Meet our next superintendent

Most district watchers agree that Dale Herl is likely "in line" to be the next superintendent when Dr. Hinson retires in a few years.

Who is Dale Herl?

Deputy Superintendent, Independence School District (Missouri)
Superintendent, Burrton School District (Kansas)
Principal, Greeley County School District (Kansas)
Teacher, Little River School District (Kansas)

So why did the District bring someone from a small rural district in Kansas to be the next superintendent for the Independence School District - one of the largest urban/suburban districts in the state?

Good question.  Does anyone have an answer? Post in the comments.

According to the District's press release, the assessments scores in the Burrton School District rose from 50% of students in the district meeting state standards to 95% in reading and just under 90% in math.

Sounds great doesn't it?  Uhm, yeah, maybe.

Here's the link to the Burrton School District:  http://www.burrton.schoolfusion.us/
Here's a link to the Wikipedia article on Burrton:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrton,_Kansas

When your ENTIRE school district is less than 300 students, improving test scores is a small job when compared to improving test scores in a diverse school district like Independence.

Basically, you'll find that the School Board hired someone to be the Deputy Superintendent and make well over $100,000 in salary but that person came from a district with fewer total students than almost ALL of the ISD's elementary schools.  Talk about on-the-job training.

There was no one else in Missouri with the experience to be the Deputy Superintendent and the likely successor to Dr. Hinson?  Seriously.