ROUND ROCK, Texas — As Round Rock ISD students head back to school, Dr. Hafedh Azaiez is starting his fourth year as the district's superintendent.
"Round Rock ISD is a destination district," Azaiez told KVUE. "What I challenge my team and our staff every day is we want this year to be even better than the year before.
Azaiez was a secondary level teacher when he was in the classroom, but he understands the importance of starting younger students on the right path. That's a big reason why Round Rock ISD is expanding its pre-kindergarten program this school year for 3- and 4-year-old students.
"Last year was our first year offering a full day of pre-K 3. We started with five elementary campuses last year," he said. "This year, we are expanding that to nine – almost doubling that."
Azaiez said getting students on track early can help them in the long run.
"If we do that right, by the time they get to third grade, they are reading on or above grade level," he said. "We are pretty much going to set that student [up] for success for the rest of their life."
As in every district, in every city, Round Rock teachers will have to navigate changing technology this year – specifically artificial intelligence. But Azaiez sees AI as an opportunity.
"People always say, 'AI is coming for your job. It may have your job, so maybe we should not have AI.' And I think what we need to be saying is, 'You won't have a job if you don't know AI,' meaning you need to be better at AI so you can have a job," he said, adding, "We want to make sure our students are prepared for tomorrow's jobs, not just today's jobs. And tomorrow's jobs are going to have AI everywhere."
Hiring and retaining good teachers is another major hurdle for a lot of school districts – especially with the challenges that come along with state funding, which often force district leaders to get creative when trying to pay the bills.
Round Rock ISD was able to do something a lot of districts couldn't this past summer: balance its budget. But it wasn't easy, and it meant millions of dollars in cuts.
"We didn't want to cut, I think, roughly over $20 million from different things," Azaiez said. "We didn't have a choice. We pretty much were forced to do it."
The basic allotment for each student from the state hasn't gone up since 2019. Round Rock staff that saw a 5% raise two years ago and a 6% raise last year won't see those kinds of raises this year, so Azaiez and the school board have come up with different perks.
"One of the things we've done, for example, for this year is we've added two paid days to our teachers," Azaiez said. "We've given them a day in the spring and a day in the fall. We call them 'you days' – just days for them."
So, what makes for a successful school year, according to Azaiez?
"When you get students – you got them when they were like, 3, 4, or whatever, 5 years old and you train them, you teach them, you coach them, whatever – that is the gold medal," he said. "When you see that same student's now walking the stage and prepared to do whatever they want to do next. Whether they want to to college, or they want to start a career or serve in our military – to me, that is success."