Continued from 29 From the cover
Zooming in
Pflugerville ISD
Shepherd has nearly two decades of super- intendent experience, most recently serving as superintendent in Victoria ISD for six years. He also worked as an elementary and high school principal, and as a pre-K-12 music teacher in both rural and urban communities. “Each of those experiences have taught me something,” Shepherd said. “I’ve learned some- thing [and] drawn something out from each of those communities ... in each of those school districts, and I see bits and pieces of everything in Pflugerville.” The cornerstone of Shepherd’s new role is his 100-day entry plan, Discovering Pflugerville, to listen and learn from community members, assess current systems and programs in place, and build a “community-centric culture.”
Discovering Pflugerville Shepherd’s 100-day entry plan includes:
Pflugerville ISD’s search began in December 2023, following the resignation of Doug Killian, who served the district for six years. The PfISD board of trustees partnered with firm Thomas & Horton to conduct the search. Three focus groups were held in February to gauge the community’s thoughts throughout the process. According to feedback, the community’s priorities included a superintendent who: • Has boots-on-the-ground experience • Is community oriented • Doesn’t see Pflugerville ISD as a stepping stone • Is a strong communicator PfISD’s search firm also administered an online survey in February for community members to share input on the qualities wanted in a new superintendent. Shepherd was named the lone finalist and hired in late April.
An online thought exchange to crowdsource the district’s strengths and challenges Visiting with faculty and staff at each campus
Hosting student focus groups
Holding town hall meetings with community members
Establishing the board of trustees as a cohesive leadership team
SOURCE: PFLUGERVILLE ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Looking ahead
Shepherd’s next steps September 2024: Community members will continue to participate in online thought exchange. October 2024: Listening and learning tour will culminate, and the strategic plan will begin to be built out.
Hiring Pflugerville ISD’s new superintendent
Part of Shepherd’s ongoing 100-day entry plan is an online thought exchange. Over 4,000 partici- pants had shared 2,300 thoughts on the exchange as of Aug. 19. Because participants can react to each other’s thoughts, the exchange has had over 61,000 points of interaction. Shepherd said the entry plan will wrap up this fall, which is when a community group will be formed to reflect on the exchange, put the results into groups of “findings” with a series of directions and then send the results to administrative teams who will begin to build out the strategic plan.
37
applicants
6
candidates interviewed
4 spent on the search $31.7K
community input opportunities
February 2025
Basic draft of strategic plan will be shared.
March 2025
SOURCE: PFLUGERVILLE ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: PFLUGERVILLE ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Full-day Pre-K Needs Full-Day Funding
DID YOU KNOW?
The state requires full-day pre-K but only funds half the day.
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