Schares stresses communication

Editor’s Note: This is the second article in a four-part series about candidates the Oskaloosa School Board has interviewed to replace retiring Superintendent Carolyn McGaughey.

By DUANE NOLLEN

OSKALOOSA — Denise Schares is an associate superintendent of the Waterloo Community School District, and she’d like to be Oskaloosa’s next school superintendent.

Schares is the second of four candidates the Oskaloosa School Board interviewed to replace retiring Superintendent Carolyn McGaughey.

Schares has been an associate superintendent in Waterloo for the past five years, and at that level an associate superintendent does all the things a superintendent does at a smaller school district.

“It’s my time to lead,” Schares said when asked why she wants to be a superintendent. Working with and directing a team is “very enticing,” she added.

Schares fielded a series of questions from the School Board.

School Board member Laurie Palmer asked Schares about her vision for learning and school culture.

In regards to the mission statement “All kids learn at a high level,” Schares said, “you have to really believe that ... believe in them and give them the supports they need.”

Schares said administrators need to follow a strategic plan and align what is in the plan with the programs and have supports available for students who don’t learn the first time around.

School Board member Lin Yoder asked her about how she would foster a safe and effective learning environment.

Schares said that collaboration and communication are key. She would involve those who are closest to an issue and involve them in the conversation on what to do. Schares takes every opportunity she can to speak in public about education issues. She also said the Waterloo district has a Web site called “Ask Us First” where the public can ask questions and receive answers.

School Board member Susan Boxler asked Schares how she keeps in touch with what’s going on in the various buildings in her district.

“I do frequent visits,” she said. Schares has 19 buildings to visit in Waterloo. “It’s your avenue of communication ... see teachers in context.”

There are 800 teachers in Waterloo, and Schares said she knows 500 of them by name.

She also likes talking to students — she gets her “kid fix” during her visits.

School Board member Anne Whitis asked Schares about how she most influenced Waterloo schools.

Schares wrote the teacher mentoring pilot project that began in Waterloo. She said that with good teachers in classrooms and good leaders as building administrators, a district has good education. The program pairs young teacher with veteran educators to guide them through their first years as instructors.

“It’s sustained itself,” Schares said of the pilot program.

Herald Editor Duane Nollen can be reached by email at oskynews@oskyherald.com

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