Public education—explained from experience.

Today’s Something I MISS about being superintendent…

I am sitting outside with my coffee and started thinking about how important preschool is and my experiences with the Carroll County Child Development Center.

I remembered a particular experience and asked Leah Spencer about these pictures this morning. Sometimes you just needed to sit on the floor with a preschooler…and apparently get your hair done!

There were days as superintendent when the phone wouldn't stop ringing. A personnel issue needed attention. A parent was upset. A budget decision had to be made. Something happened on a bus. Someone was mad about something on Facebook. And there were probably three meetings waiting for you.

On those days, sometimes the best thing I could do was simply get out of the office and go see kids. And if you REALLY needed to remember your “why,” you went to preschool!

They didn't care that I was the superintendent. They didn't care about the budget, the board meeting or whatever problem seemed so important an hour earlier. On this particular day, what WAS important was hair! So there I sat, in my suit, on the preschool floor with a star hair band on my head.

And you know what? For a few minutes, everything else could wait. Those visits had an amazing way of putting the job back into perspective.

That's something I miss.

I'm also incredibly proud of what has been built at the Carroll County Child Development Center. CCCDC recently earned a Five Star rating through Kentucky's early-childhood quality system. But the numbers behind the work are even more important. In kindergarten-readiness data we reported in 2023, 55% of CCCDC Head Start children were kindergarten ready, compared with 43% of children countywide.

That doesn't happen by accident. It happens because of years of work by Leah and an incredible team of teachers, assistants, family advocates and staff who understand something that we sometimes don't talk about enough:

The first years matter.

And one of my favorite examples of that walked across the stage at Carroll County High School last May. Edwin Rodriguez, the 2026 CCHS Valedictorian, started his educational journey as a preschool student at CCCDC.

Think about that for a minute.

Preschool to Valedictorian.

When you're sitting on the floor talking to a four-year-old, you have absolutely no idea where that child's journey will take them. Maybe that's exactly the point. Someone has to believe in their possibilities before anyone knows what those possibilities will be.

That's also why I continue to believe Kentucky needs to have a serious conversation about expanding access to high-quality preschool. Quality child care and early-learning opportunities simply aren't equally available everywhere in Kentucky, and that challenge is especially significant in many of our rural communities.

We spend enormous amounts of time, money and effort in public education trying to help children catch up after they arrive at school behind. I've always wondered…

What if we invested more on the front end so fewer children started behind in the first place?

That isn't about replacing parents or telling families how to raise their children. It's about making sure that a child's ZIP code or their family's income doesn't determine whether a high-quality early-learning opportunity is available to them.

There were plenty of complicated days sitting in the superintendent's chair. But every once in a while, the best thing I could do was leave that chair altogether.

Walk into a preschool classroom. Sit down on the floor. Listen to a four-year-old. Let them put a star hair band on the superintendent's head.

And remember exactly WHY we were doing all of it.

Because beneath the budgets, board meetings, buses, buildings, test scores and everything else that comes with running a school district…eventually everything we do in public education comes back to a kid.

I definitely miss that.

Something I MISS about being a superintendent today…

“The 171.”

That’s what I like to call the 171 public school superintendents across Kentucky.

Yesterday my friend and colleague R Todd Neace, Superintendent of Trimble County Schools, experienced one of those situations that every superintendent prepares for and prays NEVER happens.

An armed individual came onto school property after dismissal.

Thankfully, the systems worked. Staff responded. Students who were still in the building were moved to safety. Doors were secured. Law enforcement responded quickly. The individual was taken into custody and, most importantly, students and staff were safe.

But there is another side to this story that most people will never see.

The superintendent side.

I texted with Todd and some other surrounding county superintendents last night. The tone of those conversations was obviously thankful that nothing happened…but there was something else there too.

It was scary.

Because something DID happen.

And when the adrenaline finally wears off, you start thinking about all of the “what ifs.” What if the staff member hadn't reacted? What if students had still been outside? What if law enforcement hadn't responded as quickly? What if…

Those are the moments people don't see from the superintendent's chair.

There are very few executive leadership positions quite like being a school superintendent. You are responsible for budgets, buildings, transportation, personnel, technology, food service, academics, communications, legal issues and everything else that comes with running a multimillion-dollar organization.

But every morning, something far more important than any of those things walks through your doors.

Other people's children.

And ultimately, their safety rests on your shoulders too.

That is a burden that “The 171” understand about one another.

And THAT is something I miss.

The 171 are constantly communicating. We share ideas. We ask each other questions. We complain to each other sometimes too! We celebrate when another district does something great. We share losses and heartbreak. And on nights like last night, we check on each other.

Because regardless of district size, geography, politics, athletics or anything else…when something happens in one of our school districts, every superintendent in Kentucky understands exactly what the person sitting in that chair is feeling.

You don't learn that from a superintendent certification program.

You learn it from sitting in the chair.

So today I am thankful for Todd, the staff members who responded, law enforcement and everyone else whose preparation helped prevent a frightening situation from becoming a tragedy.

And I'm thankful for my brothers and sisters in “The 171.”

I may not sit in that chair anymore…but I will always understand the weight carried by those who do.

That's something about the superintendency I definitely MISS.

Been away for a few days doing some reflecting and research!

Here’s something I miss about the Superintendency…

Instructional Coach and Principal meetings.

Once a month, our Central Office instructional leadership team would meet with the Instructional Coaches for an hour. We would then meet with the Instructional Coaches and Principals together for another hour, have lunch and finish the day by meeting with the Principals for an hour.

These meetings gave me the opportunity to hear about the amazing instructional work taking place in each of our schools. They also helped me keep a pulse on what our students and teachers were doing in classrooms every day.

It was a dedicated time for us to learn together, review the most recent student data and allow each school team to talk directly with Central Office leadership about its successes, challenges and needs.

Most importantly, it gave us time to collaborate across the district, share ideas and make sure we were doing what was best for each and every student.

I really miss these conversations. I miss the collaboration between our school and district leaders…and I miss watching great ideas from one school become great practices across the entire district.

Strong school districts are built when leaders have the time and trust to learn from one another.

Today’s something I miss…

Walkthroughs.

Getting out into a school with a purpose, plan and a tool to gather information.

Watching teachers at their best, seeing good instruction, seeing genuine concern and care for students.

Looking for ways to help veteran teachers and new teachers hone their craft.

Working with the Admin team on the post-walkthrough session…what did we see, what we didn’t see, what they expected and what we learned.

Looking to grow leaders in their craft by providing them suggestions and thoughts around instruction.

With all of the other things that go on during the school day, often leaders lose focus on the instruction part.

I always enjoy helping other leaders become better in their current role and help them to grow into larger roles in their school district.

Something I miss about the superintendency.

Today and tomorrow KASS has their fall meeting in Lexington.

The invite goes out to all 171 superintendents in KY, many cannot attend due to conflicts and other issues in their home district, but usually over half attend.

I will miss the camaraderie and idea generation of this group of individuals. The idea generation and collaboration of this group is one of the highlights of the fall for me. It was a time to reflect on the first few weeks of school, talk to others about what issues they were facing and return to the district with new ideas on how to address our individual community needs.

It is also a time where we would generate our legislative agenda, which almost always focused on funding public schools at 2008 levels, the accountability model (which I am sure will be a huge topic today and tomorrow) and ironically how social media impacts each of our districts (more about that later in my series of talks around various topics).

I miss this group of amazing leaders who give 10-18 hours of their lives each day in service of their students, faculty and staff, community and for many state and national leadership advocacy.

Something I miss…

The kids.

This memory from 2015—the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge—captures exactly why. The cold water may have been the challenge, but the laughter, energy, and connection with students are what stayed with me.

School leadership involves budgets, accountability, schedules, facilities, and difficult decisions. But the students are always at the center of the work.

I miss their humor, their honesty, their curiosity, and the everyday moments that could turn an ordinary school day into a memory that lasts for years.

That is what I miss most.

Something I miss…

Friday Night Lights!

Football in the Bluegrass as Layman Stark announces at the start of every home football game in Carroll County.

I miss all of that excitement, spirit week, etc. It’s what public schools do for their counties and cities, bring people together, talk about the “glory days” and for a few hours a large sense of pride…for that time together we are all Colonels, Cougars or Panthers (from my experience)

I truly miss that….