District 11 superintendent lays out goals: higher teacher pay, focus on grade‑level achievement and pre‑K expansion

Superintendent (unnamed in the transcript) used a 45‑minute orientation presentation to tell prospective school board candidates that the district’s top goal is to raise the share of students performing at grade level by directing more resources into classrooms.

He said District 11 has invested in a portfolio of school options and in recent years has reduced the number of schools on the state watch list from a higher number down to a small handful. The superintendent attributed past enrollment declines to a perception that District 11 was not delivering high‑quality instruction, and said the district has regained families in recent years — a claim he said was affected in part by a state reporting anomaly on pre‑K counts.

"We want to go from $50,000 starting salary to $70,000 starting salary. That's my goal within 3 years," the superintendent said, describing a compensation strategy intended to recruit and retain teachers who can deliver grade‑level instruction. He explained the district uses both recurring and nonrecurring compensation to prioritize core teachers, and said the district’s roughly $400 million budget should allow greater investment in classroom staffing.

The superintendent described a restructured central office split into three chief roles (what is taught, how it is taught, and who teaches it) aimed at getting more granular support to classrooms. He highlighted a "strategic staffing" approach at the district’s lowest‑performing schools that pays teachers more in exchange for additional training and collaboration time to improve student outcomes.

On measurement and outcomes, he said fewer than half of students are reading at grade level and roughly a third are at grade level in math, but noted pockets of strong performance: "85 percent of our kids in our early college, Odyssey Early College, get an associate's degree," even while SAT math proficiency remains lower. He framed the work as raising classroom proficiency toward a tipping point where more than half of students reach grade level, which he said would make instruction more effective for all students.

The superintendent also emphasized expanding early‑learning and career pathways: he said the district enrolls about 1,000 pre‑K students — calling it the largest pre‑K program in El Paso County — and described more than two dozen paid apprenticeships that give students credit and workplace experience.

He concluded by urging board candidates to back policies that protect classroom positions, invest in facilities and long‑term capital renewal, and continue efforts to make the district "the city school system." The presentation closed with an invitation for candidates to meet the superintendent one‑on‑one for follow‑up questions.

The next steps for the district include continuing to staff core classrooms, deploying targeted interventions where classroom data indicate gaps, and pursuing the district’s long‑term capital plans for older buildings such as Palmer and Jenkins.