New super meets media

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BY JoANNE YOUNG

The woman who will be the new superintendent of Lincoln Public Schools fielded questions Monday afternoon from Lincoln media outlets on the LPS budget, a potential bond issue and student achievement.

And she answered one crucial question for kids: What's her policy on snow days?

"I like a few every year, too," Susan Gourley said. "But maybe not as many as we had this year."

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With a map of Lincoln Public Schools behind her, incoming Superintendent Susan Gourley fields questions during a brief press conference Monday, April 5, 2005. Gourley is in town to search for a home and to meet with current Superintendent Phil Schoo.

With a map of Lincoln Public Schools behind her, incoming Superintendent Susan Gourley fields questions during a brief press conference Monday, April 5, 2005. Gourley is in town to search for a home and to meet with current Superintendent Phil Schoo.

This school year, Lincoln children were out of school for four days because of snow, once in December, twice in January and once in February. The district has five days built into its calendar for snow before kids have to go extra days or extended hours to make up time.

Gourley made her first visit to Lincoln after the last big snow in early February to interview for the superintendent job. This week marks her second visit since landing the position. The long list of people she'd like to visit and things she'd like to do could keep her here a month, she said, but she only has a week.

"I have lots of questions and a lot to learn," she told media members.

She is spending time with Superintendent Phil Schoo to "pick his brain before he leaves" in June. And she's meeting with key LPS staff members and district leaders on the budget, staffing and building needs. She's also getting her first lesson on Nebraska school finance.

Today she'll meet with Chamber of Commerce officials and attend a reception with the Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools. Monday she had lunch with Mayor Coleen Seng, Lincoln Journal Star Publisher Bill Johnston, Schoo and two representatives from the Public Education Network, who met at The Cornhusker to discuss funding for Lincoln's Community Learning Centers.

Community Learning Centers are guided by a group of parents, teachers and community leaders who survey the needs of neighborhoods and then offer programs and services to meet those needs.

It was a chance to introduce Gourley to the Community Learning Center concept and for Seng to meet the schools' new leader.

She had talked to Gourley on the phone but had never seen her, Seng said later in the day.

"I told her I was glad I had this opportunity," the mayor said.

Gourley said she is keeping up with LPS budget talks, teacher salary negotiations and other key issues with weekly telephone conversations with Schoo and information packets that arrive at her Puyallup, Wash., office twice a week.

She is not in a position to be making decisions on the budget or other district business until July, when she becomes superintendent, she said.

"Lincoln has a very good superintendent currently," Gourley said. "My major responsibility is to become educated."

She met Sunday afternoon with Lincoln Board of Education members who discussed and answered questions on a potential bond issue. Monday she received a copy of the MGT consultant study and the comprehensive plan the company delivered a year ago.

As important as finances are, she said, the district's most important mission is student achievement. Her vision for the district, she said, is doing whatever is necessary to meet the needs of each child in its educational care.

"I truly believe every child can learn. I've seen that. I've lived that as an educator," she said. "I will always put children first."

Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@;journalstar.com.