Community members of the Saugus Union School District gathered on Thursday morning to meet Robert Hernandez, the district’s newly hired superintendent.
On Wednesday morning during the first of two scheduled meetings, the board room was filled with parents, district personnel and community members who were eager to meet Hernandez and hear about his future vision for the district following his appointment earlier this week. Governing board President Matthew Watson and board member Anna Griese were also present.
Following Hernandez introducing himself, those present were allowed to ask questions and vocalize concerns they’d like to see addressed once he’s officially CEO. His tenure begins July 1.
What stood out to Hernandez and why he wanted to become a part of the district was rooted in its “rich history” and “there’s a sense of pride here in the community,” he said to those present. Hernandez will relocate from Texas where he was with the San Antonio Independent School District and has over 20 years of experience in education.
“This is more than just a career,” Hernandez said. “This is a calling for me.”
Some questions and concerns brought up from those present during the first community meeting were in relation to communication, transparency, technology, and how that may affect student learning in a positive and negative way, as well as student behavior.
Hernandez addressed all questions and concerns, and noted that while he did not have every answer immediately, implementing new procedures would take time. He said the community meetings were part of an effort to get ahead of the work.
Communication was one of the district challenges stakeholders brought attention to in the community input findings conducted by Education Support Services, the search firm hired to fill the superintendent position.
Hernandez said throughout different points in the conversation with the community that he wants to find spaces where all voices are included in the conversation.
“PTA meetings at the campus, or perhaps developing some focus groups. That’s going to be part of what I’d like to do, because I do want to give space to each of our educational partner groups,” he said.
“It’s about over-communication. We learned pre-pandemic, and after, that everyone gets information differently. Really assessing and saying, ‘OK, how do we currently do that? And then, ‘Where are the areas of opportunity?’” Hernandez told The Signal during a brief interview following the community meeting.
Hernandez also mentioned possibly holding a State of the District event, like the one the William S. Hart Union High School District is scheduled to have next week, so all community members can receive the same information at the same time.
“I think it’s important, because it lets a community know,” he said. “Not just with our parents and with our employees, but also just our community members. Our retirees or people who don’t have kids in the system, or who have gone already and graduated. It gives them an understanding of, ‘This is the investment that we’ve made. This is where we are right now. These are successes we’ve had. These are some of the challenges.’”
Addressing transparency, Hernandez said he doesn’t want to get into a decision-making process without allowing stakeholders to provide their input. Even if they may or may not agree following the decision, “they all know this is the information that we received, so we know this is why the decision is being made,” he said.
Hernandez, who is fluent in Spanish, said it will help him better connect with the district’s Spanish-speaking community, noting that language barriers can add to the challenges the district is already working to address.
“Having that brings the opportunity to have more folks at the table and part of the conversation around, ‘How do we improve our schools? How do we improve services?’” he said.
His vision within the next three years is increasing the number of distinguished schools, making sure all students are supported and ready to move onto the junior high level with success, but also ensure that they, as well as staff, and those in leadership positions are also feeling valued, seen and heard.
“It’s exciting to me to really kind of work together with everyone to tackle that. Each of the conversations I’ve had with trustees during the process just reinforce that all care about kids, they care about the schools, [and] they want the schools to be successful.”
