AI, chronic absenteeism, and career readiness may seem like separate priorities, but for many district leaders, they stem from the same core pressures. Superintendents today are navigating a rapidly changing educational landscape, and must adapt to the demands of driving innovation, earning public trust, and building systems that are future-ready.
In a recent Panorama conversation with district leaders nationwide, Dr. Gabriella Blakey, Superintendent, Albuquerque Public Schools (NM), and Shawn Holloway, Superintendent, Norwalk Community School District (IA), shared how they’re leading through change. Their discussion explored what it means to “future-proof” a district, designing systems that evolve with change, strengthening leadership resilience, and preparing students for what lies ahead.
They framed these efforts around four shared pressures that shape the work of district leaders today:
- Security and Data Privacy: How to lead with transparency to build trust
- Program Coherence: Why alignment is key to preparing students for the future
- Belonging and Engagement: How to redefine attendance through purpose
- Skill and Training: What it takes to support people, not just programs
Each pressure calls for a unique mindset—one that helps districts respond with clarity, confidence, and purpose.
Security and Data Privacy: How to Lead With Transparency to Build Trust
Every new technology brings both promise and pressure. For district leaders, the challenge isn’t just adopting new tools, but protecting student and district information in an era where data often moves faster than policy.
That tension is familiar to Dr. Gabriella Blakey, Superintendent of Albuquerque Public Schools. Dr. Blakey has seen how parents want assurance that their children’s information is secure, how staff need clarity on how new systems are used, and how communities expect proof that innovation isn’t coming at the expense of trust. For her, leading with transparency starts at the top.
“For me, it’s about building trust with the community,” Dr. Blakey said. Under her leadership, Albuquerque has focused on clear governance practices, staff training on data stewardship, and open communication with families about how information is used.
Shawn Holloway, Superintendent at Norwalk Community School District, echoed the importance of transparency, sharing in the discussion that there’s real power in openness, especially when it helps educators feel more confident adopting new tools.
Key takeaway: It is clear that responsible leadership starts with protecting student privacy. When districts communicate clearly and set consistent safeguards, families gain confidence in how data is used, and educators feel supported using new tools. Transparency ensures that technology serves students and not the other way around.
Program Coherence: Why Alignment is Key to Preparing Students for the Future
With programs and initiatives multiplying every year, districts risk adding more without connecting them to a larger, coherent strategy. Both Dr. Blakey and Holloway are taking a more focused approach by aligning career readiness with clear goals and community needs.
In Albuquerque, Dr. Blakey and her team have seen this approach come to life in the Academies of Albuquerque—a districtwide system that connects high school pathways with local industries and community partners. The team looked beyond student interests alone and examined workforce data to identify growing local industries such as healthcare, technology, and national laboratories. The goal was to align pathways not just to jobs, but to a sense of purpose in the community.
To keep that work grounded, the district also uses data to understand how students are experiencing their education. “We use Panorama Surveys to measure perseverance and belonging,” Dr. Blakey said. “So when our sixth graders show low perseverance, we have to plan how to teach perseverance.” These insights help Albuquerque connect classroom experiences, student skills, and community partnerships under one coherent vision.
“A diploma from Albuquerque Public Schools,” Dr. Blakey said, “should guarantee readiness for the next step. We’re designing that promise with our community, not in isolation.”
Norwalk has taken a parallel path, centering its work on a Portrait of a Learner framework built around four durable skills: communication, collaboration, adaptability, and leadership. Holloway described how this framework has come to life through expanded opportunities for student leadership. “Our student government used to involve about ten students,” he said. “Now it’s more than 100.”
The impact, he explained, isn’t just more participation, but a stronger sense of ownership. Students see how classroom learning relates to real skills that matter beyond school, and teachers can see how their daily work connects to that very same goal.
For both districts, alignment across programs and priorities means fewer competing initiatives and more focus on what matters most. By uniting programs, pathways, and people around a shared vision of readiness, they’re ensuring that every effort—whether focused on college, career, or community—points in the same direction.
Key takeaway: For superintendents, progress doesn’t come from adding more programs. Instead, it comes from creating alignment and making sure every new idea reinforces the story each district is trying to tell about students’ futures.
Belonging and Engagement: How to Redefine Attendance through Purpose
When Dr. Blakey first visited high schools across Albuquerque, she noticed something troubling: Many students seemed disengaged and were just going through the motions. Families said they were struggling to get their kids to school, while local employers said they couldn’t find workers. It all pointed to a deeper disconnect between school, community, and purpose.
Although attendance challenges span K–12, Dr. Blakey saw the sharpest disconnection in high school, where engagement and sense of belonging often make or break whether students show up.
Instead of doubling down on attendance rules, Dr. Blakey and her team reframed the challenge. Attendance, she realized, wasn’t about compliance. It was about belonging. “When I first came on as superintendent, I saw how apathetic the kids were,” she said. “Clearly, there was a connection we weren’t making.”
This disconnect pushed the district to rethink the high school experience through what became the Academies of Albuquerque—a redesign created in partnership with the community. The district began aligning career pathways and internships with local industries and workforce needs. Now, at job fairs, local employers who graduated from Albuquerque Public Schools wear badges showing their high school, so students can literally see what’s possible in their own backyard.
This redesign made school feel relevant again. When students see a future for themselves in their community, they’re more likely to show up, engage, and persist. And thus, attendance improved not because of new rules, but because school started to feel like a place worth being.
Key takeaway: Improving attendance isn’t about enforcing compliance. It’s about making school matter. When learning feels connected to students’ lives, showing up takes care of itself.
Skill and Training: What It Takes to Support People, Not Just Programs
As AI continues to reshape classrooms and workflows, both Dr. Blakey and Holloway emphasized that real change only works when educators feel confident using new tools.
In Norwalk, Holloway noticed that some staff were experimenting with AI tools, but doing so quietly. “A year ago, we had pockets of people using different AI tools completely in the dark,” he said. “Nobody wants to talk about it because they kind of feel like they’re cheating, myself included.”
Rather than discouraging that experimentation, Holloway modeled curiosity. He shared openly how he uses AI to plan, write, and refine his own communications. “I tell people I’m not a writer… writing takes energy for me,” Holloway said. “Over the last year, AI has gone from something I was tinkering with to part of my daily life.” This showed that trying new tools wasn’t something to hide, but a skill to build. By making his own learning visible, he helped shift Norwalk’s culture from hesitation to collective exploration. Training was no longer a top-down directive; it became a shared act of discovery.
Dr. Blakey echoed that point, emphasizing the importance of supporting educators through change. She reminded leaders that adopting new tools isn’t just about technology but about helping teachers build the confidence to keep growing alongside their students. “We just have to keep building on that momentum we have in education,” she said.
Key takeaway: Together, these examples show how lasting change takes root when teachers feel supported to learn, experiment, and grow right along with district leaders. For superintendents, it’s a reminder that progress with AI (or any new initiative) starts by investing in people first.
Leading for What's Next
Across every pressure, one theme stood out: leadership today is adaptive work. Holloway described how he’s had to adjust in his own role: “I’ve really had to shift how decisions are made. I’m focused on people and connections, so I’ve had to slow down a little bit. And I think the larger the system you get in, the slower decisions are made. It’s been an interesting challenge for me.”
Together, he and Dr. Blakey show that future-ready leadership comes from curiosity, transparency, and a willingness to evolve. Their work in Albuquerque and Norwalk shows that strong systems grow through steady, intentional practice that keeps students at the center and adapts alongside the community.
AI Roadmap for District Leaders
Districts like Albuquerque and Norwalk remind us that real progress doesn’t come from adding more programs. It comes from alignment. When learning feels relevant, when students feel connected, and when every initiative points toward a shared vision of readiness, attendance and engagement follow.
As AI becomes part of that landscape, the need for clarity only grows. AI can lighten workloads and strengthen support systems, but only when it’s introduced with a thoughtful plan—not as another standalone tool.
If you’re ready to bring that same focus to your AI work, explore the AI Roadmap for District Leaders. It’s a clear, practical guide to help you move from ideas to action with confidence.
Download the roadmap and start shaping your district’s path forward.
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