Hinojosa aims to inspire and assess

Hinojosa returned to the DISD last month when trustees unanimously approved him as interim superintendent after the departure of Mike Miles.

During the three weeks he has been on the job, he has met with employees,

board members and community members and begun assessing what’s working and what’s not working.

He said that some people don’t want him to touch anything. And while he is not planning on drastic changes, said that some things will need adjustment.

Hinojosa said he will not sit and ignore things,” he said once he knows something, he has

to do something about it.

Hinojosa met with principals on Monday. He said that he was to giddy to sleep the night before the meeting. Said that it felt like it was his first day of school,” he joked.

I knew it was my first chance with the principals. And I wanted them to realize that we are not

Changing course, but I wanted them to be excited.” He said that a majority of board members and high-level employees are excited about new programs, such as the new Teacher Excellence initiative, and the evaluation system for teachers that tie their pay to performance.

He said that as he gets further down the chain, the excitement isn’t as strong.

He said that he is still getting educated on the evaluation program.

Hinojosa said what has made him nervous is the added staffing and financial resources in the district. The operating budget has grown about $136 million since his departure and the 2015-2016 budgets are $1.39 billion. He said that he will meet with chief financial officer Jim Terry this week to discuss district finances. He has not forgotten the financial crisis in 2008 under his watch which lead to hundreds of teachers being laid off.