For Goerdt, communication key

Today, she styles futures.

Her "customers" are the students of the Western Dubuque County Community School District. A native of the district - she was raised on a farm near Worthington - Goerdt is a veteran educator and administrator. On July 1, she advanced from curriculum director to superintendent, succeeding the retiring Harold Knutsen.

Her first seven months on the job have been crammed with controversy and challenges. As she was preparing for her new duties, a dispute concerning the Western Dubuque High School show choir program boiled over; it continues to simmer. A countywide referendum to enact a 1-percent sales tax for public schools brought more scrutiny of Iowa's most geographically expansive district, where a significant percentage of students attend Catholic schools. Goerdt recently met with the TH for an extended interview, the highlights of which follow.

Bev Goerdt: Bio

TH: How did you come to pursue a degree in education?
BG: I didn't go back for education until after we were married. My husband was working here. I had owned a beauty salon in Farley, and realized that wasn't really what I wanted to do. So I went back for education. It was probably because of his coaching for me to get the college degree.

TH: How long did you have the salon?
BG: I had a salon, I think, from about '76 to '80, in town here, right down from the bank. I started college in '79 and then got my B.A. I finished that after my oldest was born, as a matter of fact. My first job was at Worthington, teaching kindergarten.

TH: Are there any experiences you had from the salon business that you feel apply to your current job?
BG: Probably some of the management situations that you have to do working with the public, listening to the public. Part of being a salon owner is listening, communicating, talking. But the management - I had an employee, so I had to do some supervising, some scheduling.

TH: So, it wasn't wasted effort.
BG: No, I don't think any education is ever wasted. You have to learn something from everything that you do. I spent a year in the X-ray department ... and found out after a year I didn't like that. It wasn't for me. That's when I went into cosmetology.

TH: You mention that everything is a learning experience. What have you learned so far in your first six, seven months as superintendent?
BG: I guess I learned that you can't communicate enough. Even though we think we do. Even though we think everybody should know because we said it 15 times, people still don't always get the message. That's been a big challenge of mine. How do I communicate in a district that's this large and make sure everybody hears the message and understands it? I've really tried to have the open door. People can call - anyone in the district - and ask. I think communication is probably the biggest task that I need to do.

TH:I've noticed that you have a pretty active and current web site. How important is that to the communication?
BG:We're trying to get that out more. Any publications that we send out to our parents and to our community, we have that web site. My technology coordinator is really the one that keeps that updated. All I need to do is forward him the information or the principals forward it and get it up and running. But that, we're hoping, will take off. For staff communication and the public. It's a process. It takes a long time.

TH:Are there other steps that you have either taken since you've been promoted or plan to do to try to improve that communication?
BG:Yeah, one thing we're looking at right now, which the board heard about and will vote about on the February meeting, is a district-wide database. There are different modules to that. There's a scheduling module; there's a parent module, so that parents could access their child's information. We're trying to get that up and running for next fall. That, again, would be one more piece of communication, whether it's communication between the staff or communication between the parents. Web site is always growing. We're going to be adding another computer technician. We have one right now in the district, and he just can't keep up with the size of this district, to allow him to do some of that web site and communication.

TH:What do you consider to be the district's strongest attributes, at this point?
BG:I think educationally, we've got a lot of really good things happening. We've got an excellent School-to-Work program at Western Dubuque High School, which has been here for a long time. We offer about 30 college credits at Cascade High School and about 23 at Western Dubuque High School through NICC (Northeast Iowa Community College) on our campus. Kids can graduate (from high school) with that many college credits. We've done a lot in the reading area, K-12. We're in a state initiative, probably for four or five years, "Every Child Reads," and we've got that district wide. That's a K-3 program. Now we're really focusing on content area reading at the 7-12 areas. We're looking at starting the pre-kindergarten program for 4- and 5-year olds because we know we've got to get kids ready. If they don't learn to read by the end of third grade, they never will catch up.

TH:Isn't it even before that?
BG:First grade. I think there's an 88 percent correlation that, if they don't learn to read by the end of first grade, they won't catch up. So our goal is, "Let's get those 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds that we can start with the pre-readiness skills."

TH:Are there other attributes that you put on that list of strength areas?
BG:We've got staff that, once they come, they stay. We don't have a lot of turnover. Which is good. Then we can get some continuity in what we do with in-service. We know the teachers are going to be here. Good support from our parents. Active involvement in some areas. You've always got to go with the sports. We've got good sporting teams. Good fine arts programs in both buildings. Both high schools are a little different - and that's OK, because of the make-up of the schools, where they are. We've got an excellent special ed program.

TH:On the other side of the coin - any organization has areas where they know they need to improve or they want to improve. What might be on that list?
BG:For me, it goes back to education. I have that sign on (my office) wall that says, "Who is our customer?" And our customer is our kids, you know. The other question I always say is, "What can I do best? Is this decision best for kids?" We've got to still always look at, how can we best educate all kids? We still have some of those kids that just don't make it, aren't proficient. And our goal by 2014 because of "No Child Left Behind" is to have all kids proficient. And how do we do that? Like I said, if they're not ready by first grade or third grade, they can't catch up.

TH:Would you say that that is unique to this district?
BG:No.

TH:Or is that pretty much national?
BG:That's national. That's state. That's national. That's always got to be our focus, though. The other area that will be improving is facilities. We've been without facilities for many years. Now, with the bond issue and the 1-cent (sales tax) passage, we're going to be able to make some plans for facilities that meet the needs of kids. We won't have to have kids in closets anymore. We won't have to have a gym at Epworth High School that doesn't seat the student population.

TH:Are there any other items that come to mind, that might be unique to the district, on your set of goals?
BG:This district is unique in many ways. We're trying to get some continuity, curriculum-wise, between both of the high schools and the middle schools and the elementaries. Elementaries are better off. We've done more together with the elementaries. A kid that graduates from Cascade High School and a kid that graduates from Western Dubuque High School in English, in the required English courses, should have the same set of skills. So we're trying to do some mapping and figure out, "Are they getting that?" We have no way of knowing that at this point. Even though one class might be an English 9 and another an English 9, it could be different. The director of education is looking at trying to get those courses to be the same. Assessment is always a big one. Are our assessments really assessing what we think our kids need to know?

TH:Now, a reader might not understand specifically what assessment means.
BG:Testing. Are we testing what we teach? And are kids learning what we want them to know?

TH:You mentioned earlier that this is a large district ...
BG:550 square miles.

TH:I think it makes it bigger than Delaware or some such ...
BG:Half the size of Rhode Island is what I've heard. One of those states out there. (Editor's note: The district is one-third the size of Rhode Island.)

TH:Is the district too large?
BG:No.

TH:Why not?
BG:Student population. If we had high schools that were 2,000, 3,000, I would say that's too large. All of our kids are getting a good education at the sites. To have it any smaller, we'd have small buildings and then we may be looking at some of those schools that are going to have to be under the consolidation plan. Eight hundred kids at a high school is a great number. Double sections of elementary - super numbers. The only problem is all of the different communities and, again, it goes back to the communication. I think there are 17 different communities in the district.

TH:Now the state is looking at ways to either create incentives, either negatively or positively, for smaller districts to consolidate. What might you tell a peer superintendent who is faced with consolidation?
BG:What they need to be cautious of is the transportation costs. In a district this size, we spend a lot of money on transportation that a district like Bettendorf does not have to spend. As you consolidate and have to transport kids more, you get no more state aid for that, so that's a downfall of having a large geographic district. Educationally, like I said, there are certain ideal sizes. You can be too small, you can be too large. I think we're at a nice size.

TH:What about community identity? That could be one of the arguments against.
BG:If you lose a building, if you lose an elementary or a high school, the town suffers. Economic development will suffer because people coming to town for a new business want to have a school. If you close a school, that hurts. That hurts the community. A lot of times, especially high schools, that's where the activities are in the smaller towns. People go to the football games, the basketball games, the vocal music and band concerts. That's the entertainment for a small town.

TH:Now, the largest community in the district is Dyersville. And all Dyersville has in the way of public facilities is a K-1. Do you foresee any time when there may be a public school, a regular public school, in Dyersville?
BG:(Pauses) That I can't predict. That would be a board decision. I don't sit on the board. I'm not a board member.

TH:But in terms of long-range planning, that's not on the burner?
BG:We haven't even talked about that.

TH:Could you talk a bit about how this 1-cent sales tax money is going to be applied to the short term?
BG:Sure. Again, the board hasn't met on that, but we'll be keying in on those areas that we identified through the (referendum) campaign. First is safety and security in our buildings. We need to make sure that they're safe and secure. The next is the pre-K, 4- and 5-year- olds, I mentioned. Good for kids to start. But we have that $1 million Harkin Grant that we needed. That has to be spent by a certain time, so that will be there. We have assisting the CARE and Bobcat Foundations. CARE Foundation has raised money to build an auditorium at Cascade. The Bobcat Foundation is raising money for a gym and an auditorium at Western Dubuque High School. Then we have the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance issues. Cascade High School needs an elevator to get to the second floor. Then we have an old building here (in Farley) that is not ADA. Then other infrastructure needs. We need parking lots. We're going to need some boilers in some of the buildings. Just some of that general work that we haven't had the money to do before.

TH:In looking over the results of the referendum in December on the sales tax, a lot of the "yes" votes came out of the Dubuque school district. If the tax issue had to stand on its own in Western Dubuque County, it would not have passed. That was pretty clear in black and white when the results came in. Did that raise some communications and some community relations issues for the district and the school board as you start to make plans for this money, knowing that many of your constituents did not favor the sales tax?
BG:I think I want to correct you. I don't know if it's many, because the absentee results, we don't know how those people voted and we had a high absentee ballot. I don't know how many we had, but it was high. The percentage you saw in the paper that said 48 percent of Western Dubuque district voted for it could be skewed because from my experience, a lot of the absentee ballots are in favor. I don't know what that percentage ... maybe it would have passed if we did those absentee ballots, I don't know.

TH:OK
BG:I don't know if I have a clear picture that it was really soundly defeated out here.

TH:Some of the areas Dyersville, for example, I mean we're talking 3-to-1, 4-to-1.
BG:That - and I don't have the percentages about that - probably was in our bond issue, which did pass, and in our instructional support levy which did pass, and the 1-cent sales tax. I think that's kind of a trend that we've seen in the last probably 15 years. That wasn't a surprise.

TH:I guess going back to my question, are there some special considerations - in terms of communications or community relations - in proceeding now that the 1 cent has been approved?
BG:I'm not following, Brian. Maybe I'm just not following. Communication, we will always ... Our board meetings are highly attended. We have a lot of people at board meetings. I know board members take calls frequently. That's communication. The web site will always update people. Even now, with our construction going on, we always have an update at the board meetings on how the construction is going. We'll still focus back on those areas that we said we were going to focus on because those are our needs. Safety and security, that's probably my big one. I'll probably say that 50 times during this interview, but we've got some buildings that people could walk into. That scares me.

TH:Just recently, the district outlined plans to offer some pre-kindergarten classes and before-and-after school care starting I guess in the fall. How is that going to work?
BG:The before-and-after school care program is completely run by the Y. It will run from, I think, 6:30 in the morning until school starts at each of the elementary sites, and then again after school until 6. So the Y is running that. All we have to do is provide the space for that. The pre-K program is for 4- and 5-year olds. Those 5-year-olds that possibly aren't quite ready for kindergarten but to keep them home a year probably isn't advantageous to the kids. Then the 4- year-olds. We know we need to add on to Drexler Elementary to be able to expand that program. Curriculum will be based on what we know sound research is. It will be similar to what our pre-school program is right now. Four days a week, Monday through Thursday. Friday will be a day for the teachers to be able to meet with parents, be able to do some work with parents - you know how important it is to read to your child, trying to do some of that and also their prep time and their planning time. We can get the pre-school teachers together to do some in-service training.

TH:Almost as soon as you took the job in the summer we heard the concerns raised, and some controversy among different parent groups, about the show choir program in Western Dubuque. Obviously, I don't need to tell you, but some objected to the cost and some of the other particulars of the programs. Others say don't mess with a good thing. What is the status of that program now and what work still needs to be done?
BG:We are working with what the attorney has given us for advice. There has been some progress made, much of it I can't talk about at this point. That's about all I can say. It's something that I would say we're working on.

TH:Could you answer this? Do you think there's some lesson to be learned about communication from this sort of thing?
BG:Sure, sure, that's the whole key. Communication and miscommunication. Misunderstanding. It's a problem with any organization.

TH:It wasn't the best honeymoon period for you.
BG:What honeymoon? Being in the district - being that I taught here, was curriculum director here - I knew the district, I knew the issues. And it's a district I love and wouldn't be any place else. Every district has challenges. Every day is different, but again, I go back to who's our customer and what's best for kids? I can go home at night and say I made those decisions, best for kids who are our customers. Not everybody understands how the decisions are made or why they're made, but I have to look at the whole district when I make a decision. I have building principals who look at their buildings. I have teachers who look at their classrooms. I have parents who look at their child, but I need to look at the whole big spectrum, and I have a great support staff to help me with that and a super board that helps me look at the district to make decisions.

TH:There's another decision that I believe falls to the superintendent - rather than the transportation director, although I'm sure you do consult. That is when are you going to have school, when are you going to have a one-hour delay, two-hour delay and so on. You have a gazillion miles of bus routes.
BG:It can be ... Fog is probably the worst. It can be foggy in Farley and clear and Peosta. So what we have is we have spotters out in all areas of the county. Bus drivers, the maintenance director, the transportation director will call the county crew and then he calls me. We talk to other superintendents. We talk to Dubuque. We talk to Maquoketa Valley, West Delaware; they are probably the key ones because the weather will come from one way. Again, it comes down to safety, for my kids come first. That's got to be. I don't want kids on the road. We've got a lot of high school kids driving to school. I don't want them on the road if it's bad. I don't want kids on a bus if the roads are bad. Like I said, it can be foggy in one place. When I taught at Bernard, we got to school one day and by 8:30, school was called off. It was sunny as could be there, but it was icy up here. By the time I got home, I had hit the ice. But that again gets back to communication, because parents don't always hear that. If I'm at home and it's not foggy, I don't listen to the radio, but school could be delayed because of fog in another part.

TH:Do you have any spare time?
BG:Sure. Have to.

TH:What do you do with it?
BG:In the summer, I love to golf. I love to go to the pool. That's more social than anything. Go out to eat. Friday night, if there's not a game, is usually our night to go out to eat. Yeah, I have to make time for myself. I walk; that is the exercise that I get.

TH:If there was one thing you could change about your job as it stands now, what might that be?
BG:I don't know. I mean... I would think, and I feel like a broken record, though, but communication. That people feel free to ask rather than listening to the rumor mill. I think that is probably the biggest challenge. As for my day-to-day operation, I've got an excellent staff. I can't change that. You know, I wake up in the morning and I like coming to work. If that ever changes, then it's time for me to look for something else. If I need a "kid fix," which I call it, I can walk in the hallways. I can go to one of the buildings and walk into the classrooms and really get back to what I'm doing, why I'm here. It's those kids. I can't think of anything I'd change.

TH:Sometimes you do have some frustrations when people look more to the rumor mill than check it out themselves?
BG:Sure, because that's where misinformation gets out. That's where I think any major problem that I've had has been, that the communication line has broken down somewhere. TH:Is there something about you or your background that people wouldn't expect? What little known fact might readers of this article be interested in?
BG:What don't they know about me? I already said I grew up on a farm.

TH:The hair salon is a good start.
BG:Yeah, that. You know the X-ray tech school. A lot of people didn't know that.

TH:So, what CDs or tapes are in your car right now, out in the parking lot?
BG:Harry Potter, the third one. The music ... My brother-in-law is a musician in Texas, so I like listening to his music, mainly because he writes about growing up in Dyersville and those are fun. And writes about his family. That's fun. My husband. There are nine boys and one girl in his family. A lot of get-togethers with them. I like plays. I like going to plays. I'm going to take my nephew to "Cats" in March at UNI. We go to plays about once or twice a year. What don't people know about me? I think people know a lot more about me than...

TH:...you'd like them to.
BG:(Laughs) Yeah.

TH:Looking ahead, put on your futuristic glasses for awhile. What is the district going to be like in 10 years? If somebody comes back after being gone for 10 years, what will they see or observe?
BG:When I look at education, change is slow. You could probably walk into a classroom now and think, "Gee, this looks similar to what it was when I was there." I see facilities being a big one. I would hope that the plan that we're developing now for education that we can meet the needs of all kids. That's going to take some creativity on our part. How do we provide the experiences that a kid needs to either go into the work force, to go to a two-year or a four-year college? We keep increasing the number of post-secondary courses that we have that kids can take for college credit. I think that's good. That helps kids. That helps parents. I had a son that will graduate a semester early from UNI because he went in as a second-semester freshman. To be able to increase that. To be able to get more parent involvement. When a child may be born, to be able to get information out to those parents the value of reading to them, the value of taking them places for exposure, just some of those readiness things. I would hope that this would be more of a community education place. That it may be open a little bit more. Parents feeling comfortable to come in.

TH:When you and I were going to school, it was pretty much often that the father had the job and the mom stayed at home. Now that has changed a lot. How has that affected not only the schools, but how has that affected children, in your viewpoint?
BG:Well, that's why we need to start the pre-K program for 4- and 5- year olds, why we need the before- and after-school care. We've got parents that are working, and finding good child care - it's there but it's difficult. So what these programs will do is give an educational setting. The before- and after-school program will have crafts and recreation, homework help and that type of stuff to be able to help those kids. The pre-K will help, rather than having a kid sit at home or do nothing for a year. Again, through those programs, we can educate parents and have them feel that hopefully school is a place where they can come and ask questions.

TH: I don't want to ask this in a way that sounds too negative about parents, but is it possible that setting up all these programs, parents might think that they're off the hook?
BG:No, I don't think so. I think the more we get them involved, the more they'll realize the importance of them being involved, but we've got to do that when they're young. We can't do it at high school age because those high schoolers don't want the parents involved. You've got to do it when the kids are little. Everybody wants what's best for their kid ... Time is difficult to come by when both parents are working or when we have single-parent homes. Finding the time. You asked me what I do with my time, do I have free time. I need it. I need to spend time to work on my family relationships.

TH:What is this little placard on your conference table - "The Child is in Need of Me" - about?
BG:At the beginning of the year, addressing all staff, I read a poem that was written by the superintendent from Pella ("A Child's in Need of Us"). It was about how everybody in the school system, a child needs. Every one of them. Whether you are a teacher, an administrator, custodian, every child needs you, so that has kind of been the theme of the district this year, "The Child Is In Need of Me." I'm away from kids, but I'm hoping the decision I make affects those kids and that one kid may be in need of me. The other thing I started the year out with was the "Fish Book." The four things, it's based on the Seattle Fish Market.

TH:I've seen a presentation on it, yes.
BG:So I started that. I think I come every day thinking about that. The four things are: You choose your attitude every day. When you walk into work, if you're in a bad mood, you know what the attitude of the office is going to be, so I have to choose my attitude and I expect my staff to choose their attitude. To play. You've got to have some fun every day at work. You just have to; otherwise, you take too much home. To make a difference in somebody's life every day, even if it's just a smile in the hallway. I think you have to do that when you're working with people. And the last is to be there when somebody needs you. I try to have that open door. That if somebody needs to talk to me, my staff feels very comfortable - at least I'm hoping they do - saying, "I've got a problem. Can we talk about this?"

TH:So what does the school district office do to have fun?
BG:Oh, we can tell jokes every once in a while. We'll have breaks together. Get-togethers once in a while, not too often. Christmas get-together. But just to have that attitude that...

TH:It's not just all drudgery.
BG:We work. We work hard. I don't want the readers to think that we don't work, but you have to have fun, too. I have to make my central office staff feel very important and feel needed and have them go home every day saying, "This was a good day. Yeah, we had our problems, but this was a good day."

Additional excerpts from TH interview with Bev Goerdt Copyright: Copyright 2003 Telegraph Herald