Padavil, who joined the district seven months ago, answered questions from Georgetown High School senior Greta Hutmacher and community members.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Why is purpose important to you?
I always share with other people that my personal purpose is to see every student as my own. And to what end is every child as my own discovering their own purpose, their own voice in everything they do? As leaders, we identify five core values, right? They're all in my core values, our productivity, growth, service and care.
What do you love about Georgetown?
I'm blessed to have been a part of several different communities, but I've never worked in an environment where—between students and adults—people really want to support each other and see each other doing well. That's something really special about Georgetown, and when it comes to our ability to really connect with each other to not only have high expectations and grow academically, but seeing each other. We're not just students and staff. These are our people, and we take care of the whole in order to help them grow.
What does growth mean to you?
Growth is really important, it really is the rhythm of a school, where are we right now, and how can we grow to a better version of ourselves—competitively, within, whatever. I'm really proud to work at a school district where we're thinking of not just a school, but of individual students and where they are in terms of their own development and how they can grow.
Do you foresee anything happening in the near future to get these people [teachers]—upmost professionals—paid? When will they be getting some money?
First of all, thank you for advocating for our teachers and all of our staff, not only our teachers, but our hourly employees, and everyone who works to really educate our community. So unfortunately, the short answer is, I hope that the Texas Legislature is able to provide us the funds to be able to increase compensation for our staff. But right now, the school district is essentially on a fixed budget. We have to use the means that we have to figure out how can we increase compensation without breaking the budget.
How can we work with population growth?
As you know, the school board called for a bond election on May 4; early voting starts April 22. If you are not registered to vote, I ask that you please register to vote and that you do show up to the polls. As superintendent, I am not able to advocate for or against the bond, but I can encourage you to vote. I also encourage you to reach out to those you know and let them know about the need to keep up with this rapid growth and what is the fastest growing community in this country, here.
