IASA Annual Report 2020-21

With the 2020–21 school year in the rear-view mirror, it is time to reflect on what we lived through as superintendents. There were unprecedented challenges and setbacks, but superintendents continued to show resilience and flexibility, as well as a unique ability to get the job done

on how we face each day and, hopefully, we choose to make every day a great one, not only for us but for our students, teachers, aides, secretaries, bus drivers, custodians and cooks. There is only one superintendent in each school district. At some point, at least four (but hopefully seven) elected school board members made the decision that we were the best person to lead our school districts. Don’t forget that. To close, I want to thank Dr. Brent Clark for his never- ending leadership and the entire IASA staff for their support of the IASA Board of Directors and the IASA Superintendents during this crazy school year. I can vividly recall attending my first IASA Conference as a new Superintendent almost 20 years ago and being in awe of all of the leadership in the room. I will be finishing my role as IASA President on June 30 and will continue to serve as Superintendent of Monticello CUSD #25 through the end of the 2021–22 school year. I am proud to have served the IASA and will forever be a supporter of our organization. It’s a Great Day to be a SUPERINTENDENT.

when the chips were down. For that, I want to commend and celebrate you for your calm leadership during all of the great and not so great days. As leaders, we have to steer the ship in calm waters and in stormy seas. Superintendents deal with safety plans, weather emergencies, faculty and student deaths, bad employee decisions, CPPRT drops, coal plant closures, social media, bullying, snow-day decisions, split school boards, community input, coach firings, letters to the editor, bussing issues, building closures, unfunded mandates and I could keep going. However, we also get to see kids learning to read, high fives during lunch, dress-up days, birthday treats, art projects, band concerts, students with smiling faces, state championships, hiring brand new teachers, engaging professional development, referendum passages, new facilities, retirements, college scholarships and graduates coming back to see us. While we sometimes tend to focus on the bad days, there are really many more good ones to think about. We have a choice

Dr. Vic Zimmerman IASA President 2020–2021

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