by Brian Orr
WALSENBURG- The Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), which has been hired by the Re-1 School District to help in its search for a new School superintendent, held a series of meetings on Thursday, Mar. 27. An exploratory panel, which included former Pueblo Superintendent Henry Roman, asked staff, administration and the community what they wanted to see in the next superintendent.
Opinions and comments were tossed out by the crowd. Some people definitely had certain characteristics they wanted: Barbara Yule, director of the Spanish Peaks International Celtic Music Festival, noted how pleased she was that Re-1 had a music program back in place, and she hoped that the next super would be one who realized that kids need to express themselves creatively- “It’s a wonderful way to learn, and something we need from a superintendent.”
Another person pointed out that 25 years ago, John Mall High School had a fabulous marching band which toured statewide. They too, approved of the nascent music program.
When asked what challenges the new superintendent would face, the crowd quickly listed things like declining enrollment, loss of funding, trying to get newer teachers invested in the community/ retaining quality staff; discipline problems, and a need to improve the image of the district.
When asked what qualities a new super would need, people quickly mentioned: “Open minded… a mediator… willing to listen… be visible in the community… be a role model…”
When the committee asked what were positive aspects to the community, some of the comments tossed out by the crowd were: “We have great kids… the sports programs are really good… the OST programs are good… the staff is willing to help…”
At the end of the evening, the committee thanked everyone attending, saying, “We will aggregate all this information; your input is really valuable
