When Duane Rose was originally appointed to serve as liaison to the Battle Ground School Board after Superintendent Shonny Bria announced April 29 that she would be leaving the district, one of his jobs was to find someone who could serve as interim superintendent during the 2013-2014 school year.
“There wasn’t much response and I was having a hard time finding someone,” Rose said. “Then there started to be talk about if I would be interested in doing it. I never aspired to be superintendent.”
On May 18, members of the Battle Ground School District Board of Directors named Rose as interim superintendent and Lynn Hicks as interim deputy superintendent. The two began their duties with the district on July 1 and will act as superintendent and deputy superintendent for one year. Both have worked for the Battle Ground School District over the years in different positions, Rose retiring in 1992 and returning to work from 1998 to 2005, and Hicks retiring in 2006.
During his time with the district, Rose worked as a teacher, principal and a district-level administrator, including director of human resources and assistant superintendent. Hicks started her career at Battle Ground High School in 1973 as a secretary. She earned a degree at Portland State University in 1989 and taught business education for five years at Fort Vancouver High School while earning administrative credentials. In 1994, Hicks was hired as assistant principal at the former Lewisville Middle School. She was then subsequently assistant principal at Prairie High School and Amboy Middle School before going to work at the district office in 1998. She retired as assistant superintendent for business and operations.
After agreeing to be the interim superintendent for the next year, Rose said he knew he was going to need help and Hicks immediately came to mind, as they had worked together in the past.
“I called Lynn (and asked her about being interim deputy superintendent) and she said, ‘no,’” Rose said. “I kept calling her and talking with her about it, and eventually she said, ‘OK.’”
Hicks said she was very hesitant at first to go back to work, especially as interim deputy superintendent. Being retired since 2006, she said she’s been doing a lot of “retirement-type” things with her husband, Tim, including buying a home in Arizona. However hesitant she was at first, however, she said she is completely on board now.
“Duane talked with me several times and I got calls from lots of people in the district who thought we would be a good team,” Hicks said. “It was very flattering, it made me feel valued. It’s good to know that I can give something back.”
In regards to some of the recent issues with administration in the Battle Ground School District, especially the circumstances surrounding Bria’s settlement agreement, Rose said he and Hicks want to help stabilize the district as best they can and both said they want to help get a new, strong superintendent into the district.
“This district is full of so many great administrators, teachers, students and parents, and they deserve the best,” Hicks said.
“It’s painful to hear the stress on the community caused by the issues that (the district) is going through,” Rose said. “We are hoping to correct some of those issues. This is an opportunity for us to demonstrate that things can be better. We have to keep the district moving as best we can. We have goals and objectives that we want to keep in focus.”
Although Hicks and Rose will only be in the two interim positions until a new permanent superintendent and deputy superintendent are hired within the next year, Hicks said they plan to be actively involved during this next year, attending meetings, meeting with citizens within the district and helping to make improvements within the district.
One of the biggest issues that numerous patrons of the Battle Ground School District have had with the administration and the members of the School Board is the issue of transparency. Rose and Hicks have a simple plan to try and gain some of the trust back that the district has lost.
“If someone has a question, we’re going to tell them the truth,” Rose said. “If we know the answer to the question they’re asking, we’ll tell them what we know.”
“If you don’t have the facts or the information at the time someone asks a question, then we’re going to find out for them,” Hicks said. “Sometimes it really is that simple. Sometimes it’s more complicated, but whatever it is, we will do what we can to find the answers.”
In addition to the challenges brought on by trying to regain the trust of patrons and school district employees, one of the other challenges Rose and Hicks said they will face over the next year is implementing all of the new state- and federally-mandated programs, including new curriculum requirements and the new teacher/principal evaluations. They both also said they will be intentional about regaining the trust of the Battle Ground School District patrons and employees by meeting with community members and district employees and working on addressing all of their concerns.
“I would ask that you (patrons, employees of the district) give us an opportunity to perform,” Rose said. “Give us an opportunity to do more.”
Battle Ground School Board members set a goal of April 1, 2014, or earlier, for selecting a new superintendent and July 1, 2014, or earlier, as the start date for the new superintendent.
