Elliott named Panorama superintendent

Spencer Assistant Superintendent Kathy Elliott has been named the new superintendent at Panorama Community School District.

Following a full day of interviews with board members and different focus groups, Elliott was offered a two-year contract for next school year and the following year by Panorama board members around 9 p.m. Tuesday night.

"It was an easy decision. We're happy to have her," Panorama school board member Tom Arganbright said of Elliott. "You can tell she's very caring about the students and she knows what she's talking about. She's very intelligent. And, she wants to be here for the long haul. ... She was just what we were looking for."

"The board members knew what they wanted to do pretty much after she walked out the door. So, it was definitely a unanimous decision (to hire her) and made without a whole lot of discussion," Sheila Wooldridge, the Panorama board secretary, added. " ... I think they just felt that she had a real warmth in personality, was a very caring person and was very willing to work as a team with our district. She (had) a lot of really glowing recommendations from people they had contacted. (They) felt that she was just a really good fit for our school district."

Elliott, who accepted a $105,000 contract plus benefits, is scheduled to start her new position with the 805-student school district serving the communities of Panora, Linden, Yale, Jamaica and Bagley on July 1.

Of the approximately 35 applicants for the position being vacated by retiring John Millhollin, the district's superintendent since 1995, Panorama board members had deemed Elliott and Dr. Pam Ewell, the middle school principal at Grinnell-Newburg Community School District, the top two finalists for the superintendency. As Panorama's superintendent, Elliott will be assisted administratively by a high school, middle school and elementary principal, as well as a curriculum coordinator.

As the central Iowa district superintendent, Elliott will also be responsible for overseeing a construction project currently beginning at the district's high school and middle school building in Panora.

"We're adding on a new auditorium. There will be some remodeling inside the building we already have, plus kind of a new entryway and office area toward the center of the building also," Wooldridge said.

Elliott has served the Spencer school district for the last 13 years. 2008-09 marks her seventh year as its assistant superintendent. Before this, she was Spencer High School's principal for six years.

Prior to Spencer, Elliott served as the assistant high school principal and 7-12 curriculum director at Glenwood schools for three years; the shared curriculum director at Tri-Center schools in Underwood for one year; and the English, Spanish and psychology teacher at Guthrie Center High School.

"I think the district won't fully realize what it's lost until she's been gone for six months," Spencer Superintendent Greg Ebeling said Wednesday afternoon. "There are probably several things she handles and takes care of that a lot of people don't realize. It's a position that's not always as visible as it should be, but it really is a lot of behind-the-scenes planning and setting things up. And, Kathy does it as well as anybody I know. So, this is going to be a big loss for the district. A painful loss. A loss that I really would have liked to have avoided.

"And, quite frankly, when I came into this district five years ago, Kathy was a major draw for me to come to this district just because of knowing her and knowing what she brought to the table. She's got a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge that you don't just easily replace. So, while it's going to be difficult, we will work to replace (her) and find somebody qualified. Obviously, they'll have big shoes to fill."

Due to budget cuts made by Spencer board members earlier this year, the plan is to replace the district's assistant superintendent position with one more in line with a curriculum director.

"We will be advertising this weekend for a position that will be called Director of School Improvement and Curriculum. That position will have mostly a school improvement, curriculum and professional development focus. So, it'll cleave off the things that typically an assistant superintendent would do, and those responsibilities will get farmed out between myself and probably the other administrators," Ebeling said. " ... In the short term, we're going to be trying to get plans put in place for the transition. ... (Literary Specialist) Julie (Finnern), who's accepted a new job too, will also be part of that transition plan. She doesn't start her new position (at Buena Vista University) until this fall, though. So, we probably have some time to help get some things transitioned. But, obviously, we have a big void with both Kathy and Julie leaving the district. So, we'll be looking to fill something back in and hopefully get that hired in by June. That's my plan."