John Heim’s old job should fit Theresa Davidson like a glove. She’s spent most of her adult life preparing for it.
Davidson took over July 1 as interim superintendent after Heim resigned to become director of the Kansas Association of School Boards in Topeka.
The school board meeting Wednesday night in the Mary Herbert Education Center was Davidson’s first since she took over running the district.
Davidson came with an understanding of all aspects of education. She has been a classroom teacher, counselor, principal and district administrator along the way to interim superintendent.
“I honestly feel like Emporia’s been extraordinary to me,” Davidson said. “I came here as a young administrator who did not have a lot of experience.”
From 2001 to 2004, she was assistant superintendent of business. She left for a few years to take jobs in education at other locations and, when she returned, she became associate superintendent for personnel in 2006.
Davidson was born in Windthorst, near Hays, and graduated from Hays High School. She holds a bachelor’s degree in French and a master’s degree in counseling, both from Fort Hays State, and building-level and district-level administrative certifications from Fort Hays also.
She began her career in 1973 teaching foreign language and psychology at Douglass High School; later, she was counselor at the high school, elementary and middle-school levels in Hays and Ulysses. She has been principal at Ulysses, Hays and Woodland, Texas, and in 1997, she was the Kansas Principal of the Year for the MetLife/National Association of Secondary School Principals Awards. She is chairperson-elect for the Special Olympics Kansas Board of Directors.
“That great variety of experience all can come together right now,” she said.
She will look for opportunities and ways teachers and principals can “kind of pull together everything we’ve been working on for the past 10 years,” she said.
Heim left the district with a solid foundation in educational resources and curriculum that she expects to build on.
“We have a lot of good things happening in the district,” she said.
And, while she is conscious that her current job is a one-year position that she expects to apply for permanently, Davidson does not anticipate spending this interim school year biding her time. She is studying ways to make the district more efficient and more effective.
“I have one year. That’s what I’m given,” she said. There may not be time to embark on major changes, “but at the same time, I don’t want things to stand still.”
At this point, the state’s financial condition remains precarious, with slow school-aid payments and unexpected cutbacks that have caused the district to dip into its reserves.
“Right now, our finances demand that we look at ways to become more efficient,” said Davidson, who admitted that she enjoys analyzing situations to find the best outcomes. “Even if we weren’t in a difficult financial position — I guess I grew up a farm girl who had to take advantage of the things we have.”
She anticipates there may be changes to deal with in the No Child Left Behind Act and, while some change may be needed, Davidson has seen the benefits of its strict, though often unpopular, regime.
“No Child Left Behind has not, in some cases, not been a term that we have always appreciated,” Davidson said. “I have to say that I have absolutely seen that we’ve come a long way. ...
“But along with that comes a lot more responsibility and a lot of hard work. And, of course, we’re doing that all with a reduced staff this year. But I also know, I’m fully aware, there are challenges ahead of us.”
The Emporia school district, with its shrinking property-tax base does not have the access to substantial tax funds enjoyed by Johnson County school districts. That so far has not diminished the quality of education here, she said.
“I’m satisfied that our students are getting as good an education as in other counties that are maybe better off than us,” she said.
The district’s student population includes a sizable number with special or unique needs, like language or special types of education. Educators in Emporia take those challenges in stride, she said.
“In Emporia, we don’t look at that as a ‘poor me’ kind of thing. ... It is a part of the work we do. It’s how we do business. It’s what we are good at,” Davidson said. “We can still do a lot of things. We just have to set priorities.”
One of those priorities is to provide an educational setting where students thrive and have the opportunity to steer a successful course in life.
“I know how important my own children are to me,” Davidson said, empathizing with parents of the students. “It’s absolutely important that we keep in mind the dreams that our parents have or come to have for our children.”
She has had the advantage of being part of that process as her children grew to be adults.
“Basically from the time they were in sixth grade, I was their principal. ... It was my job to be at their activities. I was their parent, I was their principal,” she said.
She wants local parents to enjoy the same satisfaction, seeing their children graduate from Emporia schools, prepared to continue toward their goals.
Davidson’s son, Matt, is a structural engineer in Oakland; daughter Amanda is manager for Republic National Liquor Distributors in Denver.
“They are my very best friends in the world,” Davidson said. “They just are wonderful human beings.”
blulitespecial (anonymous) says...
Good luck to all,it's going to be a rough year.Our taxes have gone up,and it will be even worse tax picture after Jan 1st.
If school-aid payments are slow now,then the cutting of 250 million in aid to Kansas education is going to make it worse.
July 16, 2010 at 11:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Delaney (anonymous) says...
~sigh~
Could we not have gotten someone with experience in larger venues, someone with a more varied educational resume? Middle & high school principal is the pinnacle of her career? And Texas..., please... consistently one of the lowest rating states in education.
jeez.
October 30, 2010 at 5:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )