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One of three finalists
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will become Durango School District 9-R’s
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next superintendent,
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and the Board of Education
invites district residents
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to meet the candidates during a Zoom forum
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on Monday, March 8th.
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You’re watching the Local News Network
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brought to you by Serious Texas Bar-B-Q
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and Fastsigns of Durango.
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I’m Deborah Uroda.
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Three finalists,
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including former Durango
assistant superintendent,
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Andy Burns will meet district residents
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and visit district schools
during the next several weeks
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as the school board determines
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who will become the next superintendent.
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District 9-R’s
superintendent, Dan Snowberger
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announced his resignation
earlier this year
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after serving more than eight years
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through some of the district’s
toughest financial dilemmas.
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The public will have an opportunity
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to meet the three finalists
during a Zoom community forum
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scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
On Monday, March 8th.
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Candidates will field
questions from the school board
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and the public will be
offered an opportunity
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to send their comments to
the board in real time.
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Board president, Kristin Smith
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said the board began
its search in December
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with an online community
survey and focus groups.
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The community overwhelmingly
wanted a trusted candidate.
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They are looking for building
trust in our community
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with that superintendency position,
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that was highly important.
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Also communication.
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They want a really great communicator
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to come forward to the community
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and let everybody know
what’s going on in 9-R.
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So those were two things
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that overwhelmingly were
supported by the community.
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You know, we asked the community,
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does it matter if they have a doctorate?
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They really didn’t care about that.
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You know, that wasn’t as important to them
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as those other qualities.
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So we’ve been looking for someone
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who has a proven trust record
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and also is a really great communicator.
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It’s also been really
important to the board.
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We’re working on some culture
and equity and inclusion work.
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So we’re looking for a candidate
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that can partner with the
Board of Education on that
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and moving that work forward.
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So we’ve got some great candidates
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who have experience in that area.
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One thing that was really
important to the community too
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was someone who had been in the classroom,
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someone who had been on
the ground as a teacher
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and had that in their background.
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So we’ve looked at that too,
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which candidates have
been a teacher before,
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which candidates like to be with kids.
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And as part of the superintendent
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finalists interview process,
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we’re going to have the candidates
walk through our schools,
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and we want to see how do
they interact with kids,
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how do they interact with staff.
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That’s highly important to our community,
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that this person in this
superintendent position
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can access all of the stakeholders
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and communicate with them appropriately.
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The board received 28 applications
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and announced the finalists at
its meeting on February 23rd.
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Finalist include Dr. Karen Cheser,
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who retires this year as superintendent
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of the Fort Thomas,
Kentucky School District,
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Dr. Robert Lundin,
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who most recently served
as assistant commissioner
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in the Tennessee Department of Education,
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and the third candidate, Andy Burns,
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former assistant
superintendent with Durango,
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now serves as the director
of human resources
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in Pueblo School District 60.
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To participate in the
candidate forum on March 8th,
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log onto durangoschools.org.
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Thanks for watching this edition
of the Local News Network,
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I’m Deborah Uroda.
