{"id":150888,"date":"2023-08-02T10:31:39","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T14:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/districtadministration.com\/?p=150888"},"modified":"2024-12-20T10:40:26","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T15:40:26","slug":"ysleta-isd-superintendent-schools-xavier-de-la-torre","status":"publish","type":"briefing","link":"https:\/\/districtadministration.com\/briefing\/ysleta-isd-superintendent-schools-xavier-de-la-torre\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Secret sauce’: Top-notch administrators keep this superintendent’s stress levels at bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hiring top-notch administrators is one reason that Ysleta ISD Superintendent Xavier De La Torre<\/a> says he is not experiencing the same levels of stress that he hears about from other district leaders. What makes the administration of the El Paso, Texas district unique is that De La Torre allows his cabinet members to communicate directly with Ysleta ISD’s school board members\u2014rather than having all interactions filtered, less efficiently, through him.<\/p>\n

“The information the board receives can come directly from people out in the field, doing the work,” says De La Torre, who was recently his region’s Superintendent of the Year. “It creates an inclusive leadership model where we as a team rely on a culture of trust and accountability, transparency and respect for one another\u2014there are no secrets.”<\/p>\n

It’s this model of collaboration and communication that helped the district craft successful $400M-plus bond measures in 2016 and 2019. Not surprisingly, De La Torre does expect his administrators to let him know if a board member contacts them to discuss a school construction project, for example, or other matters, he notes.<\/p>\n

“That is the secret sauce\u2014I have surrounded myself with people who I believe are the absolute best in the business at what they do in their specializations,” he adds. “It’s a team that does a great job of communicating internally and externally with stakeholders, and that’s why the district has earned the reputation in the community as being the gold standard.”<\/p>\n

Ysleta ISD’s ‘A’ rating<\/h2>\n

Over the last 10 years of De La Torre’s leadership, Ysleta ISD has used nearly $1 billion in bond funds to rebuild and modernize schools by, among other improvements, installing a much more powerful air-conditioning system on all of its 50 campuses. This came in handy during El Paso’s recent historic heatwave of more than a month straight of 100-degree-plus temperatures.<\/p>\n

Also this summer, the district opened a new career tech center with equity in mind\u2014particularly the portion of its students who live in severe poverty south of Interstate 10. Some of these families earn only about $11,000 to $14,000 a year and are crowded onto a single lot that contains a home, a mobile home and a trailer. “We recognize that not all students have an interest in going to college or university,” De La Torre explains. “Some want to go directly into the workforce to help their families and help themselves.”<\/p>\n