
“We help school boards and school leadership to implement best practices aligning systems to improve student outcomes.”
– SLHA Advisory Team
Schulman, Lopez, Hoffer & Adelstein,
Advisory Services:
San Antonio, Austin, Houston and New Orleans
Attorneys Robert A. Schulman, Ricardo R. Lopez and Joseph E. Hoffer established Schulman, Lopez & Hoffer, LLP in 2011 providing education law, policy and strategic services to education entities statewide.
SLHA is now one of Texas’ largest school law, coaching, and advising firms, serving over 200 school systems in Texas and dozens of education impact organizations.
Rick Lopez, Joe Hoffer, and Denise Pierce are Partners at SLHA with decades of school advisory, legal and policy work advising ISDs and nonprofits on 1882 partnerships, districts of innovation, charter schools and education reform. They coach clients on strategy/change management, operations, governance and much more.
Dana Henry is Senior Counsel at SLHA with a deep background in management consulting and strategic planning.
Lisa Nyquist and Ramón Medina are school finance, operations, and compliance experts with significant grant and project management experience.
Kara Belew joins SLHA Advisory Services as an advocate for helping students learn to read and urges education leaders to focus on student outcomes.
KEY ADVISORY AREAS

RICK LOPEZ
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
CORRECTIVE ACTION
STRATEGIC PLANNING

DANA HENRY
GOVERNANCE
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
STRATEGIC PLANNING

JOE HOFFER
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIC PLANNING

LISA NYQUIST
FINANCE/OPS
COMPLIANCE & GRANTS
PROCUREMENT

DENISE PIERCE
VISION
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
1882 PARTNERSHIPS

RAMÓN MEDINA
FINANCE/OPS
COMPLIANCE & GRANTS
PROCUREMENT

Kara Belew joins SLHA Advisory Services as an advocate for helping students learn to read and urges education leaders to focus on reading results. Ms. Belew currently serves as a school board member and on the board of Literacy First.
For over five years, Ms. Belew has successfully coached school systems to align resources to improve outcomes from the board room, to the classroom, to the individual student. Some school systems Ms. Belew has coached are currently the highest performing in the Texas A-F Accountability System.
Ms. Belew served as the Texas Public Charter School Association’s Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs, Deputy Commissioner of Education under Commission Mike Morath, and as an education policy advisor to Governors Greg Abbott and Rick Perry for over ten years. She is also an attorney with significant school law experience.
Specializing in: STARR Results Improvement
SLHA Advisory Services offers coaching and support:
- Vision-Setting
- Crisis Management
- Board & Leadership Coaching
- Strategic Planning
- Performance Metrics
- Start up & Expansion
- Performance Expectations (Individual Board Members)
- Hiring Practices
- Annual Superintendent Evaluations
- Organizational Needs Assessments
- Process Analysis and Improvement
- Contracting & Procurement
- Policy Issues
- Parent/Community Engagement
- Establish and Support 1882 In-District Partnership
- Grant Management, Writing & Support
- School Finance Operations
- Compliance, Procurement & Vendor Management
- STARR Result Support
TEA Approved Provider
Texas Strategic Lead System of Great Schools Advisor & Effective District Framework Advisor
Strong Foundations Planning (SFP) & Strong Foundations Implementations (SFI)
System of Great Schools Advisor
School Action Fund
1882 Partnerships
Lone Star Governance
EISO Board & Leadership Training
Governance Training Optimization (GTO)
Continue Professional Education (CPE)
