Hoover retires, reflects on 9 years as superintendent

In 9 years as superintendent of the Monroe School District, Ken Hoover has seen the district through levies, technology improvements, expansion of alternative school offerings and more.

But as he transitions into retirement, effective June 30, what he is most proud of is helping Monroe schools use data to improve student and teacher performance.

"We bought a software program called STAR that allows us to track the progress of students through the year, so the teachers can see, when they try an intervention, if it helped, compared to national data,GÇ¥ Hoover said.

The data helped the school track the success of new ideas, such as the proposal to increase the focus on ninth grade.

"I got the data, and the trend had been worse every year,GÇ¥ Hoover said. "Only 67 percent were on track to graduate on time. But the math block idea was very successful, and last year, 88 percent were on track to graduate on time, and now it's 90 percent.GÇ¥

Hoover's career at the Monroe School District began in 2006, when he was selected to replace retiring Superintendent Bill Prenevost. For Hoover, it was the culmination of a long career alternating between professional work and academic progress.

A long career in government

After finishing military service as a young man, Hoover worked as the secretary for the Washington Department of National Resources while he went to night school to complete his bachelor's degree. Once his degree was complete, he worked for the Department of Health, inspecting companies that used nuclear materials, such as hospitals.

Then he went back to school for his masters degree in public administration, which he completed in 1986.

"Every time I completed a degree, I went looking for a job that required that degree to help validate the work and expense,GÇ¥ Hoover said.

This time, he took a job at the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, then moved to the governmental Office of Financial Management, where he worked on the governor's budget for K-12 education, which represented nearly half of the overall state budget.

It was during this period that Hoover made what would be a significant contribution to the state education system: He and colleague Ron Robinson developed the concept and wrote the 1990 legislation for the Running Start program, which allows high school students to complete their last two years of high school by taking community college classes, graduating with both a high school diploma and a two-year associate's degree. Students don't have to pay tuition; the school district passes on the money the state provided for their high school education. That means the student only needs to-á provide his or her own books and transportation.

Today, more than 17,000 students participate each year.

Hoover, though, still wanted to work in education, not just for it, so he started looking for a job in a school district. Eventually, the Edmonds School District made him its chief financial officer, and when he took the job, he also enrolled at the University of Washington's doctorate program in the education department, one of just two people admitted that year.

It was a demanding several years: Hoover was working full time, going to school full time, and also was the financial consultant the for New America Schools Development Corporation, a Bush program in which corporations spearheaded a nationwide research and development program for innovative schools. In that role, Hoover was traveling the country frequently, but he still managed to finish his doctorate degree in three and a half years.

Another start

Once again, Hoover went looking for a new job to justify-á the expense and effort of getting the degree, this time working as executive director of a newly formed organization called the Washington Alliance for Better Schools, made of 11 school district partners who share ideas and resources. The Alliance, formed in 1995, still exists.

But when an opportunity came to work as a superintendent in Jefferson County, Colo., he decided to move his family and take the job.

It was a big job. All of Jefferson County comprises a single school district, and Hoover's responsibility was for "everything except schools,GÇ¥ that is, transportation, food service, construction and maintenance.

"It was such a big district, every day the buses' mileage added up to the circumference of the earth,GÇ¥ said Hoover.

But Hoover wanted to return to Washington, so he kept his eye out for jobs, and when the Monroe job opened, he applied and got the position.

Back in Monroe

The first thing he did was assess the state of the district.

"I was surprised when I wandered around how little the teachers had to work with,GÇ¥ he said. "They didn't have the equipment, the support or the curriculums I was used to seeing in almost all the other districts I had seen.GÇ¥

He learned that the district seldomly asked the community for extra funding because it was thought the community would not support it.

"So my mission over the last nine years was to improve the level of resources,GÇ¥ Hoover said.

His strategy was to persuade the district to invest in small projects, so that seeing positive results might persuade them to invest again in other places.

"We started with AP tests,GÇ¥ Hoover said. "In 2006, only 30 tests were taken, and 18 passed.GÇ¥

Hoover worked with Assistant Superintendent Fran Mester to identify funding to increase the Advanced Placement (AP) program, with decidedly positive results; this year, 417 students took the tests that qualify them to take Advanced Placement classes.

The strategy seems to have worked: In 2006, the school levy was about $8 million, and now, it is nearly double what it was just nine years ago.

Some of that, Hoover noted, was because the state was cutting funds to districts statewide, meaning the school districts had to fill in the gaps, but even so, the district is providing more than it once was.

"Our curriculum is up-to-date, technology is improving, and kid are getting great results,GÇ¥ he said. "Our financial situation has improved, even as some of our neighbors have been struggling. We have become what many districts would like to be.GÇ¥

Active community members

Hoover and his wife, Kim have enjoyed life in Monroe, and have been heavily involved in the community. Hoover is active in the Rotary Club, he and Kim are both active in the Lion's Club and Kim is also active with the Monroe Arts Council.

"The community really embraced us and supported us and, nine years later, we have friends all over the place,GÇ¥ Hoover said.

"It's hard to leave, actually,GÇ¥ Kim said.

But it's best that a superintendent not stick around upon retiring, in order to make room for the new person, Hoover said. So he and Kim plan to move away.

They will move onto a boat and travel, they said, spending summers in Alaska and docking the boat in the winter to travel in warm climates such as Thailand.

Hoover said he believes that the Monroe School District is well-positioned to continue to improve: "I think people will come along and look at the foundation we've built and build on that foundation.GÇ¥