May 5, 2010
Dear Livermore Community:
I am honored to have been selected by the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District (LVJUSD) Board of Trustees as your Superintendent of Schools. As a 14-year resident of Livermore, spouse and proud parent of graduates from the Livermore schools, I am thrilled to extend my public service in this new leadership role.
I do not take my new charge lightly and it is with “eyes wide open” that I accept this critical leadership role in these times of economic crisis and increased public accountability. I am 100% invested in this community and our District and am determined to lead us to even greater heights.
As a proud product of public education, I have never wavered in my staunch belief in education for all students as the great equalizer and the key to a stable and viable future. After ten years of working in multiple capacities, sites and levels in the LVJUSD, I know our strengths, yet am acutely aware of our weaknesses and am fully prepared to tackle them with the help and support of our dedicated Board, leadership team and staff.
Over the years, I have worked side by side with personnel at all levels, (service workers, classified, certificated, and administrative staff alike) and I look forward to strengthening our working relationships and keeping communication lines open. I have had the privilege of working closely with coalitions of parents, community leaders, local industry, service groups, institutions of higher education, and the Livermore Valley Education Foundation to directly benefit our students, and I will continue to build and extend those valuable partnerships.
I embrace the prospect of having an even greater impact on the educational improvement efforts that are already under way and also moving our District in exciting, new directions. I will call on myself and others to continue to step up and put our students and their needs first. There is power in unity, and it is more important than ever that we remain united in our focus and commitment to our students and their future.
As a result of the current State-wide fiscal crisis, we face unprecedented challenges yet I am confident, that by working together, we will overcome them. We now have a unique window of opportunity to reprioritize, streamline and make operations more efficient, strategically restructure, rebuild, band together as a local community, and redefine the way “we do business” in schools. We do not have to let others define us; we can redefine ourselves, and in doing so, ensure our District and schools remain safe, vibrant and welcoming and our instructional offerings are relevant, engaging and rigorous.
The LVJUSD has a solid reputation with a supportive community and an increasingly diverse constituency. Even while we are being forced, along with most California public school districts, to scale back, we simply cannot sacrifice quality education for the 13,089 students entrusted to us or renege on our commitment to prepare all students for college and/or careers in a competitive global society.
In spite of the budget constraints, this is not the time to become discouraged or disheartened. This is the time:
- to thoughtfully reinvest diminishing resources in our students and teachers, classrooms and principals;
- to use assessment for learning;
- to monitor for results and use data to inform all decisions
- to successfully manage strategic, systemic change
- to refocus and reallocate funds to ensure all students achieve at all schools;
- to promote extensive community outreach and ramp up efforts to garner local support;
- to revamp the shattered image of public education in the face of competition and detractors;
- to procure resources and grant funding and seek innovative ways to enhance education;
- to network with our legislators, community agencies and industry to benefit our schools;
- to build upon our past successes and initiatives and continue moving boldly into the forefront.
We must be proactive, not merely reactive in the face of obstacles. We must continue to push ourselves, and move forward on behalf of our students. This is the direction we will take, and we simply cannot waver from our true purpose, of ensuring that “each student will graduate with the skills needed to contribute and thrive in a changing world.”
Our District has a solid foundation in place and can continue to accelerate on a path to ever-increasing educational excellence. Looking ahead, I have every confidence that with responsive and progressive leadership, we will maintain sound and conservative fiscal practices, inspire each other, leverage support, and continue to cultivate positive management/labor relations.
Over the next few months, I will be working closely with the LVJUSD Board of Trustees and in tandem with our senior management, site principals, bargaining unit leaders, teachers and classified staff to ensure a seamless leadership transition.
I am 100% committed to working collaboratively with all stakeholders. I welcome your input, ideas and support and plan to meet with staff and parents at each school site, as well as with individual community members and organizations.
Please feel free to contact me directly at kbowers@lvjusd.k12.ca.us. I look forward to hearing from you and working with you on behalf of our students and the Livermore community we call home.
Regards,
Kelly Bowers
Superintendent of Schools
