Meet the Superintendent candidates
Community member committees interview RE-1 candidates
On Saturday, May 9th, there was a flurry of activity at the school building as community members sat in groups and conducted interviews with three potential candidates for the position of superintendent of the Gilpin County RE-1 School District. The district is comprised of two schools, the elementary and undivided high schools, with about 360 currently enrolled students.It’s been a solid eight years since community members have had the opportunity to work with the school’s board of education in such an exciting endeavor. Participants included parents of students, members of the Parent Teacher Association and District Accountability Committee, among others. The interviewing committees will make recommendations to the board regarding the selection of a candidate for the superintendent’s position. Ultimately, the board alone will make the final candidate selection and make their choice public on Monday, May 18th.
The board of education members and the candidates, Tina Goar, Cheryl Gomez, and Mike Lynch, spent some time together socializing over dinner Friday night at Crook’s restaurant in Black Hawk. While the candidates were being interviewed at the school on Saturday, their family and friends were out exploring Gilpin County.
Tina Goar is the candidate from Buena Vista, who is the current superintendent of the Buena Vista School District R-31. There are four schools in her district, an elementary school, middle school, high school, and an alternative high school, with approximately 1,000 students enrolled in all the schools. Goar has served as the Buena Vista superintendent since July 2006 and has been in the education field for over 25 years.
Cheryl Gomez, the candidate from Pueblo, is the principal of a charter school, Pueblo School for the Arts and Sciences. The school is unique in that its charter is held by Colorado State University. Gomez oversees a school specializing in K-8 education with an enrollment of just over 350 students. The school’s mission is to provide a well-rounded education “anchored in the arts and in harmony with the sciences.” Gomez loves working with kids in a small community and should she make the final selection, she would enjoy working in Gilpin.
Mike Lynch is the candidate hailing from The Learning Center for Human Development (TLC), a part of the Douglas County School District. He is their executive director. The Learning Center is a hub for Douglas County school personnel providing professional training and career development to potentially 6,500 staff members. Lynch has been the TLC director for over two years. When asked what he liked about Gilpin, he replied “the people.” Being here over the weekend for the interview was a very favorable experience for him.
The candidates for the superintendent position are outstanding and the board will have a hard choice to make in the immediate future.