The School District of Choice for Scottsdale Families 

The Governing Board and the Superintendent participated in our first “retreat” recently to both: (1) get-to-know one another and (2) to triage our top priorities.

After sharing the reasons we chose to serve on the Board, we quickly re-committed to both our fiduciary responsibility and academic expectations. We examined the strengths we each bring to the table, understanding we are indeed one body that, yes, must follow the statutory and best-business practices of a Governing Board, yet we are also highly interested in innovative approaches to serving our students.

In an exercise led by our external facilitator, we unanimously agreed that examining our enrollment trend and academic progress is at the top of our action list. We see Scottsdale as the school district of choice for all of our families. We will be examining actions we can take and barriers we need to overcome.

It was a healthy meeting because we spoke openly about how mistrust interferes with our focus and can be disruptive to routine and mundane operational tasks, yet we also choose to be watchful and supportive of the various district processes that support the efficiencies and effectiveness of Scottsdale. We brainstormed some of the ways to capture the best of SUSD, including:

• Academics, with an emphasis on growth and less focus on fear-driven sanctions
• Perhaps rightsizing our large system
• Incentivizing better attendance
• Conducting listening sessions across the district, while supporting the teacher retention rates we continue to see

We want to respect a faith-based welcome for our students and families from various backgrounds and dig deeper into our organizational culture and climate surveys. This Board also stands ready to examine the barriers to remove so that our shared desire for being Scottsdale’s schools of choice is honest and real for our families. We want to examine trust issues and learn what our parents and community say about choices that seem to be a better fit for them. We are going to develop our skill to problem-identify at a deep level, so we are not making shallow assumptions.

Our belief in the transparency of examining ourselves is truly a sign of health and support that has me personally excited for the work ahead.

Grateful to work with such a devoted team of SUSD stewards.

Dr. Donna W. Lewis
President
SUSD Governing Board

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