To share information about the Academy District 20 (ASD20) superintendent search, and also collect feedback regarding desired skills and attributes, Walt Cooper, Ed.D., Colorado Search Consultant from McPherson and Jacobsen, LLC., recently facilitated focus groups, interviews and deployed a district-wide survey.
From Dec. 2 – Feb. 3, Cooper facilitated internal (staff) stakeholder group meetings, external (non-staff) stakeholder group meetings, and community town halls. He also held one-on-one interviews with cabinet-level executives and Board of Education.
In total, 230 stakeholders participated among these facilitated groups:
District Accountability Committee (DAC)
Academy Education Association (AEA)
Parent Sounding Board (PSB)
Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council (SSAC)
Patron’s Council
Classified Employee Council (CEC)
Elementary Level Principals
Teacher Communication Council (TCC)
Middle Level Principals
High School Principals
Another 71 stakeholders participated in four town halls held in mid-January 2023.
In addition, approximately 4,300 online survey responses were considered. It is important to note the actual survey submissions totaled more than 12,000 responses, but nearly 8,000 responses were eliminated from consideration as either a result of redundant, solicited responses or incomplete submissions that contained no responses at all.
The foundation of each one-on-one interview, all stakeholder group meetings, and each town hall meeting was a series of three questions.
1. What skills, qualities, or characteristics should the next superintendent possess to be successful in ASD20?
2. What issues, challenges, or concerns should the next superintendent be best prepared to address as she/he assumes the role?
3. What are the best attributes of ASD20?
The content of the online stakeholder survey included a request for respondents to identify whether they lived within the ASD20 boundaries; their connection to the district (parent, staff member, student, etc.); their level of agreement with each of the 18 desired leadership characteristics identified by the Board; and an opportunity to respond to the same question about issues, challenges, or concerns posed to stakeholder groups.
Common Themes: External Stakeholders
In response to the question, “What skills, qualities, or characteristics should the next superintendent posses to be successful in Academy District 20?” common themes that emerged among external stakeholders included (in no particular order):
Education experience. More detailed thoughts on education experience focused not so much on superintendent experience, but the potential value of leadership experience in a like school district (size, demographic, programming, etc.) and a preference for a leader who values meeting the needs of all students, innovation, and options.
Ability to manage the current political climate. More specifically, comments focused on the need for a leader who can respectfully navigate a divisive social and political climate, maintain political neutrality, and engage respectfully with all stakeholders.
Effective communicator. Frequent comments focused on the desire for a leader who is an active listener, is accessible and engaged with the community, and who seeks honest feedback from stakeholders.
Financial acumen and a familiarity with the military community were also noted.
In response to the question, “What issues, challenges, or concerns should the next superintendent be best prepared to address as she/he assumes the role?” common themes that emerged among external stakeholders included (in no particular order):
Growth. Impacts noted were changing district demographics and related student needs, facility demands, financial strains, and maintaining a sense of community.
Need for a mill levy override (MLO). The need for the next superintendent to become immediately familiar with the need and be able to credibly garner public support for a MLO was clear.
Teacher recruitment. More specifically, the challenge is not only acknowledging the presence of a teacher shortage, but also a staff shortage in general, and developing a strategy to address these and make D20 most attractive among area school districts.
Student achievement. Pride in maintaining the district’s accreditation status was frequently mentioned as well as continuing to recover from post-pandemic impacts on students and meeting a growing diversity of student needs. Specific mention of students with special needs was also prevalent.
In response to the question, “What are the best attributes of Academy District 20?” common themes that emerged among external stakeholders included (in no particular order):
Outstanding teachers and staff
Fiscally sound
People are caring and supportive
Academic performance / “Accredited with Distinction”
Opportunities and choices for students
Strong community support and engagement
Common Themes: Internal Stakeholders
In response to the question, “What skills, qualities, or characteristics should the next superintendent posses to be successful in Academy District 20?” common themes that emerged among internal stakeholders included:
Educational experience. Frequently mentioned components of prior educational experience included knowledge of best practices and instruction, knowledge of impacts to public schools post-pandemic, experience in schools at multiple levels.
Systems thinker. Ability and motivation to evaluate systems at all levels for both efficiency and impact and a willingness to reorganize and reject the status quo if warranted.
Courage to lead among divisive factions. The current social and political climate was repeatedly mentioned with an emphasis on keeping these conflicts away from schools, students, and teachers.
Effective communicator. A superintendent with strong communication and engagement skills who is present in schools and seeks authentic engagement and collaboration with staff was highlighted among several staff groups.
In response to the question, “What issues, challenges, or concerns should the next superintendent be best prepared to address as she/he assumes the role?” common themes that emerged among internal stakeholders included (in no particular order):
Evaluation of site-based decision model. In both individual and group conversations, the need to evaluate the current site-based model was clearly the most frequently addressed issue. While not all stakeholders had the same perspectives on what isn’t working or what needed to be changed, there was widespread agreement that a combination of growth, choice, competition, changing student needs, revised laws and policies, and other factors have resulted in large-scale discontentment with current systems.
Teacher recruitment and retention. In addition to recognizing that a financial commitment to pay and benefits is critical, also important was the idea of public support for teachers and valuing their work, and acknowledging the importance of strong morale.
Insulating schools from political conflicts. Notwithstanding public debate and differing ideologies, the need for schools to continue supporting the myriad needs of all students among a very diverse student population was frequently repeated. Also highlighted was the need for the superintendent to be committed to supporting all students, as well as the ability to stand strong during implementation of controversial or uncomfortable change.
Effectively managing growth and finances. A very common component of these comments was the much anticipated mill levy override.
In response to the question, “What are the best attributes of Academy District 20?” common themes that emerged among internal stakeholders included (in no particular order):
Quality of people in the organization and in the community
Great reputation
Outstanding teachers
High expectations and academic achievement
Relationships
Student centered
Resources many others don’t have
Choices and options for students
Online Stakeholder Survey
Expectedly, the largest group of respondents self-identified as parents (61%), followed by staff members (16%) and then students (11%). The percentage of parent and staff participation mirrors what is typically reported in our surveys; however, the percentage of students responding to this survey is much higher than usual.
When asked to identify their residence, 80% of respondents indicated they lived within the Academy District 20 boundaries, which is a reasonable percentage when taking into account, primarily, families of choice students and those staff members who live outside the district.
In addition to English, surveys were provided in Spanish, (15 responses), Korean (6 responses), Chinese (6 responses), Vietnamese (1 response), Arabic, (no responses), and Telugu (no responses).
When asked to register individual agreement or disagreement with each of the desired leadership characteristics previously identified by the Board of Education, the vast majority of respondents indicated significant agreement with most all of the characteristics. Those characteristics with the most significant (above 90%) agreement in order were:
1. Prioritizes needs of students and staff
2. Communicates clearly with both staff and stakeholders
3. Is personable, listens authentically, and responds appropriately
4. Is committed to continuous improvement, coaching of others, and growing leadership
Two of the Board’s identified leadership characteristics garnered notable levels of stakeholder disagreement in comparison to the others. These included:
1. Ensures distracting agendas are kept out of the classroom (28% disagreement)
It is not a surprise that a notable percentage of respondents disagreed with the item given the significant ambiguity of this characteristic. It is important to remember that the list of characteristics was reproduced verbatim from the Board’s collective generation of priorities at the Dec. 8, worksession during which context was expanded and discussed. Outside of this context, it is difficult for respondents to understand the Board’s intent, thus resulting in many stakeholder questions. This ambiguity was further evidenced in a number of survey comments as well as town hall discussions and questions. This indicates a need for additional clarity from the Board so that both stakeholders and candidates can understand the context behind this characteristic.
2. Prioritizes academic growth and achievement above all else (25% disagreement).
Upon first glance the level of disagreement with this characteristic may seem surprising. However, when viewed in context of (1) the specific wording that is used and (2) alongside the vast majority of feedback recorded in stakeholder meetings, it seems evident that this disagreement is not an indictment on the importance of academics (the importance of which was widely recognized by stakeholders). Rather, this is likely more a result of including the phrase “above all else” and, thus, an indication that roughly 1 in 4 respondents assert there are issues of at least equal priority alongside academic achievement.
Common Themes: Online Stakeholder Survey
Based on electronic identification of key topics, the following were identified:
In response to the prompt, “Please list below what you perceive are the three most significant challenges or issues the next Academy District 20 Superintendent should be most prepared to address upon assuming the role” as well as in response to the prompt “Is there other information you would like the Board of Education to consider as they work through the search process?” the three most frequently identified topics focused on:
1. Politics / political climate
2. Teachers (most frequent secondary terms were “support” and “pay”)
3. Parents (most frequent secondary terms were “decision,” “rights” and “choice”)