Lane Buban did not originally set out to be a teacher. After graduating from Texas A&M, he worked in cardiac rehab, assisted with medical research, and even taught at the collegiate level, going out of his way to avoid the career path that his parents, grandparents, and great-grandfather all shared. However, a fateful lunch with a friend and a long-standing love of schools stepped in and sent him into the trenches of education, where he would spend the next 23 years changing and directing school campuses, guiding countless students, and finding a home at Bryan High School.
“I’ve spent 12 years at Bryan High School and 11 years at Sam Rayburn Middle School,” Buban said. “I was a teacher, technology specialist, assistant principal, and then principal at Sam Rayburn, and then my first year here at Bryan High was 2013.”
Now, after more than a decade as a principal—and a career that has spanned from running mimeograph machines to steadying a once-turbulent high school—Buban is hanging up his suits and school IDs—leaving behind a legacy defined not just by leadership, but by trust, compassion and a strong connection to the people he has dutifully served.
Coming from a long line of teachers and administrators, Buban’s early life was full of education and learning. Both of his parents were teachers, and their roles in education stretched back four generations, where his great-grandfather ran a school. However, Buban didn’t always want to follow in his parents’ footsteps.
“I grew up in a school environment,” Buban said. “I honestly didn’t want to be a teacher at first. I wanted to do something other than what my parents did.”
Instead, after graduating from Texas A&M in 1994. Buban began a career in the medical field, running the inpatient cardiac rehab office at a hospital in Houston.
“After I graduated from A&M, I took a job at Hermann Memorial Hospital and worked with heart patients for several years,” Buban said. “I went back to college, got my master’s degree in exercise physiology, then started teaching at A&M as a professor.”
Helping out at Texas A&M’s medical school would have most likely been the closest Buban ever came to public education teaching and education if it had not been for a chance meeting with a coworker.
“A friend of mine was a business manager in Channelview ISD, and I had gone down there to eat lunch with him one day, ended up in the Human Resources office, and was offered a job to teach,” Buban said. “I was kind of like, ‘I don’t know if I want to do this or not.’”
After consulting with his graduate advisor, Buban took the job as a 7th-grade science teacher. Two decades later, Buban has no regrets about changing career paths.
“I kind of ended up in education anyway, even though I tried to stay out of it,” Buban said. “We’ve done a lot of good things, and we’ve had a lot of successes in a lot of different areas.”
When Buban first arrived at Bryan High in 2013, the school was experiencing instability, having seen several of leadership changes in just a few years. The faculty was skeptical about the new principal and was unsure that anything could change with him in charge.
“My first day in that Blue Auditorium, I was looking out amongst the staff, and I could see in their faces saying, ‘How long are you going to be here?’” Buban said. “I think being here for 12 years has created some stability.”
That skepticism was not without warrant, according to veteran teacher Rebecca Dominy, but Buban worked diligently to advocate for confidence from his coworkers.
“After experiencing three different principals in four years, the faculty and staff were understandably skeptical when a fourth arrived in year five,” Dominy said. “Mr. Buban stepped into a challenging situation, but from the start, he worked hard to earn our trust.”
Dominy thinks Buban’s openness and willingness to listen set him apart from others who held the position before him.
“His open-door policy created a space where I felt comfortable speaking candidly and voicing concerns,” Dominy said. “Even when we didn’t see eye to eye, I always knew he would listen respectfully and thoughtfully consider my perspective before making a decision.”
That sense of stability and receptiveness has defined Buban’s legacy and leadership, both at Sam Rayburn and Bryan High.
“I made it my aim and goal to be here as long as I possibly could and create an environment where teachers feel comfortable in that they want to be here and teach,” Buban said. “I think that this has been my approach ever since I became a principal.”
Buban’s philosophy has extended beyond staff morale—he has also made it his mission to ensure all students have an environment where they can succeed.
“When we got to Bryan, I knew my kids were going to go through Bryan ISD schools,” Buban said. “I always wanted the best for all kids. If it were going to be good enough for my kids, it would be good enough for everybody else.”
Dominy said Buban exemplifies what Bryan ISD stands for, which is putting children first.
“Mr. Buban has consistently advocated for what’s best for Bryan High,” Dominy said. “He has always stood up for students and teachers, pushing for what truly matters.”
What Buban values most, however, are the relationships built during his time as principal.
“I’ve made some really good friendships over the years,” Buban said. “I’m proud of the relationships I have built with staff, people who are still here, and those who have moved on or retired. That’s the one thing I will miss and cherish the most.”
Administrative assistant Maria Field echoed that sentiment. After working alongside Buban for over a decade, Field sees Buban’s retirement as bittersweet.
“Lane Buban is the longest person who has stayed here and been at the top,” Field said. “He’s leaving on a strong note, but it’s time for him to enjoy his family more.”
Field, who has worked in education for 26 years, says Buban has made one of the biggest impressions of any principal she has worked with and thinks that the key to his long-lasting success is a strong connection with students and staff members alike.
“The biggest impact I’ve seen him have on a campus this size is his impact with the students and faculty,” Field said. “He’s on campus interacting with them and getting to know them personally. It’s important to him that the kids know him.”
Field also credits his deep roots in the Bryan community for much of his success.
“Even before he was here at Bryan High School, he’s always been big with the community,” Field said. “He’s a big part of the Brazos Valley and the Bryan High community.”
Beyond his work ethic, Field says she will miss Buban as a colleague and friend.
“When you work with somebody for so long, they become closer than coworkers,” Field said. “I get kind of teary-eyed talking about this kind of stuff. We tease each other like work-husband, work-wife. I’ve had an amazing twelve years, and he’s going to be someone I truly miss.”
Assistant principal Chantel Hluchan, who has watched Buban’s impact firsthand, says he has helped transform the school in multiple ways.
“I think he has done a lot for Bryan High,” said Hluchan. “He took a campus that was rated improvement required, and we started earning distinctions.”
Hluchan attributes most of Buban’s accomplishments to his ability to connect with the students he works so hard to put first.
“He’s very personable with the students,” Hluchan said. “You’ll see him out in the cafeteria eating with kids. He just sits down with them. It throws them for a loop sometimes because they don’t expect their principal to do that.”
Students have noticed Buban’s connection as well. Sophomore Kylah Stewart said Buban’s helpfulness and kindness stand out.
“Principal Buban very much deserves his retirement, and I think he has worked very hard for it,” Stewart said. “Every time I see him, he is helping somebody, which is a very important attribute of a principal and person.”
Senior Emma Braden has had Buban as her principal her entire high school career and thinks Buban has had a significant impact on her and her classmates.
“I think he makes every student feel welcome and tries to connect with a lot of individual students,” senior Emma Braden said. “Sometimes he’ll come by my lunch table with me and my friends, talk to us, check in on how we’re doing, and listen to anything we have to say. I don’t want him to retire, but I’m glad he’s doing it after this year so that I can have one last year with him.”
As he prepares to retire, Buban said he is proud of his accomplishments and is ready for whatever comes next.
“I think that if I didn’t accomplish all of my goals in my career, I wouldn’t feel as comfortable as I do going into retirement,” Buban said. “The campus as a whole is in a good place. If I hadn’t done the things that I had set out to do in my career, I think I would be a little bit more hesitant and unsure about retirement.”
