Taos emphasizes transparency, public input in super search
The Taos Municipal Schools board of education met for a special meeting Saturday afternoon (Feb. 3) to discuss moving forward with JG Consulting, a firm hired by the district to assist in the search for a new superintendent.
James Guerra, CEO and president of JG Consulting, was present for the Saturday meeting, during which board members discussed the next steps forward in their search, beginning by considering opinions from board members and community-wide stakeholders. JG Consulting was hired to assist in finding a new superintendent for the district after Valerie Trujillo stepped down for medical reasons last year.
Guerra recommended the board participate in one-onone interviews with the firm to discuss the traits they find desirable in a candidate for the position. From there, the discussion quickly transitioned into creating cohorts of specific stakeholders, an idea Board President Mark Flores has backed since the process first began. In its search, the district has been considering how all community groups will be impacted by their decision, especially Taos Pueblo.
JG Consulting has worked in New Mexico before, most notably with their recent work for the Las Cruces Public Schools. Guerra told the board that, based on prior experiences, the firm’s best practices include organizing categorized focus groups of stakeholders, meaning there would be a separate group for district staff members, administrators, principals, educators, and site-based leaders.
Guerra said he aims to create a “master schedule” to accommodate the schedule of local residents, as he hopes to set meetings in the evening throughout the coming month.
“Your voices, individually and then collectively, encompass one word as an elected body,” Guerra said to the board. “The community, the students, the groups — all the information that we’ll gather, we’re going to synthesize in a public report and present that to you publicly, in addition to the leadership profiles.”
Guerra emphasized the importance of transparency, adding that all documents generated by the firm’s search, including the opinions of the board and stakeholder groups, will become publicly available on the firm’s website, jgconsulting.us . Documents will include leadership profiles of potential candidates and community survey results, among other documents.
“Transparency is key,” Guerra said. “In a community that I would imagine is very tight, we want to ensure that everybody is involved in this process.”
As for the focus groups, Guerra is aiming to meet in known public settings: meeting places, conference rooms, meeting halls, places of worship — anywhere people gather.
“We’ll ask certain questions like ‘What are your hopes and aspirations for the Taos Municipal Schools?’” Guerra said about the public forums. “Then we’ll just open the question, and then we’ll answer based on their perceptions and experiences and what they hope for the school system. What are some areas for improvement? What are some celebrations that we can highlight? It gives us enough information to develop a meaningful profile that is reflective of all of their voices.”
If there are residents who find themselves unable to attend inperson gatherings, JG Consulting will also be creating surveys in English and Spanish. Guerra said other languages can be considered. The survey will include an option for participants to select a “role” within the community, identifying themselves as alumni, parents, students or just concerned citizens. This data, Guerra said, will be used to generate demographic statistics about the respondents, which will help them gauge the interests of the stakeholders and find a superintendent to match those interests.
However, Guerra noted a caveat of survey taking.
“Surveys, unfortunately, are one of those mechanisms that can either have a really high balance of feedback, or it can be really low,” Guerra said. “Across the U.S., I think some folks are fatigued by all the different technology invitations, whether it’s surveys or other forms of communication. But we’re going to keep this open as much as we can. We’re going to overwhelm people with reminders that there is a survey.”
Although surveys are generally a good modus operandi, Guerra said they have different impacts in different environments. Additionally, he said if another avenue would be more accessible or viable for Taos residents, the firm would pursue it as well. Flores agreed, noting the rural aspects of Taos might limit one’s access to internet or a shared family device. Flores and other board members expressed an interest in making school computers available.
If an online survey isn’t viable for a potential participant, Guerra said they would also offer paper surveys, although he noted these would be very timeconsuming for his team to pick through, since an online survey automatically organizes the data in collects, and in this scenario, that data would have to be organized by hand.
Eventually, the board set a date for their next public meeting with JG Consulting on March 6. At this point, surveys and focus groups will have fulfilled their purpose, and Guerra will present the board with a job description. The next day, the firm will open the application portal, and prospective candidates for the position can submit their applications and supporting documents. The application will remain open until April 5, Guerra said.
The last step in the process, he continued, would be a public forum.