We’re excited for the new Mount Vernon School superintendent, Matthew Leeman, hired at the end of last week and officially starting July 1. He’ll have big shoes to fill in the community, coming after a superintendent like Dr. Greg Batenhorst who has been so open on communication to all in the district, but like the school board and many who listened to the interviews, we’re sure he’ll be up to the task. The Mount Vernon School Board and Ray and Associates did a great job in that interview process in keeping citizens informed and taking guidance from stakeholders at different input sessions.
Roughly 30 citizens, staff and teachers attended public forums with the candidates each night during the interview process, and the questions asked got to key issues that face our district and education in general.
Interviews were also conducted with staff, students and other community members in days long processes for all three finalists. More than one of the finalists noted how fast the day had went and how much fun they were having meeting with constituents in the area.
We know the interviews were a long process and Ray and Associates worked with the school to identify several candidates. Members of the school board had several closed sessions to narrow the candidate pool.
The roads ahead for area schools, especially in rural districts, gets harder each legislative session. Especially as state supplemental aid has not been approved by the deadline to help the districts determine budgets and the Governor and others continue pushing for changes to the Area Education Agencies and their funding streams.
And locally, we have our own issues that are going to need guidance from all area leaders, including continued work on addressing the childcare desert issue. Leeman has been invited to attend the April 9 meeting conducted by the League of Women Voters to be held at Cornell College (alongside current superintendent Greg Batenhorst and Lisbon’s superintendent Autumn Pino). That meeting will be bringing partners from across multiple city government areas to all be on the same page on this issue, past actions taken and the steps for the future continue to be addressed.
As our schools and class sizes continue to grow, he may be leading the district in planning for the next building at the Mount Vernon School District and other matters on the 10-year plan.