FINALIST FOR SCHOOL POST SHARES VIEWS

Summary:

Former Perryville principal visits Cape Girardeau as superintendent finalist.

Sometimes teachers and school administrators can get so caught up in day-to-day operations that they forget their real purpose -- educating students.

That is the opinion of Dr. Dan Steska, one of two finalists for the superintendent of Cape Girardeau schools. He said he doesn't ever want that to happen.

School districts shouldn't be concerned only with finances and building projects but with the best interests of students, Steska said.

"That always has to be the foremost vision," he said, "and it's easy to forget that. You can get so caught up in the nuts and bolts that you forget what you are building."

Steska, 48, is superintendent at Arcadia Valley schools in Ironton.

Steska met with teachers, staff and the public Tuesday during a series of hourlong forums at Central Junior High School. The other finalist candidate, David G. Smith of Excelsior Springs, met with the board Monday.

School board members will visit the finalists' home districts today to talk with people and school staffs.

Superintendent Dr. Dan Tallent will resign June 30. Board members hope to hire his replacement by Dec. 21.

About 14 people, including the president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, the dean of education at Southeast Missouri State University, and a police officer attended the public forum Tuesday night. About 80 teachers questioned Steska during two separate sessions earlier in the afternoon.

Questions ranged from how Steska would solve staff morale problems to finding solutions for the financial crunch and recruiting minority staff.

Steska said he realizes the Cape Girardeau district has some hurdles to jump, but the problems aren't insurmountable.

"People need to be involved in being part of the solution," he said. "You can't do what's good for everyone and sacrifice the good of the individual organization or the individual building."

Nor can you always sacrifice the individual to find the best solution for the group, he said.

Steska conceded that moving from Ironton to Cape Girardeau would be a challenge. "It could make me think twice about leaving a peaceful situation," he said.

One of Steska's daughters lives in Cape Girardeau, and another, who is expected to graduate high school in May, will attend Southeast Missouri State University. He and his wife have four children.

Steska said he would bring plenty of strengths to the Cape Girardeau job. "The kinds of issues that are prevalent are my strengths," he said.

District teachers want a student and teacher advocate who will help alleviate low pay and salary freezes.

Steska has been superintendent in Ironton for two years and worked one year as an assistant superintendent there. He worked in the Perryville School District for 24 years, first as an English teacher, then as assistant principal and high school principal.

Those experiences help him in his current role, he believes. "I'm a principal at heart," he said.

Steska enjoys relating to students and often eats lunch with third- and fourth-grade students, none of whom can pronounce his name, he said.

Steska told some lively stories. One teacher said seeing an administrator smile was refreshing.

He laughed at that comment but said sometimes the only choices are to laugh or cry, and laughing is better.

He smiled while relating this story:

During a campaign to inform voters about an impending $2.1 million bond issue in Ironton, Steska asked a group of fourth-graders to help him. The ensemble learned a little ditty about the bond vote and sang at games and activities while Steska played the guitar.

"How could you say no to these guys?" Steska asked. The bond issue passed.

Steska said he didn't receive any negative criticism for asking the students to help, because it was their building that was going to be constructed.

"You can say you want good things for the district," he said. "but what you have to realize is that you get what you pay for."

People in the community need to develop friendships with school leaders, and Steska said he can make that happen.

"I want to be the most truthful, honest and open, fair representative for the district," Steska said. "I want people to know I'll shoot straight with them."

Feedback from the community and staff is vital to fixing the problems facing Cape Girardeau schools, he said. Communities evaluate the successes, failures and quality of a school district in part on the superintendent's performance.

But finding the solutions isn't as important as how you implement them, Steska said. "You need to see what you want to accomplish and what the obstacles are."

How you implement a plan is sometimes more important than what is scheduled to happen, he said.