Superintendent Nubia Tarazona’s 100-day plan begins with surveys and expands into months of listening sessions, community forums and focus groups

Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News

SUNLAND PARK - Gadsden Independent School District is asking families and community members what is working, what needs improvement and where the district should head next — and Superintendent Nubia Tarazona says the answers are intended to help shape GISD’s priorities.

The district’s Family & Community Survey, promoted as “Gadsden Listens / Gadsden Escucha,” is open through Aug. 23 as part of Tarazona’s 100-Day Entry and Community Engagement Plan.

Families and community members can complete the survey online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YK5X5LY.

Tarazona presented the broader plan to the GISD Board of Education during its Aug. 13 meeting, describing a months-long effort to listen to students, families, employees and community partners before translating their feedback into an action plan.

“The goal is to listen as we are coming on as a new team — to listen, to learn, to build relationships with our stakeholders,” Tarazona told board members.

GISD launched four surveys Aug. 11 targeting families and community members, students in grades 3 through 12, district staff and leadership. Tarazona said the surveys are available in English and Spanish and will remain open through Aug. 23.

Beyond the survey

The surveys are only the first phase.

GISD’s board materials describe a broader engagement effort that will include school visits, listening sessions, community forums, focus groups and stakeholder meetings.

Tarazona said community listening sessions are expected to continue through August, September and October. Other opportunities will include Equity Council meetings, Coffee with the Superintendent events and leadership meetings.

Once that feedback is collected, she said GISD will compare it with student achievement data and existing district goals to determine whether portions of its strategic plan should change.

“Those should be living documents, not a document that we create one time and it never changes,” Tarazona said.

The district says the information gathered through the 100-day process will help guide decision-making, align implementation with GISD’s strategic plan and establish priorities for a Year One Action Plan.

Tarazona said the effort will focus on areas including student success, instructional quality, equity and access, special education, bilingual and dual-language programs, student safety, family partnerships and professional development.

Board wants to see the results

Board members also signaled that they do not want the listening process to end once the surveys and meetings are finished.

Vice President Laura Salazar-Flores urged the district to routinely bring data back before the board rather than treating the process as a compliance exercise.

“We’ve got to see what’s happening,” she said.

Board President Christian Lira suggested the district could eventually use the 100-day plan and other data as a kind of dashboard showing the overall health of GISD — including its successes as well as areas where the district is struggling.

That information, Lira said, could help board members identify problems earlier rather than realizing months later that something should have been addressed sooner.

Tarazona agreed the district could provide continuing reviews of the information collected through the plan.

The Family & Community Survey is currently featured prominently on the GISD homepage. Responses are due Sunday, Aug. 23.

Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.