July 13, 2020 at 2:18 p.m.
New superintendent ready for challenge of leading district through pandemic
Burke hopes to have plan in place by early August
New superintendent ready for challenge of leading district through pandemic
Burke, who succeeded Kelli Jacobi who retired June 30 after 29 years with the district, has taken the reins of the Rhinelander school district under most unusual circumstances. And that's putting it mildly.
Along with school districts across the country and the world, Rhinelander is grappling with the challenge of ensuring continuation of learning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The district is also in the midst of constructing an $8.5 million sports complex complete with air-supported dome.
In a recent interview with the River News, Burke expressed confidence in the future of the district, despite the obstacles created by COVID-19.
Burke said the administrative team has done a good job positioning the district for fall, and the public has been supportive.
"I'm very optimistic about it," he said. "I'm very impressed with the community support. The school board backs public education and the goals, teacher supports and our students are number one. I'm excited about the opportunity, COVID or not."
Rhinelander is Burke's fourth school district.
"(I worked at) Franklin Public Schools and Elkhart Lake (-Glenbeulah School District) and 24 years at Port Washington (-Saukville School District)," he said.
Although new to the district, Burke is not a stranger to the area.
"I got my superintendent license about five years ago and went through a construction project at my former school district and looking at jobs each year that would come up," he explained. "When this one opened, it really interested me because my family has had a cabin over on Lake George for 25 years. Obviously, being up here in the summers and coming up here for ice fishing, you read the local paper and I thought there were a lot of good things going on in the school district."
He said he "did some digging" before he applied formally for the position.
"With the dome project and I thought there were a lot of opportunities for improvement, too for the school district overall," Burke said. "That interested me to apply."
And then came the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It was after I was offered the position and signed. I was dealing with closing up the school year down there at Port Washington; working, listening. I would be in contact with people up here going 'what's going on?' I'm very impressed with the team with what they were able to do with the students and families over that time," he said.
One thing that particularly impressed him was how fast the switch to virtual learning was accomplished, based on procedures the administration had been working on since the summer of 2019.
"They had the Chromebooks and the Learning Magnet Systems," Burke noted, adding that he was also impressed with the way Rhinelander conducted its student meal program.
"Every school district did some version of that for the families, but this district did a great job providing support for families," he said.
Burke said he feels confident going into the school year, no matter what it will look like, and noted that administrators from school districts in Oneida and Vilas counties have been meeting to come up with "plans and ideas."
"I'm sure that as we get going here, by the end of the month, or by Aug. 3, we'll present to the board our plan for fall, pending any changes between Aug. 3 and the start of the school year, which could happen," he said. "But we'll have a pretty good overarching plan and then within that will be moving parts, as needed, based on the situation that we are in."
If the plan is approved by the school board on Aug. 3, information will be sent out to parents starting on Aug. 4, he added.
He said he hopes the situation takes the form of what is best for the children, which would be to have them in their classrooms.
"I think we're all up here doing our best to plan for our kids coming in fall, but also having the flexibility and the planning that if we need to go to full remote again, we're ready for that," he said. "If we need to go to a plan where it's blended where kids come half the time, we're ready for that, also."
"But option A is for every kid that wants to be here, to be here. And that's what we're planning for as our best option," he added.
Looking to the future, Burke said he is very excited to be part of the construction of the sports complex and dome and see what the finished project will bring to the city.
"The dome is going to be lots of different things," he said. "It's a great resource for the school district, it's also a great resource for the community because it's going to have pickleball courts and basketball courts and walking lanes, especially in the winter. So our community will also have opportunities to be able to use it. And our schools, especially with COVID and the middle school being right next to it, we might be able to have recess in there and physical education classes as well as the high school. It's a good place to spread people out, if needed, for certain activities."
He said being able to hold big events in the dome "will be a good draw."
"I think it will be a big boast for our community, too," he added.
Burke noted he is still in the "looking and listening" mode of taking over.
"I've had a lot of good meetings with our administrative teams," he said. "The one good thing about COVID is it brings us together and we're working on the same thing together. And that helps us as we meet the student needs, we're all coming together on those kind of things.
"But right now, we're in full planning mode for fall," he emphasized.
When it comes to the members of the school board, he says they are engaged in the process and also understand how that process works, which makes his job easier.
"They are very invested in various ways in students and their success," he said. "And that is so important."
He noted that many of the board members have served on the board for a few terms and are well-versed in how the district works.
"Some of them have been here for over 10 years now," Burke noted. "And when I talk to them one-on-one, they are very invested in what they are doing and they love what they're doing. They're proud, and they also want to keep getting better. I think that continuous improvement also appealed to me. In any organization whether you are a reporter or a teacher, a superintendent, a school district, you always want to try to find ways to get better."
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at jamie@rivernews online.com.
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