Back in 2017, when I was working as a superintendent and serving as TASA president, I chaired the TASA 2025 Task Force, a group of 40 superintendents and assistant superintendents who developed the strategic framework that guides all of the work we do today. At the time, I thought all of the aspirational ideas were great … partly because I assumed someone else would be doing the work. Ha! Little did I know that I would be named executive director a year later and be responsible for leading the implementation myself. Oops.
Seriously, though, it has been enormously gratifying to see how the ideas brought forth by members in 2017 have been embraced by the TASA team and how they are all coming to fruition. The leadership of our officers (past and present), the Executive Committee, and the TASA staff have made the aspirations of the task force a reality.
One of those aspirations — the Executive Superintendent Program — is highlighted in the spring issue of INSIGHT. The goal of this program is to provide regional assistance to our members throughout the state via highly qualified retired superintendents. We have doubled the number of executive superintendents serving our members through this program and transitioned their services to better meet your needs. These experts are available for you for any questions, help, concerns or suggestions you may have related to your district leadership role or about TASA. These experienced former superintendents have been in your shoes, and they are here to help you in any way they can.
Additionally, two members of the TASA team recently received recognition from the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA) for their incredible work related to fulfilling our strategic framework.
Dacia Rivers, editorial director of Texas School Business and INSIGHT, received the 2024 TSPRA Media Award. Not only does Dacia engage our members in the work of public education, a major focus in our strategic framework, but she amplifies that work across all professions in public education.
Brian Woods, deputy executive director of Advocacy for TASA, was named TSPRA’s Key Communicator for being such a courageous, passionate and articulate voice for public education. The very existence of his position at TASA was born from our strategic framework. Both of these individuals work hard for you. They are well-deserving of the honors they’ve received. I am really proud of them, our executive superintendents, and our entire TASA team.
Last but not least, TASA has rolled out a new Member Services Center (MSC), an online system through which you can see your membership status, join TASA or renew your membership, register and manage your registrations for conferences and other professional learning events, see a list of your receipts and open transactions, view an online member directory, and more. (Watch TASA communications for updates on new features as we complete the launch over the coming months).
One thing to look forward to once we complete the rollout is that the new MSC will link to a Living Library, which is the last remaining aspiration of the task force. Thanks to Albert Rivas, Jenny Jones, Charles Dupre and the entire TASA team for the enormous amount of work they’ve done and will continue to do to implement the new system. We have accomplished much to meet our 2025 goals, and we have much to celebrate with our centennial celebration next year!
-TASA Executive Director Kevin Brown, Ed.D.
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