Dr. Ronald Wynn feels a void. “This is the only job I’ve had in my 30-year career that I feel I’m leaving unfinished,” Wynn said. “I have come to grips with it but there is so much left to be done and so many ideas unrealized.”Wynn came to D 49 on a one-year contract in July 2004 after retiring from Colorado Springs School District 11. “I felt energized and filled with excitement,” Wynn said. “When I left District 11, I really felt that I had done everything I could do there but I feel I am leaving prematurely from D 49.”Throughout the interviewing process with the other D 49 candidates, he felt confident he was a contender for the superintendent’s position. With almost a year leading D 49, Wynn felt he was making progress in all areas, from improving student scores to strategic planning to hopefully passing a mill levy increase in November 2005. “I came late to the campaign last year,” Wynn said. “I’m not making excuses for the failure of the mill levy because there is no doubt that we made mistakes; otherwise, it would have passed.”Nevertheless, Wynn was surprised not only at not being offered the position but also the speed in which the board of education made its decision. “We interviewed all day on Saturday and then I went to dinner with my wife,” Wynn said. “When we got home that evening around 10 p.m., I had a voice message from board president Paul Bryant to call him. Although it was rather late, I returned his call and I’m glad I did because the Sunday Gazette had the announcement that Steven Hull was chosen.”I always felt my rapport with the BOE was good and that we were all going the same direction and had one purpose and one purpose only and that was to the very best for the kids. I really don’t know why I wasn’t chosen but the BOE made their decision and I respect that.” “The board made a unanimous decision that in the final analysis Steven Hull was the best fit for the district,” said BOE president Paul Bryant.Wynn is currently interviewing for other superintendent positions throughout the country. One district in the Chicago area is of special interest to him. The district is small and in a poverty stricken area. “It is an area very similar to what I grew up in,” he said. “My whole career has been about giving youngsters hope and helping them achieve. Kids who grow up disadvantaged have to compete in the same world as those who grow up advantaged, and I want to help them obtain the skills both academic and social to succeed. I lead and live by the three “A’s: attitude, accountability and achievement. If you have a good attitude and are accountable for your actions, then you can achieve anything. I’m hoping I will be able to take this philosophy and serve another district.”While Wynn is sad about leaving D 49, he wishes only the best for district. “My parting comments to the board of education, teachers, administrators, staff and the community are to put everything else aside and make the best decisions for the kids,” he said. “Put the politics, social status, developers and immense growth, and anything else aside that gets in the way of putting the kids first. They are pawns and have no say so we must all act in their interests.”FROM THE NEW FALCON HERALD: Good luck Ron Wynn!
