LISTEN AND LEARN:
HUTTO — A sense of community pride and a need to change the way disciplinary issues are handled are two of the discoveries Superintendent Dr. Raúl Peña made during his five-week “listening tour” of Hutto Independent School District. Peña presented an action plan based on his findings to the board of trustees at an Oct. 26 meeting.
Peña, who has been Head Hippo at the district since Sept. 1, asked staff members three pointed questions: what makes them proud to be in the district, what areas can be improved upon and what needs to be immediately prioritized.
“We invested into the listening tour meetings to gather robust data to inform the next steps for the district and shape the next strategic plan,” Peña said. “I was able to have very powerful conversations and sometimes very emotional.”
The listening tour started Sept. 18. The superintendent met with 49 of the district’s leaders for in-person, one-hour sessions. He held 10 department meetings where he spoke to 337 employees without their supervisors present. He also received 222 additional feedback submissions via an online form.
When asked about the district’s strengths, the top answers were community pride, investment in people, dedication to students, innovative leadership and unique programs.
“The common theme was community,” Peña said. “The number one answer has been what makes everyone proud, 100% of the people, is Hippo Nation. There is a sense of pride and unity that brings us together as a school district.”
While camaraderie among different departments and campuses across the district was listed as a point of pride, the ability of those different stakeholders to communicate with each other came out as an area needing improvement. The top five areas staff told Peña he needed to fix were: ambiguous systems and procedures, communication gaps, training gaps, outdated structure and technology and culture and discipline.
“There’s an overarching demand for transparent, streamlined and consistent systems across departments. This involves efficient scheduling, master planning and eradication of unwritten rules that lead to ambiguity,” the superintendent said.
Peña shared some teacher comments from his listening tour. The teachers requested to be anonymous.
“Little Hippos daycare for teachers. Childcare is not affordable. Having access to that is what is keeping teachers in Hutto ISD.”
“We came back super early, but I feel less prepared than I ever have due to the randomness of some of the (trainings) we are expected to sit in rather than properly prepare. Respect teacher’s time.”
Peña said teachers were also quite concerned about student behavior, with disciplinary issues having increased since COVID-19.
“Teachers are having to call admin every time there is an issue,” one teacher said.
“Students should not be allowed to hold entire classes hostage with their behavior, whether they are 16 or six,” said another.
After evaluating all he’d learned on his listening tour, Peña developed a list of six actions to take immediately. He said he had already started on the first item on the list.
The action plan includes scheduling governance training with the board, establishing a district theory of action, engaging regularly with the community, making datadriven decisions, seeking external partnerships and creating feedback loops so people know their concerns are being addressed.
“We need to be able to identify what’s working in Hutto ISD and what’s not. Sometimes it’s commonly referred to as academic return on investment. It can help us sunset certain programs that might not be working and pivot very quickly to invest and reinvest in programs that are working for our students, our teachers, our principals and our community as well,” Peña said.
Trustee Amy English commended Peña on his willingness to tackle the district’s problem areas.
“We all know there is a need to be improved, and not talking about them is not going to get them fixed,” she said.
Dr. Raúl Peña greets students at Howard Norman Elementary School as he makes the rounds listening to staff concerns about the district. Photo courtesy of Hutto ISD
