Interview of Dr. Dan Lawson by the Board of Education

June 20, 2017 (9am)

Please note that the following are the highlights of this interview session. Not every question is represented, and answers have been abbreviated to provide an abridged and balanced representation of the candidate.

General questions

1. Please tell us what you would like us to know about yourself.

I take my work very, very seriously, myself not so much. Like many of you, I’ve contributed much of my life to community outreach, and I’m happy to say I’m a pretty good square guy.

2. Why did you apply for this position?

There will never be a good time to leave my current position (stayed for 21 years), but I have to make a best time. Now that our children are moved out, we’re prepared to move somewhere our children can’t find us (humor intended). I’m enamored by the size of the community, I like the location, and I am happy with the building projects underway.

3. What do you most look forward to in being Superintendent of Decatur City Schools?

I’m ready to interface with new people, and find new dialogues with new people. This is a welcome opportunity and a good experience.

Student Achievement

1.       How important to you personally is student performance on standardized tests?

Here is where I kick my interview to the curb. I don’t believe that a school can be measured by the results of its standardized test scores. We frame the value of our investments on the stories of our kids. We do need a compelling set of data from the classroom to prove that we are moving the needle, but we can’t focus so much on moving the needle that we ignore our actual kids.

Follow up: How are you currently moving your own kids forward?

By comparing my schools with the community that they face. We have to have intentional intervention, but not so much that we suck the joy out of school.

2. Specifically, how do you currently plan to raise our students’ performance on standardized test scores? We say, “currently,” because we realize you will know more about our system if you become our superintendent.

Each of you as parents know that your kids cared about only two assessments in life. One is driving a car, and the other is going to college with scholarship money from their ACT. We have to drive instruction by showing kids the value of classroom assessment. Real-time informative data can be the best tool to drive our kids.

3. How will you develop instructional leaders in our schools who are capable of consistently raising our students’ performance on standardized tests both across the school system and from year to year? We have numerous students who truly excel and some who have much room for improvement.

We have to measure the strengths and weaknesses in our programs to determine what works best in our community. We need a “best fit” that builds leaders.

4. Specifically, how will you instill, for teachers, administrators and our students, a sense of importance and priority in our students’ success in standardized test scores?

We need to utilize the academic component as well as intertwine fun things to make sure that kids who otherwise might not have the opportunity for enrichment understand that learning is also joyous. We need to be prescriptive about how we deal with students from both sides of the track.

5. How do you balance the dynamic of teachers and administrators being accountable for student achievement with possible student apathy and still improve scores?

Student apathy is a given. We have to realize that not everyone is motivated in the same way. Not every kid is a teacher-pleaser. We need to target student motivation through inspiring relationships with them.

6. What is the role of extra-curricular activities in a student’s school career? How do they interact with instruction?

When I look at programs which provided value, I always think of students who were not impacted, and think of ways to make them feel like they belong. Extra-curricular activities give students a place to fit in and find a sense of belonging.

Governance/ Chief Executive Officer

1. How will you use the formal evaluation process to support the goals of the Board and the system, especially as relates to academic achievement?

One of the challenges I see in our evaluation models is that we tend to be terribly formulated. But a good teacher accomplishes outcomes by having folks saying “he/she did a wonderful job with my child in her class.”

We have to be as diverse in our evaluation as our teachers are.

There is not one snapshot that will indicate how I’m affecting leadership of the school district. It has to be a balance of finding areas to improve.

2.       How often will you evaluate principals?

The evaluation of a principal is almost an everyday thing; my challenge is to make sure I have a relationship of trust with them, as well as a joint value system. We have to share ideas of improvement.

3. Please provide your opinion on the occasional (every other year) evaluation of superordinates by subordinates; for example, teachers evaluate principals, principals evaluate the superintendent, etc.?

I’m a firm believer. I believe it gives me data I’ll never get for myself; and we find great comfort in data.

Follow up by Duke: What tool do you use for what I call the 360?

We started with Survey Monkey, but then transitioned to Google forms. As part of my forms, I have email feedback from individuals.

Follow up by Jett: Do you follow-up coaching with personnel based on the 360 evaluation results?

We do to the extent of answering questions like “I wonder what happened in that school?” But the follow-up with principals is very transparent. “I see a problem, and how should we deal with it?”

4. What do you consider to be the role of the Board of Education? Please give examples of the Superintendent’s responsibilities and the Board’s.

I serve at the pleasure of the Board of Education as the spokesperson as the face and voice of the school system in each classroom, in each student group. My role is to lend voice to Decatur City Schools.

Your role as Board is more complex. You have the responsibility of doing what’s best in the interest of many students, and those interests are often incompletely answered.

5. How will you communicate with the Board of Education?

I know that board members like to be surprised only during Christmas. It could be via Twitter stream, some I text, others I email, and still others I call. I put out a weekly note to each board member to let them know what’s happening in our schools federally, specifically, and even educationally.

6. What is the most challenging and troublesome decision you have ever had to make as an administrator, and what was the process you used to make that decision?

March 14, 1990, a high school caught fire. Lost ¾ of the school that day. It was our only high school in the community. We sat down in a board room, and I told them that we still had to have school Monday morning, but we wouldn’t have a building for 1 and ½ years. Not only was it the most challenging, it was also the most rewarding, because our team accomplished our outcomes through flexibility and communication.

7. While we realize that each person is responsible for their own morale, give us your thoughts on school system morale.

As you look at school morale, the face of leadership matters. It is a message of service and relationship. Service is never below the responsibility of the executive leader. It’s about meshing service and relationship.

8. What are your guiding principles on hiring? In providing your answer, please discuss the hiring of district level administrators, school principals, head coaches and band directors, teachers and classified employees.

Hiring for all levels of positions require what I’ve head called the “Three C’s:” Character, Confidence, Chemistry (does that person make those around them better?)

9. Do you believe school principals and other administrators should live in the city of Decatur? Why or why not?

When they don’t live within the limits, it is tough because they don’t have a face in the community. An effective Superintendent HAS to.

Follow up by Mr. Jett: Would you say the majority of your administration live in Tullahoma?

Yes, they do.

10. In the capacity of Superintendent, how do you see yourself as the public face of DCS to our community?

I believe the public face is critical, and I think it’s good for folks to see a different side of me through stage productions, or as a basketball coach. I have to show investment 24/7; my voice is always on.

Finance

1. What priorities drive your budgeting process?

Looking at a typical school budget, much is people-related. As I look at that value, I affix names to that, and invest in those as we see value. Sometimes we have to see some programs go by the wayside to make way for contemporary programs that seem to work better.

2. How do you use the budget to raise academic improvement?

We’ve spent a lot of time investing in ACT Prep and credit recovery so kids aren’t left behind, especially in math.

3. Imagine you had to cut 2% out of our budget. For us, that would equal $1.986 M. How would you determine the areas to be reduced? Follow up: Where would you make the cuts without harming academic achievement?

Some fixed costs still always exist, which means cutting budget is never easy. It is important to have a strong dialogue with the personnel it will affect, because it always be hard. We have to be open and transparent about what the budget looks like. It’s about communication, starting early, and having strong dialogue.

Decatur City Schools

1. What is your vision to improve DCS in all areas?

I’m hired to orchestrate positive change, and that is based on changes around us. So in a way, I’ve got to do more school than anyone else. Personally, I have expectations about relationships, high achievement, joy, and positive stories.

2.       First 90 days:

It’s all about building trust through building relationships right away. I’ll spend an awful lot of time in classrooms, schools, having lunch with kids. Of course making the rounds in civic organizations.

Then when the paperwork starts, my voice and leadership will be stronger.

Miscellaneous

1.       How do you see Career Tech influencing our community?

I think we undervalue it right now; we need to cater to what the market expects. We have to honor the value of honest work that provides for a family, a community. Career Tech Education should never be viewed as “less than.”

2. Please share an example of how you have been successful in building relationships with students, teachers, or other stakeholders in your community.

We have provided a set of skills in our teachers that is remarkable. We deliver it digitally to students, and we support a 1:1 with students K-12. I know there are technological ways to connect with students, and that is vital, but not everyone responds to technology. We have to be sensitive to our clientele. We have to be intentional in using technology to frame the message of our school. I think the real power in technology in education is not in consumption, but in creation.

3.If offered the job as Superintendent, when could you begin?

Karen Lawson (my wife) has knee surgeries coming, and I can’t move until she completely rehabilitates. My guess is December-ish.

4.If selected, what would your role be between now and December?

I would want a lot of communication, and technology makes that possible, but I would hate to have you expect me full-time, and then me not be able to deliver. I think there is a tremendous opportunity for this school system to spread its wings, and I’d like to be a part of that.

Final Comments by Dr. Lawson:

Don’t hesitate to fully execute your job if you don’t think “this one doesn’t fit.” I’ve hired too many people that didn’t fit, and I want you to consider that.

When asked about his pale green suit, primary colored striped tie, and bright fish socks, Lawson responded, “Well I’ve never been a black-suit kind of guy, so I figured if I’m going to dress this way every day, I might as well let them (BOE) see that now. I like to wear superman socks when I go to elementary schools to read with kids. They love them.”