LET’S TALK ABOUT IT…
Chaotic Cabinet?

How much turnover in district leadership is too much?

Leadership stability is crucial for the success of any large organization, so we were shocked to see resignations posted for not just one, but two, of Poudre School District Superintendent Brian Kingsley’s key cabinet members. Resignations of top leadership should be concerning and we find it particularly worrisome as the district is just kicking off the 2024-25 school year. The timing seems bad.

We wondered if this type of last-minute turnover was normal in the education industry, so we did some digging. We were surprised by what we discovered.

First, we sought to understand the historical trends in PSD top leadership so we looked back at district leadership going back to the 2016-17 school year. Superintendent Sandra Smyser was in charge of PSD at that time and she lead the district with a team of nine cabinet members, including positions such as Executive Director of Communications, Executive Director of Finance, Legal Counsel and others. With the exception of one year during which Smyser’s leadership staff had a turnover rate approaching 40%, her team was impressively stable. There was zero turnover during the school years starting in 2016, 2017, 2018, or 2020. Smyser even reduced the size of her cabinet from 9 to 8 in 2018 when she eliminated the position of Assistant Superintendent of Student Achievement, in an effort to divert district funds away from the central office to directly benefiting classrooms.

Despite the cabinet stability, and for reasons which still have never been revealed to the community, the PSD Board of Education ‘parted ways’ with Smyser at the beginning of 2021, providing her a payout of two year’s pay which amounted to $560,240.

The PSD Board of Education then hired equity-minded, Chiefs for Change Future Chief, and family man Brian Kingsley to take over the district.

Increased Positions, Increased Turmoil

And the PSD leadership team seems to have been in turmoil ever since.

Under Kingley’s guidance, cabinet chaos has been excessive. Significant numbers of leaders have left, new ones have been brought on, and the shear size of the superintendent’s cabinet has increased nearly 20%. We don’t know the specific financial impact, but with annual base salaries approaching nearly $200,000 for many cabinet members, it is significant and has been highlighted as a community concern.

In the few years Kingsley has been in charge, he has increased the cabinet by three positions, which included:

• Chief of Staff

• Chief Equity and Academic Officer

  • Position was eliminated when the ‘chief’ resigned

  • Replaced with additional Assistant Superintendent role

• Chief Institutional Effectiveness Officer

And You’re a Chief and You’re a Chief…

Sometime in 2022, Kingsley made another change to his cabinet. In an ironic twist, at the same time the district was teaching children the dangers of appropriating Native American culture at Thanksgiving, Kingsley elevated the titles of everyone on his staff, making them all ‘chiefs’.

The Director of Finance became the Chief Finance Officer, the Executive Director of Communications became the Chief Information Officer and so on.

So to summarize, under Kingsley’s leadership:

• District non-charter enrollment is DOWN

• Cultural appropriation is UP

• Cabinet size and cost are UP

Employee Revolving Door

So what is the story with the revolving cabinet door? Why has upper management had so much turnover and how does this impact the district?

None of the turnover seems to have been caused by normal staff planned retirements. Some chiefs packed up and abruptly left, some simply left without any fanfare or announcements and some have simply resigned, despite being fairly recent hires to PSD. This makes us feel like that little guy from Disney’s Lion King:

Here are some of the unexplained cabinet turnover mysteries:

Marlena Gross-Taylor

• Title: Chief Equity and Academic Officer

• Hiring Superintendent: Kingsley, January 2022

• Leave Date: Resigned April 2023

• Story: Gross-Taylor left abruptly in the middle of the 2022-23 school year after working in the district for only about one year. Multiple social media posts of hers indicated accusations of racism from white male leaders. We wonder if she left the district due to these concerns and also wonder how or if the board of education addressed the serious allegations which have been implied. Was Gross-Taylor treated unfairly by PSD?

Matt Bryant

• Title: Chief Operations Officer

• Hiring Superintendent: Smyser, 2019

• Leave Date: Resigned February 2023

• Story: A resignation in the middle of the school year is unusual. Bryant was the key district leader for a controversial grant program from Chiefs for Change. He was involved in several conversations with Chiefs for Change leadership regarding the implementation and details of the grant activities have never been produced or shared with the PSD Board of Education nor the public.

Dustin Reintsma

• Title: Executive Director of Information Technology

• Hiring Superintendent: likely Smyser, has been in cabinet since at least 2016

• Leave Date: No official documentation in publicly available personnel action reports. Appears to have left the district in early December 2021.

• Story: Another mysterious resignation in the middle of the school year. Like Bryant, Reintsma was also closely involved with the controversial Chiefs for Change Safer Schools Solution grant.

Madeline Novey

• Title: Chief Information Officer

• Hiring Superintendent: Smyser, 2019

• Leave Date: Has been on approved leave from the district since last spring and seems unlikely to return.

• Story: As the person in charge of the district communications over the past few years, Novey has had to navigate the difficulties of covid lockdowns, federal lawsuits brought against the district by parents, and the horrific abuse by the PSD paraprofessional of special needs students. The district’s recent posting of an Executive Director of Communications position seems to indicate that not only is Novey leaving, but that the district may be using the opportunity to give the appearance of reducing the cabinet, despite no change to actual staff headcount.

WonSavage and Connell, both mentioned above, recently resigned from their cabinet positions, despite both being recently hired by Kingsley, having started in the 2022-23 school year. Both men lasted less than two school years. We do not know why they resigned as the district has offered no explanation. WonSavage was recently involved with the Board of Education’s investigation into accusations of Kingsley’s impropriety with a subordinate, so we are curious if that had something to do with his departure? But that is a guess. And Connell, as the head of Operations Department and therefore Transportation, was tasked with making improvements to the department in the aftermath of the PSD child abuse cases. Perhaps that was the issue with his resignation?

Is the Answer REALLY More Money?

At a time when the district plans to ask the community to increase taxes, we wonder if the district leadership is stable enough to support the work. Perhaps we should wonder if the chaotic district management is what has lead to the district’s financial trouble in the first place. 

We have sympathy for district staff who have been affected by the tremendous turnover under Kingsley’s leadership and we wonder how the Board of Education is addressing these issues with their single employee. We hope for the sake of our community’s kids and the hard-working teachers that leadership stability can be achieved soon.

TRENDING CONVERSATIONS
PSD Education Leaders, Drag Queens & Kids

Should public resources be used for drag performances for children? 

Poudre School District’s Board of Education President Kristen Draper received national attention and nearly 600,000 views on X this week after LibsofTikTok made two separate X posts about Draper’s close association with a local drag queen named Krisa Gonna. Click on the image below to view the initial post. To access the second one, which is more graphic, click HERE.

Board President Draper clearly approves of using public funds and spaces for drag shows for children. We wonder if she plans to bring drag performances in district classrooms?

WHY WAS I NEVER TOLD?
Washington’s Evolution on Slavery

Founding Father George Washington is often and rightly criticized for fighting for the American Revolution while subsequently being a slaveholder. But did you know that he was the only one of the ten slave-holding U.S. Presidents to order his slaves to be freed upon his death? Washington’s attitude about race and slavery were profoundly affected by his experiences during the American Revolution, as he was confronted with the practice of slavery in direct conflict with the new American ideals of liberty and freedom for all men. Washington first ceased the practice of whipping slaves on his plantation, then stopped selling slaves altogether. Washington’s heritage as a Virginia planter accustomed to slavery was challenged as he took command of the Continental Army in 1775 and was repeatedly admonished by New England revolutionaries who insisted to Washington that African-Americans both free and slave must be allowed to fight in the Continental Army. Washington slowly accepted their demands and by the time of his famous Christmas night crossing of the Delaware River in 1776, he had many former slaves serving as free men in his charge.

To learn more, read Pulitzer-Prize winning author David Hackett Fischer’s book, African Founders.

DINNER TABLE DISCUSSION
What Does Unalienable Mean?

What is the proper relationship between a government and its citizens? Does the government grant their rights or does the government protect their rights? The United States was founded on the belief that all people have rights as a birthright; all people have the right to live their lives and exercise their conscience without interference from government. Those rights cannot be separated from the individual person, no matter their station in life.

Do you prefer to live in a system in which your government (i.e. other people) tells you how you should live your life? Or do you prefer the freedom to live your life on your own terms?

JOIN THE CONVERSATION:

☑️ ATTEND the first regular PSD Board of Education meeting of the 2024-25 school year on Tuesday August 13th at 6:30pm. Find the meeting details HERE.

☑️ CONSIDER the controversy over free speech and thought policing happening right now in the United Kingdom. How does a government warning citizens to “think before you post” square with the idea of unalienable rights? See the UK government’s message for yourself HERE.

☑️ ATTEND the school finance forum and ask thoughtful questions of local legislators and their friends on Saturday August 17th at 10am. Find the meeting details in the graphic below.

☑️ SHARE this newsletter with anyone who believes in asking good questions and having curious conversations! Subscribe HERE.