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New superintendent stresses trust, communication and alignment in first weeks
Summary
In his first three weeks, the district’s new superintendent told the board he has been meeting staff and community leaders, working on hiring processes and seeking to align a previously deployed strategic plan with district operations.
The district’s new superintendent told the Albert Lea School Board he has spent the first three weeks meeting staff, principals and community partners and identified trust, communication and alignment as early priorities.
In a report to the board, the superintendent said he had met roughly 50 employees and attended community events, including Kiwanis and business visits, to gather input. He described small, practical steps to improve communication — for example, installing signage and making the walking track at the Hammer Complex clearer to the public. "It's just that communication of the community. And hey, we're open and thank you for all that you've given us and this is here to use," he said.
He outlined work on hiring procedures, saying the district has used surveys and staff input in recent principal and assistant-principal searches and will formalize hiring processes for administrators, coaches and other positions so steps are documented and defensible. He also noted concern about hiring hard-to-fill positions, including a Hawthorne music teacher and a high-school counselor.
The superintendent described his review of the district’s existing strategic plan with the consultant TeamWorks. He said the plan "never really rolled out as it was ever designed to roll out" and that parts of the documentation the district had paid for were not consistently distributed; he said he is collecting the material from the consultant and will test the plan with staff and the community before a full rollout.
Board members welcomed the superintendent's outreach. Kristen Seager, the district’s teacher representative, told the board ALEA staff appreciated the meet-and-greets and the way staff input was incorporated into the high‑school principal hiring process.
The superintendent said he will continue building administrative processes and alignment across the district and will schedule building tours and business visits to maintain visibility and strengthen community relationships.
