Current Littleton Public Schools superintendent Brian Ewert is retiring at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, and the district is on the search for a new one.
After Dr. Douglas VanderJagt withdrew his name from the list of finalists citing personal reasons on February 1, two candidates remained. The candidates held receptions at the district education services center on February 6 and February 8.
Dr. Todd Lambert is currently the superintendent of the Warrick County School Corporation in Booneville, Indiana. He previously served in the Poudre School District in Fort Collins, and the Westfield Washington School District in Westfield, Indiana.
Lambert earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Kentucky, a Master of Arts in Education from Ball State University, and a Ph.D. in Administrative Studies from Purdue University.
Lambert described himself as a “student-oriented leader” with a particular passion for early childhood education. With a lot of experience under his belt, he claimed that he is looking for this job to be his final one before retirement.
Melissa Cooper has been an LPS employee since 2011, currently serving as the Assistant Superintendent of Learning Services. She previously worked for the Mount Evans Boards of Cooperative Educational Services and Jefferson County Schools.
Cooper earned a Bachelor of Science in Special Education and Elementary Education from the University of New Mexico, a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from Colorado Christian University, and a Special Education Director Licensure from the University of Northern Colorado.
Cooper described her leadership style as “collaborative”, claiming she has a “heart for service”. She has experience with gifted and talented education, special education, and teaching at both elementary and secondary levels.
During their information sessions, both touched on similar points and shared similar goals for the district, while other topics were put on the back burner.
District Strengths and Challenges
First, both candidates highlighted the many strengths they already saw in the district. The LPS Board of Education is “not looking for a changemaker”, and both candidates seemed comfortable with that.
The district is also facing some challenges that may continue to worsen over the next few years, and both Cooper and Lambert stressed how difficult these will be to tackle with limited funding. The boundary changes, aging buildings, and declining enrollment were all brought up.
“Some facility issues, some healing regarding boundary decisions, … deferred maintenance and issues like that are costly, and with a tight budget situation in the state of Colorado, there’s not an abundance of money to go around,” said Lambert.
“The boundary changes that we have experienced for all of the right reasons certainly also pose a challenge in how we work with consolidating schools. The face of our elementary schools is going to be bigger, and what does that mean for our children?” said Cooper.
COVID-19
Despite how sore people seem sometimes about bringing up COVID anymore, the pandemic and its effects on learning were front and center in the concerns of both candidates.
“Some of our students are recovering faster,” said Lambert. “But I think on the learning side we are starting to close the [gap]. I’m more worried about the social milestones, we have kids showing up at our upper elementary levels that just didn’t get some of the things that their peers a little older did.”
“There is a sense of distrust and disconnect between our schools and our district, and that’s explainable,” said Cooper. “There were decisions that were being made that our students had no opportunity for input.”
Nevertheless, the pandemic also served as a time of adversity that strengthened both candidates.
“I think at times, maybe we underestimated the different perspectives of our families. It brought out the best in us and it also brought out the worst in us,” said Lambert.
Declining enrollment
Declining enrollment is one of the biggest long-term concerns for the district, as well as many others in the state. While housing prices and other factors that have led to this can’t be controlled by the district, Lambert and Cooper also believe that many families left the district during the pandemic due to a lack of connection.
“We need to ensure that our students feel safe in Littleton Public Schools, that students have the opportunity to feel a sense of belonging, … that they have what they need in order to address any academic learning gaps,” said Cooper.
Staff hiring/retention
Recently, Cherry Creek School District announced that they were raising their teacher starting salary to $57,000 in a bid to attract staff. Facing a similar staffing shortage, both candidates seemed willing to support wage increases but didn’t provide any specific numbers.
“We’re asking more of our teachers than we’ve ever asked of them … I feel like they’ve got to be compensated,” said Lambert. “I’d like to get that bottom number up for sure.”
“We need to look to ensure that we are compensating our new teachers in a competitive way when we look at our neighboring districts, as well as ensuring the lifetime earnings of our teachers,” said Cooper.
While these goals are optimistic, state funding stands in the way of them, and neither candidate has the power to dramatically influence this.
Student and staff mental health
Mental health was a heavily discussed topic during both nights, with both staff and student mental health concerns being highlighted.
“Whether a mental health crisis takes place during the day or whether it takes place at night, it still has an impact on [students]. We would want to find ways for students to seek help, whether that’s hotlines, numbers, staff, or a partnership with mental health providers in the community,” said Lambert.
Lambert noted that increasing the number of social workers in schools and reducing class sizes can make it easier for students to get the help they need.
Cooper expressed concern about the effect of the pandemic on the mental health of staff members and wants to focus more on this if she receives the position.
“I think that it is very important for us to recognize the impact for our staff, and perhaps even provide more direct support for our staff through a staff member who is designed to provide mental health support for them,” said Cooper.
Amplifying student voices
Both candidates expressed how important student involvement is to their values as superintendents. The needs and challenges that students face have changed over the past few years, and the candidates acknowledged that.
“It is our responsibility as educators to adjust our approach to change what we are doing in order to be responsive to those needs,” said Cooper.
“It’s easy just to go to the PTO meeting and have that, but I think you have to intentionally reach out to all our families, and find ways to do that,” said Lambert. “I will stick up for all students, I will be their warrior.”
“I had a very fun afternoon at Heritage High School, and already began conversations and listened to students,” said Cooper. “I would want to have a structured opportunity through an advisory council where students could come and meet with me on a regular basis and share what’s on their mind.”
Student safety
Neither candidate made mention of specific student safety actions that the district could take, nor did anyone in the audience ask about school resource officers, arming teachers, or disciplining students.
Avoiding this controversial topic, Lambert and Cooper made lofty statements about the importance of ensuring that the safety of all students is always the utmost priority
“If school’s not safe, where is safe? That means a lot of different things, physical safety, individual safety, confidence in being able to learn and grow and ask questions, we want everyone to be able to reach their full potential,” said Lambert.
“Student safety always comes first, and it needs to be the lens through which we engage in our work,” said Cooper.
What didn’t matter
A lot of information was covered during these 1-hour information sessions, but amid all of it, neither candidate mentioned critical race theory or changes in school curriculum. While these are issues that haunt some school districts across the country, they clearly aren’t big-ticket issues in LPS.
Finalist interviews will occur on February 22, held by community committees and the Littleton Public Schools Board of Education. The superintendent selection will be made later this spring, in preparation for the transition from Brian Ewert to our next superintendent.
