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EDUCATION Ashland school board chairman says Superintendent Hummel will leave his mark Westrick says outgoing superintendent's leadership style is unique, effective Comment By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@ADTsports DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@ADTsports Posted Mar. 6, 2016 at 6:59 PM Updated Mar 6, 2016 at 7:00 PM By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@ADTsports Posted Mar. 6, 2016 at 6:59 PM Updated Mar 6, 2016 at 7:00 PM » RELATED CONTENT • Ashland seeks community input on next superintendent • School district leader Hummel announces resignation • Hummel hired as new superintendent • Jay Hummel's resume • Two finalists for top ASD job to visit Ashland » Social News Ashland school board Chairman Jim Westrick lauded outgoing Superintendent Jay Hummel on Friday as a humble, dedicated leader who will be difficult to replace, a day after the district announced that Hummel plans to resign effective July 1. Hummel, who replaced Juli Di Chiro in July 2013, notified the school board of his decision Wednesday. In an email to district staff, Hummel said his reasons for leaving are “entirely personal.” He elaborated on his decision Friday by email. "I’ve enjoyed working with the people here, and Ashland is a fabulous place to live and work," Hummel wrote. "As my family has grown, it has become clear to me that they need me as much as I need them. "Shortly after the first of the year, I decided that I had to either establish a more permanent home in Ashland or move back to Idaho. However, it was just in the last couple of weeks that I made a final decision." The board will host two "community input meetings" Tuesday at Walker Elementary and Thursday at Ashland High School. Both begin at 7 p.m. In a letter sent out to parents Friday, the board encouraged people to come and “tell us what qualities you would like to see in our next superintendent.” Westrick said that even though Hummel’s tenure will end up being relatively short — Di Chiro held the job for 13 years compared with Hummel's three — it should go down as a successful run. “He really has had a tremendous impact in a very short time … really working on improving instruction,” Westrick said. “We’ve really had a focus on instruction in all our schools, and especially in what he calls flattening the leadership. And so instead of a bureaucracy where you have this hierarchy … he really has flattened things so that everyone understands we’re all part of the same district and we’re all working together. And that has gone a really long way toward (improving) the culture of the district and how we work together. There have been some really fundamental changes that I’ve been really happy about.” Westrick said one of Hummel’s strengths is his willingness to listen to all sides of an argument before making a well-informed decision, a character trait which helped weather a potential storm as the district reconfigured its school zoning procedures last year. Ultimately, the district adopted a more nuanced approach to controlling class sizes, using questionnaires to help establish priorities in order to connect as many students as possible with their school of choice, while still maintaining acceptable student-to-teacher ratios. To get there, the district held community input meetings like the ones scheduled for next week, sharing data with parents while also accepting feedback that was later used to help craft the new plan. The policy worked as intended, as class sizes leveled off, according to a report released by the district in September. "In my first few months in Ashland, a professional colleague shared that she believed, 'culture will always trump structure.' " Hummel wrote. "If I’ve been able to help the various parts of our organization to focus on finding what we have in common, and away from what could divide us, then I feel a degree of success." “It’s really rare in any leader to find someone as collaborative as Jay is,” Westrick said. “Everybody talks about collaboration, but Jay demonstrated a fundamental belief that the only way we were going to get the best answers is if we included everybody in the process of finding solutions. Some people will walk into a room and they already have a decision that they want and they try to get people to that decision. Jay is the only person I’ve ever met who walks into a room and says, ‘I’m going to tell you right now, I don’t know if my answer is the best answer, but let’s all talk together and find the best answer.’ And that really makes an impression on people.” Hummel will leave the district in good standing for the next superintendent, as Ashland continued to score among the best in the state in standardized testing during his three years and is closing in on meeting its $1.4 million fundraising goal to renovate Walter A. Phillips Field into a multi-use facility that can be used year round. According to a report issued by the Oregon Department of Education in October, 93 percent of Ashland High freshmen last school year were on track to graduate, compared to 79.9 percent statewide. Next week’s community input meetings are the first step in finding Hummel’s replacement. The format is yet to be determined but at least one member of the school board will be on hand to take suggestions about what qualities the district should look for in its next superintendent. The board will then incorporate those suggestions into its formal search. Westrick isn’t sure how soon the job opening will be posted, but said the district is moving quickly to fill the vacancy. “By mid-next week we’ll have a good idea of what that process is going to look like,” he said. “Our goal is to post the position as soon as possible so that we can move along quickly. The short answer is the sooner the better, because we want to make sure that we put things in place as soon as we can.” Prior to being hired by Ashland, Hummel was the superintendent of the Kuna Joint School District on the outskirts of Boise, Idaho, for eight years. He also has served as an assistant superintendent, high school principal, counselor, coach and English teacher. When Hummel was hired, the budgeted salary for the superintendent was from $120,000 to $135,000. When asked what sort of advice he would give to his successor, Hummel wrote, "When trying to solve complex challenges, ask for the direct involvement of those parties that will be the most impacted right from the start…..AND, pack a lunch; you’ll need it!" —Joe Zavala is a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings. Reach him at 541-821-0829 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @Joe_Zavala99. By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@ADTsports DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Follow @@ADTsports Posted Mar. 6, 2016 at 6:59 PM Updated Mar 6, 2016 at 7:00 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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