Reflection from Superintendent Interview
Earlier in the week I was fortunate enough to interview our Superintendent of Schools at Buna ISD, Dr. Robin Perez. She seemed more than willing to lend me a few minutes of her busy schedule. It became evident to me early in our interview that Dr. Perez is passionate about kids. When asked about the positive aspects of being in the role of Superintendent, she quickly responded that she has the ability to affect more students from this job as opposed to a principal or classroom teacher. Another answer I was given that I thought was interesting was when asked what she thought were attributes of a good Superintendent Dr. Perez said that being a good listener was extremely important. She talked about listening to the teachers in the district and how important it was to let the teachers know that their opinion matters and she trusts their judgment on curriculum and other classroom issues that may arise. Later in the interview, we talked at length about Competency 9. This competency discusses the Superintendents role in regards to the physical plant and other support systems to ensure a safe learning environment. In her opinion, it is important for the Superintendent to recognize his or her weaknesses and surround themselves with people who are strong in those areas. She emphasized the fact that if you have trustworthy people around you that you can still make decisions that are in the best interest of students even if those decisions are made in areas that you lack confidence. Throughout our conversation, Dr. Perez mentioned having a vision for your school. Competency 10 discusses organization leadership, as well as decision making and problem solving skills. She felt this was important due to the fact that in her opinion, an organizational leader must be looking 3 to 5 years down the road, if possible, when making a decision. When the students and staff see that there are future plans in place it seems easier for them to keep their eye on the prize. In the eyes of Dr. Perez, this prize is the very best education that Buna ISD has to offer. In closing, I asked Dr. Perez what advice she could give me to make me a better intern. She referenced me back to an earlier book study that the assistant principals went through this year on the book Monday Morning Leadership. One of the chapters talks about Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing. That is simply keeping the focus on the students.
