Glen Szymoniak
EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION Superintendent
Dedicated to providing a superior educational experience for all students in a safe, orderly environment. Outstanding results in:
- Systems approach to increasing student achievement
- Community engagement to establish high expectations
- Using data to inform strategic planning and implementation
- Professional development to improve instruction
- 21st Century Learning and Technology implementation
- Bond Ratings and School Construction
- Finance and School Management
- Contract Negotiations
- School safety, including emergency response, harassment prevention and positive school climate
EDUCATION
Master of Arts, University of Alaska 1997. Public School Administration with emphasis in strategic planning and school improvement.
Bachelor of Science, Central Michigan University, 1979. Elementary Education, history, and physical education.
Certificate, Harvard Law School, 2002. Negotiation - Interest Based Bargaining
CERTIFICATION
Alaska: Type B Certificate, Superintendent/Principal
Idaho: Superintendent/Principal, K-8 all subjects
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Superintendent -Interim 2017-present (460 Students)
Dillingham City School District, Dillingham, AK
Recently retired in Alaska – asked by the Alaska School Board Association to serve as interim; eligible to serve on a temporary basis only (1 yr.).
- Responsibilities include an $11 million budget, supervision of four administrators, two schools, and seventy staff.
- Coordinated partnerships with the local college, surrounding school districts and tribal organizations to increase dual credit and CTE course opportunities for students.
- Negotiated a contract that teachers refused to ratify the previous year.
- Delivered harassment and emergency response training to all district employees.
Superintendent 2015-2017 North Slope Borough School District, Barrow, Alaska (2,200 students)
Responsibilities included an $80 million budget, supervision of twenty administrators, eleven schools, and five hundred staff in a district geographically the size of Oregon. (90,000 sq. mi./largest district in the United States) There are no roads connecting the towns, so transportation is by plane and communication is by satellite.
- Improved teacher recruitment utilizing personalized, targeted recruiting methods with on-line application and interview process. (10 unfilled positions in 2015 to 0 unfilled positions in 2016)
- Increased and upgraded district teacher housing units to accommodate and retain incoming teachers. (NSBSD manages approx. 200 units)
- Developed culturally relevant curriculum at all levels to improve student engagement and achievement (based on traditional Inupiaq values and customs)
- Initiated business software conversion to eliminate paper and utilize online processes
Superintendent 2008-2015 McCall-Donnelly School District, McCall, Idaho (1,098 students)
Responsibilities included a $10 million budget, supervision of 158 employees, 5 principals and 5 schools.
- Increased number of students proficient or advanced in all subjects measured with the Idaho Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) from 2007 to 2013.
- Increased reading district-wide by 10.1 percent.
- 84.5% to 94.6% (64.4% advanced)
- Increased science district-wide by 15.8 percent.
- 69.3% to 85.1% (54.5% advanced)
- Increased Language district-wide by 11.7 percent.
- 75.8% to 87.5% (49% advanced)
- Increased math district-wide by 6.3 percent.
- 83.1% to 89.4% (50.6% advanced)
- McCall-Donnelly High School listed as Newsweek Top 1000 high schools in the United States, five consecutive years (2008-2013)
- McCall-Donnelly High School ranked #785 in the nation and #3 among Idaho high schools by U.S. News and World Report based on the rate of students participating in Advanced Placement courses.
- Presented to Moody’s Investment Services and received an Aa2 rating on district bonds.
- Refinanced school construction bonds saving tax payers $1 million over the life of the bonds.
Served simultaneously as Superintendent for Meadows Valley School District, New Meadows, ID (2008-2011).
- MVSD had a $4 million budget, 185 students, 2 principals, and 30 employees in one K-12 school.
- Organized asbestos abatement after discovery of unintentional school-wide exposure
- Ratified contracts using Interest Based Bargaining
Assistant Superintendent 2005-2008 Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, Soldotna, AK (9,500 students)
Assistant Superintendent of Instruction – 2007-2008
Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services, 2005-2007
- Responsibilities included a $120 million budget, 1,207 employees, and 44 principals in 21 communities. The district covers 25,600 sq. mi. and serves rural and remote locations.
- Coordinated transportation bid process with 4 other districts saving KPBSD $1 million/year for 5 years
- Established a professional development committee, composed of education stakeholders, as the driving force for strategic instructional improvement
Middle School Principal 2000-2005
- Homer Middle School, Homer, Alaska (KPBSD)
Elementary School Principal 1994-2000
- McNeill Canyon Elementary School, Homer, Alaska (KPBSD)
Principal/Teacher 1988 -1994
- Moose Pass School (K-8), Moose Pass, Alaska (KPBSD)
Teacher – 3rd Grade, 1985-1988
Teacher – 9th-12th Grades 1982-1985
- Nunivaarmuit High School, Mekoryuk, Alaska
Teacher – 3rd Grade 1980-1982
- Universal American School, Kuwait
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Adjunct Professor 2001-2002
- Kenai Community College, Kenai, Alaska
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
- Alaska Association of Elementary School Principals, Outstanding Principal/Teacher Award, 1994
- Principal of the Year, Region III, 2001
- Vice President , Alaska Association of Elementary School Principals
- President, Kenai Peninsula Administrator’s Association
- Idaho Governor’s Literacy Task Force for Education
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
- Bristol Bay College, Advisory Council
- McCall-Donnelly Education Foundation, Board of Directors
- Central Peninsula Counseling Services, Board of Directors
- Arctic Winter Games, Board of Directors
- Alaska Superintendent’s Association, member
- Alaska School Policy Review Association, member
- American Association of School Administrators, member
- Idaho Leads, Multi-Year School Leadership Capacity Building
- Boise State University, Superintendent Development Task Force
- State Principal Mentor Program Training
- Southwest Alaska Education Leadership Committee, Founding Member
- North Slope Education Leadership Committee, Founding Member
- McCall Rotary International Club
- Strategic Planning Team Leader for Partnerships in Education
SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS AS SUPERINTENDENT
- Coordinated and prevailed in a positive political campaign in the Legislature that preserved over $40 million each year for four districts in Idaho
- Promoted student participation and leadership in state and local issues. Students testified in Idaho Legislature and participated in Boise State University’s Idaho Leads Project
- Worked with Boise State University to roll out and implement Common Core State Standards
- Developed intervention programs for students at all levels
- Improved student achievement significantly at all levels
- Initiated student attendance incentive programs for middle and high school students
- Developed and implemented standards for integrating technology in the classroom using 21st Century Learning
- Successfully negotiated 11 contracts with 6 bargaining units
- Created an Emergency Action Plan for schools based on FEMA protocols and provided training for over 1000 employees in two states
- Wrote education bill for the Idaho Legislature - 2013
- Developed priorities for budget reductions with Board, staff and community
- Responsible for overseeing construction of Barbara R. Morgan and Donnelly Elementary schools and McCall-Donnelly High School. Construction costs came in $900,000 under budget
- Remodeled Payette Lakes Middle School with upgraded HVAC, insulation and controls saving the district approximately $70,000/year on energy costs
- Implemented safety and wellness initiatives reducing employee and district costs for health insurance
- Created a formula-based staffing, budget and resource distribution system to reduce competition among communities in the district
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES
- Chosen as pilot district to participate in Idaho LEADS, Boise State University
- Member of Accreditation team for other districts in Alaska – 2006
- Gained excellent cultural experiences by traveling to remote villages throughout Alaska
- Wrote a Comprehensive School Reform Grant using the Baldridge Criteria for Excellence 2000-2005
- Hosted Alaska Summer Leadership Institute with Michael Fullan in 2005
- Created a charter schools study team, revised policies for charter school operating in district facilities
- Revised the District Safety Plan to reduce paperwork and create a culture of safety
- Organized the first Alaska “Net Day” using volunteers to wire a school for internet
- Supported “Artist in the School” programs
- Initiated both district and school-based strategic planning and reporting
- Secured special legislative appropriations for carpeting, siding and building an addition to Moose Pass School
- Trained in Middle School Philosophy by Paul George, University of Florida
- Member of a team to bring the Middle School Philosophy to KPBSD
- Commercial Herring Fisherman
- Fleet Forman for Seward’s Exxon Valdez oil spill clean-up
- Owner/Captain of Mackinaw Charters (Ocean Charter Fishing and Kenai River Guide) 1990-2005