speech to district employees
Gary Pflueger, the new Superintendent for
Boundary County School District 101, met with
all staff of the District yesterday, and there
presented an address outlining his vision and
goals for the school year, along with some of
his philosophy as Superintendent.He began by reviewing his educational and professional career, beginning with his first teaching position in the 1970s, and extending through his most recent tenure as principal at Valley View Elementary School here in Boundary County.
"If you add up my teaching and administrative time," said Mr. Pflueger, "you will see I spent 38 years trying to stay away from superintendents and school board members. I have jumped from the frying pan and into the fire."
Kids First.
Those words are often heard in educational circles. "It's an easy slogan," said Mr. Pflueger. "People that know me, know I think this way."
Mr. Pflueger covered the importance of communication within the district, in particular as an important way to deal with difficult issues that may arise. "When anyone perceives a problem or conflict in one area of a child’s educational program, communication needs to happen. This is always best done in a non-emotional conversation one-to-one, with the best interest of the child in mind."
He stressed the importance of working with issues that arise by following the chain of command--not every problem needs to go directly to the school board, he said.
Back when he was interviewing for the Superintendent position, Mr. Pflueger outlined how his philosophy led to focusing on two key areas of a student's educational career. He continued with that same theme in his speech to district personnel.
"My focus will remain in two areas: the primary grades, and fine tuning the high school product."
"The first three to four years in school set the tone for academic and social success. The last three to four years in school prepares a human for the world. The students need to find their nitch. The high school program currently offers great options: an academic fast track with dual credits, vocational experiences for welding, auto and wood shop and FFA. We have excellent music and drama opportunities, sports, clubs and another shining star—robotics. These exceptional high school programs can be fine-tuned and extended," he continued.
He also mentioned another philosophy he had previously expressed when interviewed for his current position: "Not every child is cut out for public education. After we have exhausted all our resources, sometimes we need to remove a child who is disrupting the educational progress of others. I will help this process after I know we have tried everything we could think of to meet this child’s needs."
"We must work closely together, we must learn from each other, we should also learn from the students daily. This job should be fun."
He went on to review recent seminars that have helped contribute ideas and thinking toward effective strategies for working with students, then set some expectations for the coming school year:
"Our performance will be better than last year; our expectations will be higher. Your job is hard--my job is to support and assist you; with everything you do, remember—it is all about the kids!"
He concluded by asking the employees of the district to follow some of the same counsel often asked of the students: "Be on Time, Be Prepared, Be Respectful, and Act When Asked!"
And, ending his speech: "Go Badgers!"