Wanted to give a some insight about how we ended up with the current superintendent. It’s way too long so TLDR: Elizalde caused this mess.
First we need to go back to Paul Cruz, who was a really nice guy and generally good to work for. He did a lot to train and promote from within so we were producing a lot of good campus administrators. I went through the AP prep program and principal prep program through the district. His downside was that he wasn’t strong with systems. Things became increasingly disorganized at a district level and there were redundancies in the admin office. Special ed was a particular weakness and we went through multiple (weak) directors.
When he moved on to UT, the school board wanted somebody to clean up the mess, cut unnecessary spending, and get things organized. My input was that they need a leader that understands east AND West Austin to effectively implement changes. Most districts don’t have both demographics in the same place.
Then the district did the worst thing possible. The hired Elizalde to be the hammer. She came in at a time when employees were leaving public education in droves due to Covid and she never read the room. She blamed teachers and administrators for all the problems, cut crucial support staff, and ran off the rest. This eventuality led to massive staff shortages and TEA taking over the special education department because they couldn’t provide timely evaluations. Almost 20 evaluators quit under her watch because they were treated like shit. When I left, 17 other elementary principals left the same year. Because we were treated like shit. Teacher turnover was over 50% per year at many campuses. It was the most toxic culture I’ve ever personally witnessed.
Additionally, she pissed off west Austin parents by getting rid of PTA funded positions, which left schools scrambling. The district had no plan to replace those services. Poorer schools made it work with title 1 funds but schools that didn’t qualify were screwed. The system needed to change but her communication was a giant middle finger to families willing to donate money to hire extra teachers - even teachers for schools their kids didn’t attend. Enrollment declines continue, which kicks the recapture formula into high gear, which turbo fucks the budget even further.
After using AISD as a stepping stone and creating irreparable damage in a short amount of time, she bounces. Now the school board has to put the pieces back together. Special education is falling apart, there are massive teacher shortages, the AP/principal prep programs were cut so no pipeline there, and parents feel burned.
They decide they need somebody that understands East AND West Austin and can put a friendly face on the district. Somebody that gets AISD and will put people first. They don’t have many insiders to choose from because Elizalde ran them off, replaced them with her own people, then took her people to Dallas. So they go with Segura, who was a former AISD student, but not even certified to be a superintendent at the time.
It’s probably too hard of an undertaking for somebody’s first superintendent job but I understand why they went there. The summer after I left, I had a principal acquaintance call and ask me for a job. She had 20 unfilled positions and it was July. Dozens of schools were looking at starting the year with substitute teachers in 10-20 positions. Segura may have dropped the ball on some of this stuff with middle schools, but it’s important to understand the shit show he inherited from Elizalde. It’s also why he talks about not hurting staff with these changes, although we should always be talking about students first.