'Some other candidates might have been scared away'

New school superintendent, Ryan Neaves, shares his thoughts on Berea and 'righting the ship'

File photo of Ryan Neaves, PhD, addressing the Berea Board of Education

BEREA—Last school year’s turbulence ended with Superintendent Diane Hatchett, PhD, being placed on administrative leave after it was discovered the district faced a budget shortfall of well over a million dollars. Nearly three dozen staff were furloughed to help cover the funding gap. You can read more about the turmoil here.

Hatchett’s replacement, Ryan Neaves, PhD, sat down with The Edge to share why he wanted the lead role in a battle weary school community and what he sees is possible for its future.

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Ed note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Thanks to The Edge supporter, Mary Wiese, a former Carroll County assistant middle school principal and educator, for conducting this interview with Dr. Neaves.

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The Edge: What made you want to take on the role of superintendent of the Berea Independent Schools district after so much crisis?

Ryan Neaves, PhD: Really, it was the community’s response to the situation. I think that was something that really drew me into wanting to apply somewhere like this.

TE: Would that appeal to others, or are you unique in this?

RN: I think some candidates would have been scared away, they would have been put off by all that. But I think it’s something when you have a community that is really engaged in the school. You want that as a superintendent because you need the community to support you. You need them to help the school progress.

TE: What makes you well suited for the Community School environment?

RN: I have been in this environment before. Most recently, I was in Williamstown. It had about 100 kids less than Berea [the total Community School student population is, at present, 895], but it was one campus, in one building, with me as the principal.

TE: For that job, there were over 40 applicants that you beat out.

RN: True enough. We had had two principals, an elementary one and one for junior and senior high. I had been principal of the junior and senior high, then there was a leadership change, and then it all was consolidated into just me as K-through 12 principal.

TE: Turning to test scores now. Overall, Berea Community School’s standardized test scores are not so great. What does that say to you and how do you plan to address this?

RN: I think it’s important to consider that the school accountability system [which includes standardized testing] used in the state of Kentucky needs to be drastically overhauled. I’m not putting all my eggs into the basket of chasing this magical unicorn of school accountability. They use things like stars and numbers, and other things that don’t make sense for determining how successful kids are. I’m not going to chase those moving goalposts all the time.

What I am going to chase is making sure that our staff are supported and have what they need to be successful in the classroom.

TE: Is what you want to do going to be difficult with less staff?

RN: Just because we’re down a certain number of staff doesn’t lower the bar for our expectations of success. We’re going to invest in our teachers and we’re going to make sure that they have the tools that they need to meet the needs of every student that enters into their classrooms.

There will be a hyper-focus on systems and support. It’s very evident that there was a lack of commitment to that in the past. You know, [previously], when [teachers] asked a lot of questions and [were] presented with blank stares and laughter in response, then you can see why the scores are what they are.

Outside of climate and culture, it’s just systems. There need to be good systems in place for how we’re operating as an organization. There need to be organizational systems that make sense. There need to be roles and responsibilities and direct lines of communication. There needs to be a bit of an overhaul within these structures and systems here.

TE: Well, as for students doing well when tested, would you say that if the materials are good and engages the students, then the scores should take care of themselves?

RN: One hundred percent.

TE: What safeguards are you putting in place to ensure financial security for the District?

RN: (Laughs) This is the first meeting I’ve had where I didn’t have the financial director [Nathan Sweet] by my side. Everything is looked at through the lens of financial stability. I want to be sure that we’re sound and secure on every decision that we make.

[Sweet] has given me a bit of historical context about everything so that I could know exactly how money has been spent, and now, what stones do we need to turn over so that we can make sure money is being allocated correctly. Also, to see whether there are resources that are being under-utilized, and how we leverage the different accounts that we have in title funds or in our general funds for just appropriate expenditures that get the most value for each dollar.

TE: It’s good you have a person you can talk to as you get acquainted with the community as well as the inner-workings of things.

RN: Nathan is a [Community School] graduate, he’s from here, he lives here, he knows things. When we’re going to a meeting together, then we stop along the way at points of interest that I should know about. He tells me good stories and gives me history lessons I should have.

TE: The school has a 300,000 dollar monthly burden for salaries alone. That leaves you very little to work with.

RN: True.

TE: Is there anything you can do to bring more money into the system?

RN: The number one thing we can do is increase enrollment. And attendance. So, there is going to be a significant push this year to make sure we educate families on the importance of attendance. Attendance matters. [State and federal funds are distributed according to a school’s student population.]

TE: What does the Kentucky Department of Education expect from you given all that occurred last school year?

RN: They expect me to approach [the year] with a sense of urgency and to right the ship. Without correction, there would be an environment where dire decisions would need to be made. The cuts and adjustments to the budget, and the constraints on spending, have all been in line with what KDE has suggested will put us on a path back to financial health. They expect that if we have questions, we’ll contact them. We have direct lines of communication with several members of the Department, all the way up to the assistant commissioner of education.

TE: One of the complaints in the past was that the superintendent did not spend much time in the schools. Will you be there more often and what would you be looking for, if so?

RN: Every day. One thing the office staff are going to have to be comfortable with is that I am not going to be in the office very often. When my people are here, when my kids are here, I have to be connecting with them in their building, in the school. That’s where I am going to be.

I am looking for the same things I did when I was a principal. I want a climate and culture that is engaging. I want students that want to be at school. I want to have staff that want to be at school. I want evidence of learning. And I would want that same thing if it were a community member walking around there. I don’t want there to be a show just because it’s the superintendent walking around. It needs to be authentic. Seeing that will build confidence in me that we are building progress.

TE: From what you’ve seen already, what are the areas you feel that you can contribute to, sharpen, make better?

RN: In the short window of time, it’s become very evident that my expertise in climate and culture is going to be the most significant way that we’re going to make headway. A lot of times, when people hear ‘climate and culture’, they just think about the fun things that are happening in your school. That’s not the way I encapsulate climate and culture. I mean, do we have a system in place for teachers to feel valued and to feel like they have a voice in the direction the school is taking?

Do kids have trustworthy adults in the building that they are comfortable speaking to and building relationships with? Do community members have faith in the organization and in the leaders that have been entrusted with their child’s education? Climate and culture, it’s very loaded. And it’s one hundred percent a priority of mine.

TE: Previously, there were complaints of a lack of respect for teachers coming from previous leadership. For example, when the teachers were being let go, they had to walk across the parking lot to the Central office, learn they were being fired, then return to their class to finish teaching for the day.

RN: My mantra and guiding philosophy for being a leader is to never forget what it was like to be a teacher in a classroom. I had a meeting with a teacher yesterday. She said one of her biggest frustrations has been that she would find out what was happening at the school from people in the community. Parents knew about things happening before teachers did. That is unacceptable. There needs to be transparency, a decision-making process, and visibility, and by that I mean, I need to present, not making all the decisions from my desk with the door closed.

TE: Do you still have three school principals and an assistant principal at Community School?

RN: They have been consolidated. This was one of the last decisions that happened under Dr. Thomas [Elmer Thomas, PhD, was the interim superintendent]. We have gone back to only two principals. So now the structure is an elementary school, and a middle-high school. And an assistant principal.

TE: What do your principals tell you that they need?

RN: I think they want support. They want support in creating those systems, and they want to know that somebody has their back for the decisions that they make. They are also mindful that they have room to grow and they have approached me with a willingness to learn.

TE: One of the Board of Education members, Tom McCay, did not vote to hire you because, he said, that he did not approve of the fact that you did not want to agree to move to Berea within the first year. Are you still sticking to that?

RN: I will say now what I said then. My priority at the beginning of my tenure as superintendent here is going to be to learn the community, learn the school, learn the systems and structures, not trying to find housing.

TE: Anything else you want to mention?

RN: I think there is a great thirst for leadership here, and a great desire for community involvement. So, we’re going to lean into that. We’re going to capture the spirit and drive change and progress here. It’s going to be a great year.

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