Dr. James Leary information

Please see below the press release about Dr. James Leary that he prepared and was given to the LT but not published. It is a clear indicator of his energy and desire to effect positive change for our district, our students and our community.

I was interested to find more biographical information on Dr. Leary so I asked at the ECASD Main office if I could look at the resumes of the 3 final candidates for the position. (This required making sure the district legal counsel (Weld, Riley) was OK with the request. It was.) So I stopped by the office and the secretary showed me the material that was submitted by all 3 candidates for their application for the position.

Before telling you more about Dr. Leary, let me just inform you that Gregg Butler's application/resume/cover letter was a pathetic, unprofessional JOKE. (Reminder, this is a job application for the equivalent of the CEO of a $120 million dollar organization that is one of the biggest employers in Eau Claire.) Gregg Butler submitted a single piece of paper with huge font (it reminded me of what my youngest son did in 4th grade when he needed to make a flimsy book report look more substantial!) that had one sentence written on it:

"Please consider me a candidate for the position of Interim Superintendent for the ECASD for the 2007-08 school year."

That's it. No resume. No cover letter. No statement of his goals for the position. No information about why he thinks he is qualified. I actually asked the secretary if it was missing something because it looked so pathetic and she said that she asked Mr. Kling the same thing. Nope. That was it. What the _____? It was beyond wierd. It was pathologic.

I could not figure it out at all. Was he so supremely confident of getting the job that no effort was required? If anybody else has an idea or clue about the meaning of this, please post a comment.

OK, back to Dr. Leary. In contrast to Butler's application, Dr. Leary submitted 14 pages of information that included a detailed cover letter with his initial assessment of what was needed by the ECASD and how he could help the district be successful based on his experience of 25 years in Administration (10 as the Superintendent in a suburban Detroit district.) Since then he has had a consulting firm, Macro Vision Associates. Most recently he was the Interim Superintendent in Chippewa Falls where he helped move the district from a negative to a positive fund balance, changed elementary boundaries with support from citizens, reorganized their administrative group and helped them prepare a 5 year administrative/board plan.

Dr. Leary has a Bachelors and a Distinguished Service Award from UWEC, a Masters degree from the University of Michigan and a doctorate from Wayne State. While working in Michigan his district was named one of the "25 most effective school systems in the nation" and the IDEA and Kettering Foundation named it a Number One School. He also included numerous ideas he had for school/community paratnerships, and newspaper articles about his time in CF. The paper reported that when Dr. Leary came to the CF graduation ceremony (after being in the district ONE YEAR) the Senior class "roared" in appreciation and he was given a standing ovation by the crowd. At the Memorial HS graduation this year nobody from the ECASD Administration showed up and Trish Cummins (Carol Craig had a family medical emergency) was the only member of BOE leadership. Kinda sad but true statement about our leadership and the community.

PRESS RELEASE
I am honored to have the Eau Claire Board of Education select me to serve as their Interim Superintendent. It will be a pleasure to work with the board, the staff and community to make improvements within the school system while building strong school-community relationships. My many years of work with schools, businesses and governmental units throughout the country will allow me to bring the very best of all features to Eau Claire.

My desire is to set the tone and model the processes necessary for Eau Claire Public Schools to provide exemplary service to its students and citizens, as well as the many businesses, service organizations and citizen groups that comprise this dynamic community. I have great respect for this city and commit my energy and skills to improving the quality and character of learning and living here.

There are many influences that will be in force as we focus our combined efforts to bring about positive changes. Recognizing the rich heritage of this school system, I feel confident that we share a unified desire to create an environment that results in Eau Claire Area Schools becoming a national model of educational excellence. I accept that challenge and look forward to working with our employees, students and all community sectors as we take initial steps in the attainment of that vision.