Jack Duffy: Gila County Superintent of Schools candidate
Please summarize your professional and personal experience that you will bring to bear on the county superintendent of schools job.
I have a master’s degree in Educational Leadership accompanied by a 34 year teaching career in the public schools. I’m familiar with the needs of our county schools because I’m working on the front lines with the students.
Why are you to seek the county superintendent position?
I want to be a visible, actively involved educational leader for the people of Gila County.The county superintendent’s office should be a resource for quality education in our county. The people of our county deserve a superintendent who takes the lead and is out there advocating for quality education.
What is your top priority for the next four years?
Regularly attend school board meetings and school events. Make sure funds are administered with fidelity. I intend to approach the sheriff and police departments in the county to discuss having active shooter drills at our schools. The superintendent should also facilitate more interactions between educators and legislators so lawmakers be more familiar with our county’s schools need. More teacher professional development should be facilitated by the county superintendent’s office.
What is the biggest problem facing the county schools district?
We need to be sure we have quality educators and continue obtaining the needed funding to help our at-risk students.
What is the biggest problem facing k-12 schools?
Student achievement and absenteeism.
How can the county schools office improve adult education in the county?
Our adult education program needs to be well advertised so individuals who need to obtain their diplomas and take the GED know what’s available for them. The county schools office should make sure teachers have adequate curriculum resources for instruction including online options.
What can county schools do to help schools districts improve test scores?
Teacher in-service or professional development needs to be provided so educators will know what is needed for students to achieve. Data from schools that have successfully improved test scores should be examined to pass this information on to school officials and teachers in the county to learn about their methodology.
K-12 chronic absentee rates have doubled since the pandemic. Is there anything the county schools office can do to help districts increase attendance rates?
School attendance is crucial to student achievement. Our county’s school districts should be encouraged to comply with and inform parents and students about state attendance guidelines.
Do you support the dramatic expansion of Empowerment Scholarship Accounts? Do you support any changes, reforms or accountability measures?
I support ESAs as they’re presently administered
Are there any changes in state law affecting education you would lobby for in the next session of the legislature?
The legislature and school boards should be sure only appropriate materials are allowed in our public schools. I will be sure the superintendent’s office complies with any changes in state law.
What is the biggest failure or missed opportunity for county schools in the past four years?
Learning loss during the pandemic. I’m confident and optimistic we will go forward to make sure our students achieve.
How has the improvement of broadband affected schools? Should we do more? Less?
Improved broadband is essential infrastructure in today’s schools. Students need access to high quality internet to research and complete online assignments. Much instruction is geared toward online sources.
What can the county schools office to do help district address the mental health problems in schools, given the rise in depression, suicide, discipline problems, social media addiction and other problems that seem to be growing worse?
Groups like NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) need to continue instructing teachers about mental health challenges so teachers are aware of the signs of depression and other disorders. Teachers, counselors, and administrators need to know what to look for to ensure students receive the help they need.
Roy Sandoval Gila County Superintendent
Please summarize your professional and personal experience that you will bring to bear on the county superintendent of schools job.
Over the last 39 years I have been a High School Teacher (Biology) and coach, Curriculum Director/Grant writer, Elementary School Principal, High School Principal, High School Turnaround Principal for a failing H.S. (Where they terminate the administrative staff and I bring a team in to turn the school around), Student Achievement Consultant (Southwest Turnarounds LLC) and the Gila County Superintendent (7 years and 10 months). I also have a national turnaround specialist designation from a two-year graduate program at the University of Virginia. As a student achievement consultant I have worked with the principals and superintendents 34 schools and districts in Arizona and New Mexico in two-year blocks. I met with them face to face, once a month to establish short-term goals, holding them accountable for those goals and supporting them in achieving those goals. In this capacity I played a role in helping both Globe USD and Hayden USD make their way out of the Arizona Department of Education school improvement designation.
Another area of experience is Adult Education. Over the last seven years I have built a robust Adult Education Program that has a brick and mortar footprint in Globe, Payson and the San Carlos Detention Center (which also provides k-12). Each of these facilities can also provide GED testing services and Pearson VUE testing for certification in over a hundred areas including teaching, administration, nursing, physician assistant, paramedic, real estate and many others. This of course has also given me a great deal of experience in overseeing multiple staffs with significant geographic separation. As well, we have now opened up distance learning opportunities to the county libraries in rural communities such as Young and Winkelman.
I have been active in the Arizona Association of County School Superintendents (AACSS), currently serving as Vice President while also serving on the legislative committee. In this capacity I work with our lobbyist and other committee members to review upcoming bills and make decisions relative to supporting or not supporting. I then communicate with legislators and at times attend legislative committee meetings to testify.
I served on the Arizona Association for County Officials Board (AACO) for five years. This Board is comprised of a wide spectrum of elected officials including County Sheriffs, County Treasurers, County Assessors, County Superintendents, County Attorneys and County Supervisors. As well as keeping us current on state and national county issues, the Board works with two prominent legislative lobbyists to evaluate legislative bills and possible ramifications and whether AACO should support them. Serving on this Board allowed me to see from a wide perspective. It also allowed me to be actively engaged with the legislature.
Finally, the experience of managing the office, day to day through each fiscal year.
All of this has given me a great deal of experience to credibly work with a wide array of people in many positions. It has also given me a great deal of knowledge relative to the laws that govern the schools and the position of County Superintendent.
Why are you to seek the county superintendent position?
I have worked hard to create a County Superintendent office that is responsive, effective, efficient, economically prudent, accessible and credible to the district superintendents and the public. I have a great deal of knowledge and experience - and plenty energy to continue to serve.
What is your top priority for the next four years?
As a public servant and financial steward, my top priorities are always to stay in the black, be transparent and accessible, provide support to K-12, Adult Education and the public. As well, to take advantage of opportunities when they arise, while paying close attention to the financial “pitfalls” before jumping in. I believe in doing what we do well, then expanding on those areas of success before taking on a bunch of shiny projects that may look good in the news but are not implemented well and diminish the effectiveness of current projects because of manpower and funding. Consequently, in addition to the above I intend to continue meeting with the district superintendents on a regular basis (we all meet bi-weekly via zoom) and support them in their endeavors, ensure our expansion of distance learning to rural libraries is effective while effectively maintaining our current brick and mortar services, be actively involved with legislative issues while efficiently executing other responsibilities such as supporting school business offices, appointing open board seats, assisting people who desire to run for board seats, preparing election materials etc.
What is the biggest problem facing k-12 schools?
I believe there are two major problems that are of equal magnitude. Of course there are many more challenges, but these two are of major consequence.
1. COVID set back student academic achievement and emotional maturity significantly. It also affected behavioral habits; especially the habit of getting up and getting out the door to school for fact to face instruction. Consequently, consistent attendance has still not been recovered. There is a direct correlation between attendance and academic achievement. Bringing the COVID achievement deficit. Keep in mind that the deficit runs through fourteen years worth of students.
2. Smart phones in school (and home), particularly for children under the age of 16; consequently twenty-four hour access to social media including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and others. This is causing havoc with the ability to focus on teaching and learning for students and teachers at all levels. Research since 2018 is also concluding that it is causing a great deal of psychological and emotional damage at a time when kids are extremely impressionable and vulnerable.
How can the county schools office improve adult education in the county?
As I mentioned earlier, we have a robust program with brick and mortar sites in Payson Globe and San Carlos. It has been a challenge to build these up and maintain them because while K-12 and Colleges are funded by statute, Adult Education is not. However, our next step is to utilize distance learning and the libraries in rural communities throughout the county to provide initial assessment, instruction and support to pass the five GED tests leading to a High School Equivalency (HSE) diploma. We are up and running in the early stages with Young, Winkelman and Miami. This has been no easy feat as considerable dedicated equipment and training are necessary at each remote site. As we work the bugs out we plan to further expand into Pine and Tonto Basin.
What can county schools office do to help schools districts improve test scores?
This is a revelation to many, but the County School Superintendent does not have statutory authority over local school districts. Authority is vested to elected Governing Board members who hire a district superintendent to implement policy. Consequently, the best thing that my office can do is provide support. I meet with all of the district superintendents on a biweekly basis to discuss challenges and share challenges and solutions. When I can, I support through our Educational Service Agency (which unfortunately is required by law but not funded).
There is a misconception that the County Superintendent is going to walk into a district and start telling superintendents what they need to do to raise student achievement. Though my expertise is raising student achievement in failing schools, and though, as a consultant I was able to assist Globe and Hayden in escaping school improvement, it is still not the case. Consequently, to provide a platform for communication, to establish and maintain a credible rapport with district superintendents and board members and to listen thoughtfully and provide support when needed without being intrusive is the best way.
K-12 chronic absentee rates have doubled since the pandemic. Is there anything the county schools office can do to help districts increase attendance rates?
Once again, facilitating communication between district superintendents to share what works is the best thing my office can do. Also, facilitating communication between principals from districts across the county (which we began this year). Finally, by sponsoring trainings (when we can) for individual districts or multiple districts.
Do you support the dramatic expansion of Empowerment Scholarship Accounts? Do you support any changes, reforms or accountability measures?
Having been in the business for many years I see the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) scenario as very much the same as when school laws were enacted thirty years ago (1994-95). The legislature allowed over 500 charter schools to open up without phasing them in, or with regard to policies, accountability, oversight and funding. It took about four or five years for the powers that be to wake up and say, “Wow, things are just willy-nilly and funding seems to be disappearing and inappropriate practices are happening.” I believe a multi-year phase in for ESA’s would have been a much better mechanism for ensuring that oversight and accountability were properly employed. These are taxpayer dollars.
Are there any changes in state law affecting education you would lobby for in the next session of the legislature?
Each year all of the County Superintendents meet to modify a set of belief statements that guide our support of bills that will be proposed (obviously, we don’t know what is going to be proposed). We also meet to determine what we will propose as a body. We currently have three. However, because we will not meet to finalize them until July 22nd, I would rather not discuss the proposals because they are only potential at this time.
What is the biggest failure or missed opportunity for county schools in the past four years?
This is a difficult question because, we may have chosen not to pursue some things that others may look at as a missed opportunity. However we may view it as something that may not have lived up to its potential or that had what I call “hooks”. Every grant or program comes with certain expectations and duties. One must choose carefully. A grant or program may look appealing at first glance, but can also end up placing demands and taking you in a direction you did not intend.
An “almost fail” was our $250,000 Adult Education grant. Our Adult Ed. Director had some serious medical issues that corresponded with the application deadline. With a week and a half left, I was able to jump in, learn how to navigate the platform, employ the incredible abilities of our Adult Ed. Staff using google docs and got it submitted at the wire. It was approved and I am happy to say that our Adult Ed. Director is back on her feet and going gangbusters as we continue to implement and expand our services.
I suppose this is one of those circ*mstances illustrating that a County Superintendent with a wide variety of experiences and expertise might just be important. It could have just as easily been a quarter million dollar “fail”.
How has the improvement of broadband affected schools? Should we do more? Less?
In the fall of 2018, the County Librarian Jacque Sanders and I began our quest to procure a $19 million project to place high-speed internet cable to every school and library in Gila County. It was a difficult and often confusing process to navigate the federal labyrinth that often crossed several federal agencies. In May of 2023, the last of the cable was placed. This has allowed schools and public libraries throughout the county to access much greater bandwidth at a discounted rate. As well, we would be unable to implement our Adult Education distance learning expansion without this additional bandwidth.
With more sophisticated software including the onset of Artificial Intelligence software, there will be ever increasing demands for schools and libraries to expand bandwidth. It is important to always be looking ahead. Even then, technology moves so fast, we often find ourselves behind the curve.
In regard to online instruction as a primary source of instruction, I believe COVID illustrated that it is not particularly effective for a majority of the population. At least not in it’s present form and current technology. It’s difficult to beat the human touch of a great teacher who is with the kids every day.
What can the county schools office to do help district address the mental health problems in schools, given the rise in depression, suicide, discipline problems, social media addiction and other problems that seem to be growing worse?
Once again, it is up to local Governing Boards to determine what programs or assistance will be utilized in their district. My office can assist by facilitating communication and awareness of opportunities to district superintendents. For example, last year I was contacted by an individual from National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI). I scheduled them to speak to the district superintendents on one of our biweekly ZOOM meetings. Superintendents were able to assess and ask questions to determine if NAMI’s program and supports would fit into their district. They were then able to follow up with the representative and work with their Governing Board to determine the viability and possible implementation strategy for their district – or not.
As mentioned earlier, facilitating communication between superintendents and between principals to share best practices or resources is very important. This followed by sponsoring staff development, speakers etc. when requested.
