
(3) overseeing compliance with the standards for school facilities established by the commissioner under § 46.008;
(4) initiating the termination or suspension of an employee or the nonrenewal of an employee’s term contract;
(5) managing the day-to-day operations of the district as its administrative manager, including implementing and monitoring plans, procedures, programs, and systems to achieve clearly defined and desired results in major areas of district operations;
(6) preparing and submitting to the board of trustees a proposed budget as provided by § 44.002 and rules adopted under that section, and administering the budget;
(7) preparing recommendations for policies to be adopted by the board of trustees and overseeing the implementation of adopted policies;
(8) developing or causing to be developed appropriate administrative regulations to implement policies established by the board of trustees;
(9) providing leadership for the attainment and, if necessary, improvement of student performance in the district based on the indicators adopted under Sections 39.053 and 39.301 and other indicators adopted by the commissioner or the district’s board of trustees;
(10) organizing the district’s central administration;
(11) consulting with the district-level committee as required under § 11.252(f);
(12) ensuring:
(A) adoption of a student code of conduct as required under § 37.001 and enforcement of that code of conduct; and
(B) adoption and enforcement of other student disciplinary rules and procedures as necessary;
(13) submitting reports as required by state or federal law, rule, or regulation, and ensuring that a copy of any report required by federal law, rule, or regulation is also delivered to the agency;
(14) providing joint leadership with the board of trustees to ensure that the responsibilities of the board and superintendent team are carried out; and
(15) performing any other duties assigned by action of the board of trustees.
(e) The superintendent of a school district may not receive any financial benefit for personal services performed by the superintendent for any business entity that conducts or solicits business with the district. Any financial benefit received by the superintendent for performing personal services for any other entity, including a school district, open-enrollment charter school, regional education service center, or public or private institution of higher education, must be approved by the board of trustees on a case-by-case basis in an open meeting. For purposes of this subsection, the receipt of reimbursement for a reasonable expense is not considered a financial benefit.