By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Hays USD 489 candidate Keith Hall said he hopes to facilitate the board’s work on a bond and help bring unity to the school board.
Hall is one of four candidates that will interview for the Hays USD 489 superintendent position in the next two weeks. Hall interviewed with the board Wednesday night. The second candidate will be announced Thursday morning and will interview Thursday night. Two more candidates will interview Wednesday, Feb. 6 and Thursday, Feb. 7.
Each day the candidates will meet with parents and other members of the public from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Toepfer Room of Rockwell Administration Center.
Hall, 61, came to Hays USD 489 in December to serve as the interim director of finance and support services. He previously worked as the superintendent in Osborne. He graduated from high school in Connecticut. His farther is from Gorham and went to junior high in the Rockwell basement. He followed his family to Kansas after his father retired from the Navy. Hall graduated from Fort Hays State University.
He worked as a shop teacher in Sabetha and Stockton and later was named the principal at Stockton High School. He was honored with the Milken National Educator Award in 1997.
“I have always had great loyalty to the folks that I worked for, because I worked for kids and you love them,” Hall said. “I felt it immediately when I walked in the door here.”
Hall toured several schools Wednesday as well as met with staff. Teachers shared with Hall what they do for students and what some of their building needs are.
“[The district] has fulfilled its reputation that I anticipated when I got here,” he said. “It’s a great district. It has a great community supporting it, and it has teachers who really care about kids.
“I am really pleased with the experience since I have been here. I think people are striving for excellence. I am excited and delighted.”
Despite the larger enrollment, Hall said the processes here in Hays are very similar to what he experienced in Osborne.
“I just thought that maybe I could help this district move forward,” he said. “It really wasn’t on my radar when I came over here, but as I watched it and in my new position, I think I can help them, and I am excited to talk to them about that.”
The district is looking at a third bond attempt after bond issues failed in 2016 and 2017. Hall said he thought becuase he is serving in the finance position, he could provide I seamless transition for any bond work.
The district has worked on developing another bond question, but on a split vote tabled those plans in June. The board heard a $29.4 milli0n bond proposal from its architect and construction manager on Monday night.
“In my mind, we are restarting the conversation,” Hall said, “so what I would defer to is the board processing that again and deciding how they are going to move forward.”
He said he facilitate whatever the board maps out.
Getting building projects completed, Hall said would be among his goals if he was chosen as superintendent. Trying to build board unity is another.
Several major votes in recent months, most notably the purchase of the Oak Park Medical Complex, which will be renovated for Early Childhood Connections, have been split. Current Superintendent John Thissen said upon his resignation that he wished he could have better united the board during his tenure.
Hall said developing trust is not a simple nor a linear process.
“I think I have enough experience to understand what needs to be put in place to move that along,” Hall said of the board. “You don’t control all of that. Some of that has to do with personalities. Some of that has to do with what is on the table as far as what you are talking about, but I think I know what the components are. The first component is board unity.”
The board of education reached an impasse with teachers during negotiations last year.
Because resources are tighter, conversations with teachers are more difficult, Hall said. He said he would work through the processes that are in place to reach the best outcome for teachers and the community.
Supporting teachers in their accreditation and education redesign work would be yet another of Hall’s goals, he said.
Hall said he thought the move to the Hays district from Osborne was a positive one for his family.
“I love the Hays community,” he said. … “College towns are always the best. I knew whether it was my work life or my retired life, I would be in Hays for sure. There has never been any doubt in my mind.”
Hall said if he is not chosen as superintendent, he said he would like to continue working in the finance position.
