Leading with Love: How Servant Leadership Transforms a Campus from Hurting to Thriving | Transformational Educators Ep. 8

Rebuilding Trust, Reclaiming Hope: Dr. Paula Patterson’s Journey at Crosby ISD

What happens when a leader steps into a district facing crisis, fear, and financial turmoil, during a pandemic? In this powerful episode of Transformational Educators, Dr. Paula Patterson, Superintendent of Crosby ISD, reveals how she rebuilt a fractured district with a leadership style rooted in visibility, compassion, and deep community connection. Hosted by Dr. Matthew Flippen, this conversation dives into how trust can be restored after cultural and organizational wounds, and how courageous leadership can help schools not just survive, but thrive.

Whether you're navigating change, rebuilding trust, or searching for hope as a leader, this story is for you.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Trust is rebuilt through presence, relationships, and consistency
• Leadership during crisis requires calm, encouragement, and visibility
• Culture is harder to heal than finances, and must be addressed intentionally
• Servant leadership begins with humility and community connection
• Four-day week implementation helped attract and retain quality teachers
• Listening and adjusting plans based on community feedback builds trust
• Rebounding from academic and financial decline requires long-term strategy
• Creating student and staff advisory groups fosters shared ownership
• Balanced budgeting and strategic planning are key to district stability
• Leadership is sustained through faith, reflection, and daily spiritual grounding

BEST MOMENTS

00:03:10. “The financial difficulties resulted in a layoff of 120 employees.”
00:05:21. “You build trust by building relationships.”
00:06:04. “I really just tried to be that calm and that sense of peace and also joy.”
00:08:58. “Servant leadership often starts with a position of humility.”
00:13:03. “Really what I needed was a four day week to recruit and retain exceptional teachers.”
00:16:06. “From that, we created Cougar News Now… that came directly from a student recommendation.”
00:27:35. “I could not do this without God.”

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Transcript

0:00

you build trust by building relationships. it was really important for me to be on campuses. It it was important to be visible, That's doctor Paula Patterson, superintendent of Crosby ISD. She stepped into leadership during one of the hardest seasons a district can face and began rebuilding it through presence, humility, and love. although it was some of the roughest times and leadership for me to show up with a smile on my face and motivation and inspiration of we've got this. Even in the toughest moments, she led with hope. Her strength wasn't in power or position, but in her ability to bring calm, courage and encouragement when her team needed it most. this was God's assignment for me. No question about it. By the end of this conversation, you'll learn how to rebuild trust after organizational and cultural setbacks. How to lead teams through uncertainty and how to anchor every leadership decision with purpose. I'm Doctor Matthew Flippen, and this is transformational. Educators. So take us back. I know you worked in Crosby, for a lot of your career and then left and then came back as superintendent. So when you first arrived in as superintendent, what the district look like then what did you feel like? What some of the struggles or areas that you might want to tackle first? So there were, common struggles with Crosby ISD and all other districts in the state of Texas and in the country, because when I started, we were in Covid. Okay. So it was spring break 2020. That never ended. Right. And so then you had the 2021 school year was, which was the first full year in Covid. And so I started in that year. And so it was what do we do? That year we did not. Students didn't have to come to the campus the way we were doing it here in Texas. And so you had some students who were learning from home, some students who were learning in district. It was very, very different. That's what I started in April. And the first decisions were for next year. What are we going to do? Do we open the doors and require everyone to come back? The answer was yes. But then the next question is how do we do that safely? So the hand was the hard part of that. We all need to be in school to make sure we receive a quality education. The hard part of it was, I need everyone to feel safe back in the building after this worldwide pandemic. And so those were a few of the just odd things that we all were dealing with at that time. But policy ISD was also and a little different. The situation they were, we were in the middle of coming out of some financial difficulties that we had had a few years prior. And so we were on our way to coming out of that and recovery from that, change in leadership. And the community was still reeling from the financial difficulties because the financial difficulties resulted in a layoff of 120 employees. Because that's your wife. That's your husband. That's your daughter. That's your son. I mean, you know, the people who are losing their jobs and the people who are losing their jobs, or the people who have been teaching in our communities for, you know, a good amount of time. And so what I learned was climate and culture is harder to rebound from than even financial difficulties. previous superintendent put things in place for the financial issues and they were coming out. But the climate and culture was still, real and was still challenged from those issues that that had happened a few years back. you transitioned in when been a lot of fear because of the Covid issue. Right. So staff is afraid parents. There's a lot of division over you know, be on campus not be I mean I remember that for my own, twin sons that in, going into eighth grade at that at that point and, they wanted to be dropped off at the school whether it was open or not. But but not everybody. Not Right. you know, and so, you've got fear, you've got trust issues, that you're working on. How was the academic performance of the of the schools during that time? You know, that's one of the things that was really a blessing. And it's a reflection of our amazing kids and amazing educators and amazing parents throughout all of those challenges. Our academics remained steady. Now, right after Covid, when the state of Texas, the tests changed, the accountability changed. We saw a dip at that time. But from the financial difficulties and from the thick of Covid, academics remain the same. So you identified trust is an issue, right? There's skepticism of leadership. Right? The from the community side and probably internally as well. So tell us walk us through some of the first steps. You know, that you took to start to rebuild trust with staff. You know, you've got a leadership team of campus leaders and, and admin staff, and then they've got, obviously their faculties on their, on their campuses. And then Community Trust is there is there a specific set of steps you took to help rebuild that? There are so many things that I did, and I'm sure I'm going to forget something. But I do remember my thought was you build trust by building relationships. So it was really important for me to be on campuses. It was important for me to be at activities and events, and it was important to be visible, to be seen. It also was important to me, how you're saying how you show up. And although it was some of the roughest times and leadership for me to show up with a smile on my face and to and the warm feeling and and motivation and inspiration of we've got this. I know it's hard acknowledging, I know this is hard, but we can do this. Guys, we've got it together. We can make it. And so I really just tried to be that calm and that sense of peace and also joy. You know, we're not we're I'm not going to walk around looking depressed. There's a lot of things that can have me depressed about what's going on. But we've got this and it's it was just really kind of renewing the sense, the spirit and the pride that used to be here. One of the things that actually was up to us, is I am from Crosby, born and raised alumni. I have lived here. I lived here all of my childhood. Went away for college maybe first two years or adult. 2 or 3 years. I lived in Houston, and then I moved back, and I chose to raise my children in the same community. Right. That was a choice as an adult to move back and raised and raised a family here. And so the positive of that, I felt everything I felt and knew everything we were going through. So when the rip happened, my sons lost teachers. I mean, I was in the thick of it. And so taking sitting in this seat, I had all of those emotions. I had the emotions, the experience of when times were great and when it was great. It was great. Everybody loved each other. We loved our communities. Our communities loved our district. I mean, we were on fire. So I knew what it was. And I also was was in the community living here and was a parent when it went bad. And so I had that emotion. And really when I came into the job, it was, we're going to reclaim what we were and be even better because we have so much potential. And we are an amazing, district with amazing communities and parents and teachers and all of that. I see the beauty in who we are. And so my goal was and continues to be to shine that light on the very positive that we have. And, and I just really think we're amazing. And so it's showing that. servant leadership. Often starts with a position of humility. Right. I enter the room curious, knowing that there are things I can learn from anyone that's there. And I really want to take that approach. You know, when you were in that was coming in to me again, working through this hard, right, 18, 24 months. It was it was really hard. Know, five years after that, I know. I hope you're in the smoother part right now, but I remember not wearing a mask That is true. That is true. is there a time you can think about where you really had to, be humble over, flexing authority? is there's a vent that stands out. What comes to mind? One of the toughest, toughest times for me. There've been a lot of tough times. And I say that. And what's important for your students to hear is that leadership is tough. And the great leaders walk around and they make it look so good. It looks so appealing. And they look so confident. And they it just looks amazing. And know that it is the toughest thing to ever do. It's the toughest position to ever have, no matter the level. Leadership is hard and you've got to get through the hard times, right. But it's it's hard. So yes, there have been five years of hard times, but one of the hardest times I've gone through, and probably I-s-d was after Cobit when teachers disappeared. And so you said students come back, you have to come back in the building. And teachers didn't return. And it was a nationwide crisis of teachers. So for the students today in your class who want to be principals. So imagine you're on a campus and you have all 700 of your students, or 1000 or whatever, and you don't have enough teachers when the students are there. So you have to figure it out. And the first year of that experience was not good because we had teachers in our classrooms. Quite simply, if you're breathing and you want to teach, can you start now? And that's not good for students. Sure. Right. And so we were we were left with I was left with, what are we going to do to find teachers. And one of the things we did was explore a hybrid four day calendar. And it was the toughest leadership time for me because change is hard and that's a significant change. And it was hard for people to wrap their minds around for people to support. Although I did have a majority that supported the move. You know, you have the loud minority, right? And they are so very loud. And they make you think that that's everybody and what everyone feels. But to get to the humility question, when I was going down that road, guys, I think going to a four day hybrid calendar will help us recruit and retain exceptional teachers for our students. My plan, my plan. Me and my team. We want it Mondays off. Because once a month we do PD. So it was all about students because if you have professional development on Monday, you're ready to roll it out next day on Tuesday, as opposed to a Friday. You have the weekend, you come on Monday. You don't remember what we talked about on Friday. Yeah. So academically, we felt professional development on Monday. Roll it out on Tuesday. That's great instruction. We're ready to go. And I was getting, you know negative feedback on everything on the whole plan. And what I started to hear a lot of parents were saying, well on Monday it came every potential concern. We found a solution for. And so then it became, well, Mondays just aren't good. They aren't good days. If they were, if it were, if it were on Friday, it would be better because I work from home on Fridays or I'm off on Fridays. And I, as superintendent could have said, no, we want Mondays. We think it's best academically. We're going with Mondays. Instead. I listened to the feedback because really what I needed was a four day week to recruit and retain exceptional teachers for our students. Right. That was the goal. Should I fight and flex right and do the authority? It's what I say, and it's going to be my days. Or do I listen to what you're saying and have a little heart and humility and that it really would work best for me and my family if it were on this day? And so I changed it. So Fridays are a days off. And I told him I heard your feedback, I get it. I don't want to, you know, completely wreck your lives. And so let me I want to work with you. And so we'll change the day and we change to Friday instead of Monday. That's great. It's great. Yeah. And that I mean I understand the element of that for sure. And that's a, that's a real thing. But I think that being able to give in that way and listen and, and respond to that, I'm sure that was a that was a win. Now, I know, more and more districts are evaluating the four day week, as it relates to recruiting. And, you know, I, I know there's all kinds of ways to address some, some of the concerns. I'm glad that's gone. Well, that is that was not an easy decision. But when you look at the big picture of, you got to have great teachers and so, you know, how what, how do we adjust our plan so that. Yeah, so that we can accommodate that. So, outside of that, what is there another piece of the vision that you've implemented that really helped staff feel like they took ownership, over the decision? Feedback is a gift. And know they get so tired of them, but I send surveys out. I want to know your thoughts. I started, where I would go to the campuses at the end of the day, ask the campus. Give me a room to me. I would go in that room and just whoever wants to come in and have time with me, ask questions of me. And I always had kind of a what's going well? What do you want to tell me? Do not touch. This is going so well. Don't touch it. Leave it alone. And there are ways that we can improve. And so that gave the physical in the room face to face. Conversations with me gave me an opportunity to answer questions, you know, because when do you have time to talk to the superintendent? That doesn't typically happen. And so I would set up those times to have that face to face. I do surveys and gather their feedback and they always know or I want them to feel like they can take ownership. And I do want to know how this will affect you. And that most definitely factors into the decisions I make for the district. No. Absolutely. Yeah. Favorite idea coming out of one of those sessions. Oh, gosh. Well, I'll flip it a little. I also do advisory groups. So my first year I started student advisory groups, and I just met with this year yesterday. And it was so amazing. I love like I love our kids. They are the best. But the first year when I started student advisory, one of the students said, you know, it's really hard to keep up with what's going on on every campus if because every campus does their own way, has their own way of communicating what's going on on their campus. And so for someone who wants to know what's going on all over the district, how do we keep up with that? And I said, you're absolutely right. And so from that and that was my year one from that we created Cougar News Now. And every Sunday we send out a newsletter, a district newsletter with highlights from every campus. And that came directly from a student recommendation. And we continue to do it now. I love it. I love it. That is fantastic. Okay, so take us through. I mean, some of the metrics, like when you look today over. Where were you when you started? What are some of the things and maybe a metric in the right number, but just community involvement, morale among staff, if there is an academic element. what's grown? What's transformed in your time there that you want to highlight? so I'll try to hit on, on on several areas. I will say finances. And that was such a big issue. I am proud to say, after so when we went through our financial difficulties, we were it was an anomaly, right? We were having issues. There were no other districts that were broke and couldn't make payroll. That was that was a Crosby ISD issue. But then after Covid, a couple of years after Covid, districts started struggling financially because their students didn't return, so their enrollment was declining. The federal funds that we received after Covid discontinued. Right. And so right now in Texas, the last I heard, I think it was 80% of districts in the state of Texas have deficit budgets. They don't they're not bringing in enough revenue to cover the expenses. We last year and this year, well, ever since I've been here, but we have a balanced budget. So not only have we rebounded from our challenges, we didn't fall prey or fall behind from all of the Covid issues like the majority of other districts did. So not only did we recover, we're doing very well. We're very conservative. I don't spend more than we bring in. We're very, very, very cognizant of what we can and can't do, and we don't push the envelope. And we have a plan and we have a plan with the federal funds. We have a plan on how we were going to spend those funds and how it would affect our future. And so I'm really proud that we're part of that 20%. That is, that has a balanced budget. That's that's something to be proud of. Academically, we, like I said, new test, new accountability. We had a dip. And I will say the first year we implemented four day, we had a dip in academics that's a significant change. You've done school a certain way for ever and you're changing that. Right. And there are growing pains to it. And we did that year. But I am proud to say that we have rebounded. And academically we are in a much better place than we were two years ago. And so that's that's nominal. Our teachers, we are able to find teachers. We have zero uncertified teachers in our district. I don't know many other districts that can say that. and so we've solved that problem and I'll say with campus, well, campus and district and community, climate and culture. You know, that's one of the things that, you can't quantify it, but you totally can qualify it. Like, you know how it feels, but you can't measure it with numbers. Right. and so I would say, one of the things that really sticks out to me and the difference, every school, every district has its, you know, Facebook fodder, right? Like that's what our people have to do. And you get, you know, you get slammed on there all the time. And I have I've watched from the beginning when it was just like 98% slam. Right. And now we're at a point where when they come and they start going, others defend ours. Say, come on, really? Is that really what we're going to say? And so that has been amazing. And that's kind of how I quantify it a bit and that they're not all jumping. Right. And there are a whole lot who are coming to our defense and those who are coming to our defense, our fair. When we're wrong, they call us out and they should. You know, I want fairness, and I'm also the type of leader when we're in the wrong. I admit we messed up. We're going to do better, but we messed up and you know, and we will do better. So those are just some of the ways I feel like we have, kind of rebounded. I love it, I love it. Yeah. Yeah. I think, you know, one measure and you know Paula, I think, one of the reasons that so many districts are having, financial issues is they're losing, large numbers of students. we are seeing that, campuses and districts that build the right kind of culture that are transparent, that, really invest in trading. I mean, it sounds odd to say it this way, but an attractive product, right? Great service, great product, great support. Their numbers are increasing. Right. And and as as people have alternatives, to look for it, it does create this need to be service oriented, not at the expense, of academic, you know, outcomes. But I think that, you know, it to say that. How is the community feel? Well, they show their support by sending their children, to year school. So. Wow. Really outstanding during this season. Is there any story about her, a staff member or maybe a tutor that really touches you? Heart was part of this project with your transformation that you'd like to share? There are two people who come to mind and both who are very, very loud in the community. Anton, Paula Patterson. And for each of them, the way I won them over was not by trying to win them over. It was just by being me and giving them an opportunity to spend time with me. Because it's one thing to see me right in the pictures and in the videos, but it's a whole nother thing to be in the room with me because I'm down the earth. I shoot it straight. I am who I am, and with both of them, that's exactly what happened. So I met with each of them, and one was my first year before I even became superintendent. Okay. So in Texas, you're named lone finalist and you have 21 days. It was in the lone finalist period. So I wasn't even superintendent yet, but I was long finalist. And it And you were making charts already. Yeah. Made sure. So that was the beginning. And one was just last year. And in both of the cases, I invited the gentleman to meet with me. And we just talked and both of them both cases year one and year four. It was the same response. In the middle of us talking, they would say. You're not who I thought you were. You really do care about kids. You really have a heart. you have my you have my support. You have my full support. I am not going to bash you anymore. I'll see you for who you are. So all I did was gave them time have a conversation. And for the and one one came in still ready. And I think he thought I was going to fight because he's been he had been so, so very nasty toward me and he even you know, he even, you know, come in and you know, I know you hate me. And I was like, no, I don't. And I'm glad you came in because, you know, let's let's talk it out. Let's talk these things out. But there also was a time when in the conversation, he kind of barked a little and I kind of barked back. So he got to see the the hard side, but also the loving and, you know, like, I can be both, but you're not going to walk over me. And he was like, oh, okay, I see you for who you are. And you love kids and you know all of that. So I will say I so it's not that I'm trying to win you all. I'm just being me and I'm giving you an opportunity to see me. There is one community member, a lovely, lovely older woman, and she says, if only everyone could sit and have coffee with you. If only they could just see and hear your heart. Because when we're with you, we feel it. It's just hard to convey that to 30,000 people in the community. Right. And so in those hard cases, I remember what she what she says and I'm, you know, reach out to the person, hey, you know, come and meet with me. Let's have a conversation. That is. Yeah. That is beautiful. That's such a great example. That takes a lot of courage. You know because you're going to have to listen to criticism maybe face to face. But you know but it's also great to hear that they took you up on the offer and that they did come and sit down. Some people hide in the shadows and criticize, but to really step forward and and do that and then obviously just to see, you know, your love for people, you and the community. All of that. I mean, it's not just that you also have sound strategy. Your tactics are well thought through. And so it's this whole package that I, like you said 30,000 coffees might be too much. But I mean, those that are loudest in that and spending time with them. Yeah. That's really beautiful. Well, is there any, I mean, habits or spiritual groups really help you stay grounded through all of this, that, that you're, that you face. And it's this leadership role. Oh. Since you asked, I'm going to answer, and I'm answering. You know, genuinely, I could not could not do this work without God That's my spiritual base. I have a practice. Every morning I start a workout, a little workout. I may do a more intense workout in the afternoon, but I workout in the morning just to get the blood flowing. I mean, even if it's just treadmill. And then I spend time reading a devotional, reading my Bible, praying that prepares me for the day. And so that's my morning routine. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, I'm 110% sure that this was God's assignment for me. Hundred percent. No question about it. I don't know if his assignment or if I'm called to any other district, but I know he called me to Crosby. I used to be the superintendent of schools for now. Right. And so that helps me when things come my way, because again, it is hard. It doesn't matter what I'm going through. It doesn't matter what challenges we're facing. I know I'm called to this. I know he is with me and he gives me the strength. He gives me the wisdom. He gives me the peace. He gives me the joy. He gives me the stillness to carry the weight because it's a heavy weight. But he provides all of that for me and actually takes that weight from me. Right? But I could not do this without God. Yes. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that Paula. It's that we share a similar a similar morning routine. I don't like treadmills, but other than that, And. Well, well, thanks for thanks for sharing all this with us today. if our listeners want to connect with you, what's the best way to do that? To learn more about your work. Have you written a book yet? I feel like you probably should. Oh, man, I have a whole lot of material I will write, probably at least two, one personal and one for professional, but, I do not. I have not written a book yet, so just stay tuned. Stay tuned for that. But I'm all over socials. I'm on X, I'm on, Instagram, LinkedIn, LinkedIn. And so probably the more, you know, professional or whatever, but I'm on the air. Paula Patterson That's fantastic. Well, you know what stood out to me about today and just about your leadership in general is there is an authenticity. You know, you you're the same, right? You get people, whether it's live or out or a one on one over, over coffee and that that consistency. And this, humble love servant attitude, but also the confidence to make the hard decisions when necessary, such a such a great example. And, so, you know, to our listeners, you know, if you found today's episode, valuable, please share it with, colleague or administrator and, if you haven't already, please follow Transformational Educator so you don't miss an episode. Until next time. Keep leading with purpose and transforming schools into places where everyone thrives. If today's conversation gave you fresh insight or inspired you to lead with purpose, please follow the show and tell a friend. It helps us reach more educators who want to make a difference. For more stories, resources, and tools to support your leadership journey, visit graceland.edu. Until next time, keep leading with courage and care. If you want to keep learning about transformational strategies and education, click the next video.