New Pflugerville ISD superintendent plans to implement 'hands-on' leadership approach

Prior to taking over as Pflugerville ISD superintendent, Alex Torrez spent more than two decades teaching students and leading schools throughout Texas. Torrez, who was born in Lubbock, served as the assistant superintendent for secondary education at Clear Creek ISD outside of Houston for more than eight years before coming to PISD. Torrez inherits a district that continues to see rapid growth in student enrollment and is currently considering calling a bond election to fund new schools and repairs.

What is your history as an educator?

I started my teaching career in Lubbock. [Teaching] gave me a lot of different experiences that really paid off for me as I became an assistant principal and a principal.

I became the assistant principal at Lubbock High School [in 1995] and then after a year I became the associate principal until I was named the principal at Cavazos Junior High School. I spent three years there until I was recruited to come to Marble Falls [High School], where I was principal for three years.

Then Clear Creek came and asked me if I was interested. I was able to get that position, and we were there for 8 1/2 years. [It is] a great community and a really strong school district.

What appealed to you about working in Pflugerville ISD?

There were so many things that ... as we looked at the district we found which were so attractive to us. Although Pflugerville is a large district and community, it still has a small-town feel, which we like. We continued to hear a lot about the values and how the community supports the schools and the children.

What are your first priorities as superintendent?

In the first two weeks I did 30 campus visits, visited with all of the departments in the administration building and a couple of community groups to really try to learn the community better.

First and foremost will always be the academic success of all students. It continues to be my focus, to take a look at the curriculum, our instructional strategies, and take a look at the data ... so we can continue to work and progress.

As I visited the campuses, I was looking to see if there was student engagement and [watched] the teaching strategies. Those are all important components of the work I do, as well as introducing myself and letting people know I am going to be a very hands-on superintendent.

What updates are there concerning a future bond election?

The district has been going through a process to prepare for a bond. We have [architecture, engineering and management firm] Huckabee and Associates on the ground, and they are reviewing all of our campuses. From that we will be able to make some decisions about bond elections and whether we have the capacity to grow for a couple of years or whether we are [at capacity] and we need to make some decisions.

How do you accommodate for different levels of growth and student enrollment throughout the district?

We don't see any campuses that are in a steep [enrollment] decline. But we do see some campuses that are on a steep incline.

We opened up Cele Middle School at 680 [students], and it has a capacity of a little over 1,000. I drove around that area and saw more than 50 "sold" signs on the ground and at least 10 homes being built—and I didn't drive around for very long. So that area is growing fast, and you can see how that campus is going to fill very fast.

We just need to be out in front of the growth and make sure we are going to be ready for new students.

What will the district's role be in the ongoing state funding lawsuit?

We continue to be a part of that lawsuit. In Central Texas, [Pflugerville ISD] is one of the lowest-funded districts. That creates some budgetary issues for us, and that limits our ability to be able to do some of the things we want as far as providing the salaries we want to provide for employees.

We hope the outcome there would be a more equitable funding source for each one of the districts—not just Pflugerville, but everyone.

Are there any budget priorities you have identified to help assist student performance?

A lot of folks don't realize that 85 percent of the budget is for [the district's] staff. We are going to continue to support the students by ensuring that we have a strong curriculum and that our staff is getting the best professional learning possible and of course recruiting and retaining the best teachers and educators possible.

Meet the new superintendent: Alex Torrez

• Torrez and his wife, Wresha, have three children—including one son who attends Texas State University, one son who attends The University of Texas at Austin and a daughter who is a PISD student.
• He received a bachelor's degree from Lubbock Christian University, a master's degree in mid-management from Sul Ross State University and a doctorate in educational leadership from Prairie View A&M University.
• Torrez was born in Lubbock.
• He began his education career in 1987 as a teacher in Lubbock ISD.
• Torrez serves on the United Providence National Advisory Board, the Prairie View A&M University Education Advisory Council and the Longhorn Project Executive Board.
• He was awarded the Houston Hispanic Leadership Award, the Community Builder Award in Marble Falls and was named the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Region 17 Principal of the Year.