MY PRIORITIES
Make GSL a District More Families Choose
One of the greatest opportunities I see for GSL is understanding why families make the educational choices they do.
A significant number of students who live within our district currently attend school elsewhere. We shouldn’t assume we know why. We should ask.
What influenced their decision? What are they finding elsewhere that they value? What does GSL do exceptionally well? Where could we improve? What would make families take another look at GSL?
Not every family will choose our district, and not every suggestion will be something we should pursue. But their feedback is valuable information. From there, we can identify trends, determine where meaningful opportunities exist, establish goals, take action, and measure whether those actions are actually making a difference.
If increasing enrollment is a priority, we should be able to answer: What is our goal? What are we doing to achieve it? And is it working?
Create Opportunities for Every Student
Students should leave GSL prepared for whatever comes next. For some, that’s a four-year college. For others, it’s technical education, agriculture, the trades, military service, entrepreneurship, or entering the workforce.
There isn’t one definition of student success. I want us to continually evaluate whether we’re providing students with meaningful opportunities to discover their strengths, explore possible careers, and prepare for life after graduation.
We should also be willing to learn from successful programs elsewhere. That doesn’t mean copying another district. It means asking what is working, understanding why it works, and determining whether a similar idea-or something uniquely GSL-could benefit our students.
The goal isn’t to make GSL like everyone else. It’s to make GSL the best version of GSL.
Practice Fiscal Responsibility
Connect Today’s Spending to Tomorrow’s Goals
In today’s economic environment, budgets are critical. Families, farms, businesses, cities, and school districts are all dealing with increasing costs and difficult choices about where to invest limited resources.
Fiscal responsibility doesn’t simply mean spending less. It means spending strategically. I believe our financial decisions should connect to a clear long-range plan for the district.
We should be asking:
• Where do we want GSL to be in five or ten years?
• What investments are necessary to get there?
• What are our highest priorities?
• What can we do more efficiently?
• Are we getting the expected value from previous investments?
• What is the long-term financial impact of the decisions we’re making today?
If we don’t have a clear long-range plan guiding those decisions, then developing one should be a priority.
Build a Culture of Continuous Improvement
Strong organizations don’t assume that because something has always been done a certain way, it’s necessarily the best way to do it tomorrow. They ask: Can we do this better?
Continuous improvement doesn’t mean constantly changing things. It means understanding what’s working, identifying what’s not, looking at the data, listening to the people closest to the issue, considering new ideas, and making thoughtful improvements. Education is changing. Technology is changing. The workforce is changing. The needs and expectations of families are changing. GSL needs to continue evolving, too. If we remain stagnant while the world around us moves forward, we fall behind.
Measure What Matters
Making a decision isn’t the end of the process. We should also understand whether that decision worked. When we invest taxpayer dollars, introduce a program, change a process, or pursue an important district goal, I believe we should establish what we’re trying to accomplish from the beginning. Then we should measure it.
Set the goal. Take action. Measure the result. Learn. Improve.