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Blue Jays Mic'd Up
School District of Washington Superintendent Dr. Cassandra Suggs gives updates on happenings around the District including chats with students, staff, and community leaders.
Blue Jays Mic'd Up
Strategic Planning & District Goals with Mr. Dan Leslie
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Strategic Planning & District Goals
Dr. Jennifer Kephart, Superintendent, and guest Dan Leslie, SDOW School Board President
SHOW NOTES
- Strategic Plan
- Board of Education Website
- District Goals
- Advisory Website Link
- Advisory Application Link
- Applications are due September 19th
- SDOW Partners Communication- please contact Dr. Kephart at jennifer.kephart@sdowmo.org
- Parent Summit Series Link
The Kephart Communications Podcast is hosted by School District of Washington Superintendent Doctor Jennifer Kephart. With help from our team in the Washington High School CAPS program, Dr. Kephart and her guests share information ranging from district happenings, current events, and student experiences to keep listeners informed about the school district of Washington. If you are a parent, district employee, or community member, this podcast is for you.
SPEAKER_02Welcome and thank you for joining us on our new journey of podcast communication. We are glad you're listening today. In this first official episode, I am joined by our school board president, Mr. Dan Leslie. Welcome, Mr. Mr. Leslie.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Good afternoon. It is a thrill to be here as the school board president, and I'm just excited about being on a podcast for our school district. What a great way to spend the afternoon.
SPEAKER_02Wonderful. Well, before I ask Mr. Leslie a few questions about the Board of Education and his service to the district, I would like to share a little history about the School District of Washington. First of all, we were incorporated in 1853 as a school district. We encompass 254 square miles throughout Warren, St. Charles, and Franklin counties. We have 11 school buildings, seven of those are elementary, a middle school, a high school, the career center where we are today, and our early learning center. This year we have approximately 3,600 students and 700 staff members. However, that compares to a state in the state of Missouri, we have 554 districts with approximately 859,000 students and over 70,000 teachers statewide. Mr. Leslie, are there any historical key points about the district that you would like to share?
SPEAKER_00Well, I moved to this community 33 years ago, and I remember the excitement of seeing the old high school, now administration building, and walking through there seeing the chalkboards on the walls, which just reminds me of my childhood in school. And there's something to be said for old buildings and quaint settings, as well as the new technology that we have in South Point and that we've implemented in other schools. So I I was sad to see Fifth Street be torn down. I understand that's necessary. It would have been a great place for lofts, but progress moves on. But I I've just watched the district grow in 33 years, and it's exciting.
SPEAKER_02That is exciting. It's exciting to be have my office in one of the old classrooms as well. And just to remember that that was a classroom with students learning for many, many years. So there is something to take note of. So thank you for that information. We're certainly looking forward to adding the baseball and softball complex on the grounds of the old South Point next spring that was approved by our Board of Education in 2021. Mr. Leslie, can you tell our listeners more about the Board of Education's role in governance and oversight of the district?
SPEAKER_00Yes, I would love to do that. As um I've been a school board member for two years and six months, and I think that's a question that's going to come up later, and I've already answered that now. But and I've had the privilege of serving this year as school board president. What I think is important for the public to know about the role in governance and oversight of the district is this. When I came onto the school board, I had a completely different idea of what a school board member did. And so it was a learning experience for me. I always thought the school board, to use the phrase micromanaged, is probably a little rough, but that we managed more of the day-to-day operation of the school district, and that is not the case. And I think it's important for our listeners to understand perhaps not as much as what we do do, but what we do not do. And I have learned that our job is not to hire and fire people, to not review things that are happening in the classroom, to not go building to building and look at things, but to set board policies that affect the district and how it operates, to make sure that those policies are implemented correctly. If there is issues that they're not being or they need addressed, that is our responsibility. We do set salary schedules. We oversee our one employee, which is you, Dr. Kepphart. You're doing a fantastic job for us. And we oversee you, and if we have issues, we come to you. I think the public has an idea that we do more management of day-to-day operations and we do not. We are oversight to make sure money is spent correctly, that there is authority to spend that money, that we see what comes in from ESSER funds or things such as that, and that that's going to the proper places based on the law. We want to make sure that we function within the confines of the law. But more than anything, our goal is to make sure our students get a good quality education on a day-to-day basis. That's our role. It is not managing the day-to-day business of the school district.
SPEAKER_02I appreciate that, and it certainly is a partnership between the team that we have with leadership and with the Board of Education. Absolutely. I do appreciate that. Our Board of Education, just to have our listeners be aware, has seven elected members, and we have over 43 years of collective service to our district through our board members. Each member has a three-year term on the board, and that is a rotating service with each with elections each April. And that usually hosts two or three board member positions or seats in during that election time. Our current board members are Mr. Kevin Blackburn, our vice president, Mr. Scott Byrne, Mr. John Freitog, Mrs. Susan Thatcher, Mrs. Kelly Brinkman, Dr. Frank Wood, and of course our guest today, board president, Mr. Dan Leslie. Mr. Leslie, you shared just a little bit of your service to the board and how long you have been a board member. Why did you serve why did you choose to serve in the capacity as a board member and now board president?
SPEAKER_00I decided to run for the school board because I really was genuinely interested in learning how that process works. I am an attorney and I've dealt with some education issues in the law, and I've had some ongoing relationship with sub-school district attorneys. And I was frankly personally interested in how a school district works, how the policies work, how the day-to-day operation is, and I like to learn, and this was a learning process for me as well. So the school district doesn't only educate the children, it educates, and children is a bad term probably. We have some young men here who are young adults, but um, not only to educate the kids in our district, but it helps me learn. And I think that it also gives me the opportunity to help educate the public by being on the board and then being able to share what the roles and responsibilities of the board are with others in the community at large. I was elected in April of 2020, so I was a board member for two years. I serve on the safety committee, which we have committees as well within the board, and now I'm the president. I was elected by my peers, which is a big honor, and I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_02Wonderful, wonderful. Well, we also know that you hear from parents and community, much like you just shared. What's the best way to communicate with board members, and what would be helpful for our listeners to know about communication with the board?
SPEAKER_00I'm glad that we we have this question because again, I I think the public sometimes has the idea that the board manages the school district on a day-to-day basis, and so they bring their concerns and things to us as a board, which is important, and I don't want to negate that. The best way to contact a board member is to email us. Um, all of us have full-time jobs outside of this. This is a volunteer position. If the public doesn't know that, we do not get paid financially to serve on the board. We just get the benefits of being a member, which is rewarded in of itself. But the best way would be to email us and let us know your concerns. You certainly can attend board meetings. Um, I I think it's important to remember that board meetings are not participatory, they are observatory. We are there to conduct business, and certainly the public can watch and they can speak to us after the meeting. There is a public comment section, but that is just that it's common, it's not interaction. I think the best method is to contact us by email. We all have email addresses with the school district, and we get those and we can address those best that way.
SPEAKER_02Well, I appreciate that and completely agree with the open lines of communication. They are vital to our success as a district. And as the superintendent, my door is always open, and I am diligent about returning emails and phone calls when questions or concerns arise. We are certainly in this together for the betterment of our students and our community, and partnership with our parents and with our community is important to my service as the superintendent, and then I know it is for our board members at all. In what ways can our listeners in that same vein partner with our district?
SPEAKER_00I think our listeners, be they parents, grandparents, guardians of kids who attend our district, or their children are grown or they don't have children, all have a role and a way to partner with our district. I think, first of all, if you are a parent or a grandparent of a child in the district, if you're the legal guardian of a child in the district, partner with your school, first of all, where your child attends. Get to know your child's teacher. If you haven't met them in person, shame on you. You should be meeting your child's teacher. I can tell you from being married to a teacher for 38 years, they are thrilled to meet you and they like to put faces to names. So be diligent, be reactive in going to meet that teacher. And that doesn't just have to be the classroom teacher. There are gym teachers, music teachers, PE teachers, they would all love to meet you. Stay on top of your child's education. That's a way to partner with our district. Make sure your email address is within the portal system. If you have a concern about your child and their education and what's happening, don't wait to hear from the school. Get in touch with our teachers. I'm going to be the first to say our teachers are not paid what they should be for all the hard work that they do. They are in this profession because they care about your children. They care about their success. And so if you communicate well with the faculty and staff at the school that your child attends, your child will succeed. And that's the best partnership we can have. If you don't have a child in the district, that's okay too. You have a role because you're a taxpayer and you are paying for the school district that you live in. Attend public functions and events. You don't have to have a graduate to come to graduation. Come and watch the success of the kids that we have graduating and listen to their stories. When so many are joining military, they're going on to college, they have successful jobs, they've gone through four rivers, and they're going to become a welder or an auto mechanic. That's exciting times, and that's good for our community to see the success stories that we have. That's a good partnership. I'll use a little bit of law here. A partnership in the law is two or more people agree to form a business for profit. It's four simple little things. The school district is a partnership with you. We agree with you to form the business of education, and the profit is that we turn out students that are successful. They give back to the community, they pay taxes, they have families, and they continue to help our district thrive.
SPEAKER_02I appreciate those ways to partner. And in our show notes, we will give another example and several examples of ways that our community can partner with us and our parents. So thank you for those specific examples in the classroom. We do appreciate all of the hard work that our teachers do to connect with our students and with our families. We're going to move into our last section for today as we move into district goals. Is there anything else that you would like to share about the Board of Education?
SPEAKER_00I'm just excited about being on the board. We have some new members. New members are always exciting. They bring in new ideas and new concepts and they raise issues that are good food for thought. I I think I'm going to use this time and I'm not being paid to say this. We have a fantastic and dynamic superintendent, and we appreciate you very much. That's not to say anything about our former superintendent. She served the district well, but we have had the privilege of hiring a very outgoing, energetic, I don't know how you do all you do in a day, superintendent that cares about our kids. And that is a hundred percent apparent at all the functions you attend, the way you interact with them. And I just think it's an exciting time for the Washington School District. And Four Rivers is certainly a pinnacle in our education process as well, because we get to offer to kids a chance for some non-traditional education. We're all not in the same mold. And we are very lucky and very blessed to have fantastic leadership in our district with our assistant superintendents and the principals that we have. I am just thrilled to be here.
SPEAKER_02Well, thank you for that. We do have an amazing team with the core of our students and our learners at mind. So, with that, that's a good transition to talk through the goals that we have as a district. Each year, the Board of Education works with those amazing district leaderships leadership team to focus on goals for the upcoming year aligned with the district's long-range strategic plan. Our current strategic plan, which is linked in the show notes, was written in 2018-19 in collaboration with parents, students, staff, and community members as a guiding document for the future of the district through 2025. Our annual goals have a foundation and alignment with the strategic plan, and they help us, our principals, our teachers, and our staff know the direction for the year. This year we are continuing with the four district goals from last year by adding depth and intentional alignment with each of our schools. Our first goal is to increase student achievement and support through the individualized intervention that we have for academic behavior and the well-being needs of our students. This year we will begin using FastBridge, which is a nationally normed assessment for our K-8 students in reading and math. This data will be able to provide growth for our students on skills specifically that are successes and areas of focus. We will also be rolling out the district scorecard that aligns our key data to our five areas in our strategic plan. And that will assist the district in determining success and continued pockets of improvement. Our next goal is to ensure a culture of belonging. That goal will focus on the implementation of our 11 principles of character through character.org and a reinvigoration of our rock expectation throughout all of our schools. Our third goal is to expand innovative practices and workforce connections. You'll hear more about Connect Washington in future podcasts. However, it is our goal to ensure every student can experience their workforce passion and interest in our business community prior to graduation. We are also expanding our work in Project Lead the Way and other innovative instructional methods to increase engagement, critical thinking, problem solving, and communication. Our fourth goal is to engage staff in meaningful professional learning and quality district support. One area of focus in this goal is through the action steps that were determined by our staff satisfaction survey last year to include increased communication, meaningful professional development for our variety of teachers and staff members, and competitive salary and benefits package. We are also focused on a long-range plan to support the future needs and growth in the district. Each of these four goals and the accomplishing action steps will be shared with you, our listeners, in future episodes on the Kephart Communications podcast. Mr. Leslie, that was a lot of information for our listeners to digest, even with information added in our show notes. Can you provide a brief overview to help our listeners that are not in our schools every day?
SPEAKER_00I would try to keep it short and just say that if the community will remember that we make a lot of decisions as a board, and more so you and the staff and the assistant superintendents that uh lead the school district every day. You make a lot of decisions. And I think it's important, and I think about this as a parent. I remember telling my parent my children many times that I make a lot of decisions in their lives when they were growing up, and although some of them may not have been the best at the time, they were all motivated because I loved them and I cared about them more than anything else on the planet. I think here I would ask the public to remember that we make a lot of decisions in following the goals that we have that were just read to the to the public here today. And we make a lot of decisions, but sometimes we maybe need more information. The public may question that we've made a bad decision, but our decisions are always motivated by what we think is best for the students in our district at the time. And we are not too proud of a board to come back and say, we need to rethink this, we need to review this, this is not working. We're also very happy to say this is working very, very well, and we've seen a lot of progress through the things that you mentioned, like the uh system we have now to track the successes and the shortcomings that are coming through through the uh program that we have uh purchased. So I would just ask the public to remember that we are doing the very best that we can for the care and education of their children, and we are happy to hear their comments if they disagree or if they agree. It would be nice to hear from them as well.
SPEAKER_02It would. Thank you for that. Thank you, Mr. Leslie, and a big thank you to my fabulous CAPS broadcasting team today. We have Taylor, Jake Brown, and Cole joining us, and thank you to our listeners for partnering with us as we live out the school district's mission to inspire achievement, character, and personal growth in all students as they pursue and succeed in college careers and life. Join us next time when we talk with Assistant Superintendent, Mrs. Miranda Anderson, where we will dive into updates on our curriculum, instruction, and resource adoptions for this school year.
SPEAKER_01Check out the show notes and don't forget you can connect with the district on Facebook, Twitter, at SDF Washington, and the website washington.k12.mo.us. And remember, Blue Jays.
SPEAKER_02Welcome! Respect, ownership, commitment, and kindness.