KC Superintendent Reflects on Challenges, Successes Ahead of March Retirement
By LaKeshia Knarr
After nearly nine years at the helm of the local school district, Superintendent Kelly Hastings recently announced she will retire effective March 12 of next year.
In a sit down with therecord-online.com, the superintendent – one of the longest serving in Keystone Central School District’s history – explained she intends to work each of her remaining days “like there are six years, not six months” left to her tenure. Hastings also described some of her greatest accomplishments and lessons, trailing back to her start with the school district in 1993, when she was hired as a long-term substitute.
“I didn’t aspire to the superintendency,” she began, adding her eyes were set on achievements she later found, like becoming principal and director of curriculum. It was when she reached that point in her career that it was suggested to her that she apply for the superintendent position opening up. She earned the position in 2009.
“I had been in the central office for about 15 years at that point, so I had learned the ropes,” Hastings said. “I took on the challenge and saw it as an exciting opportunity. I felt we had a good chance to do a lot of wonderful things for our schools and our students.”
In late 2014, her contract was renewed for a second 5-year term in a 6-3 vote, extending her employment through June 30, 2020.
Looking back on her efforts, Hastings says she is perhaps most proud of two recent initiatives: the fledgling pre-kindergarten and cyber school programs. Both of which, she contends, will serve the students and community into the future if they are continued.
“It’s not just that I’m passionate about [the pre-kindergarten program] because I love little kids and we can do a wonderful job of helping them learn, but because there is a ton of research out there showing the benefits of these programs in the long run,” she said. “We put the pre-k program in place to give that extra support to students out of the gate, making them feel school is a place they can be successful.”
Pre-kindergarten programs, which allow children to start school at age 4, are beneficial to educational and economic development in communities, she explained. “It’s probably the best economic growth initiative we’ve seen in a long time, if we can sustain it.”
Hastings said when the district was in the process of rolling out the online learning program administration hoped for 30 enrollees.
“We had over 100 in our first year and now have over 300 students accessing our online programs, whether it’s for just one class or a whole slate of courses,” Hastings said, noting this makes the district more competitive and able to meet a diverse set of students’ needs. “We expanded to the elementary level and we’ve seen a lot of success with our online program because we monitor the students’ progress.”
She also pointed to the work her administrative team and teachers did to write new curriculum to meet updated standards and efforts to work with the community, through collaborations with agencies and citizen task forces, as other achievements.
The head administrator also spoke of various challenges she’s faced.
“One of the biggest challenges has been trying to get people to be able to talk about things and have open conversations,” she said, calling the 2017-18 school year budget talks a good example.
When the school board requested that administration look into finding a couple million dollars in potential cuts to the 2017-18 school year budget this past spring, options outlined led to anger and fear in community members, and perhaps some board members, who saw it could mean entire programs would be wiped out. Meanwhile, unconfirmed rumors whirled about school consolidations.
None of the options presented were actual recommendations by administration or final decisions of the board at the time, Hastings noted. “There are a lot of controversial topics out there and we need to be able to talk about them in a discussion-style format when needed.”
The nine-member board ultimately passed a $77 million budget that included a tax increase for property owners and required a $5.71 million drawdown from the district’s reserve fund. The reserve fund is projected to be $6 million at the end of the school year, a downward trend that’s been foreseen for years and poses threats to district programming.
Hastings said funding and resource limitations have been another challenge in a field with high – and growing – demands, in terms of academics as well as meeting social, health and other needs of children and families. Hastings has witnessed changes to curriculum and testing standards, while the number of students requiring special education, free and reduced lunch, and other services is increasing, she said.
Administration and boards must balance these demands with state and federal mandates, she said, such as required contributions to the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS), health insurance costs and payouts to charter schools. (Rates have gone up 421 percent, 34 percent and 91 percent, respectively, since 2010, according to business manager Susan Blesh.)
“The bar keeps being raised in terms of what we’re supposed to teach kids and in terms of how we’re supposed to support our students and their families,” Hastings explained. “The expectations for schools goes higher and higher, but the funding for schools is less and less. Trying to fulfill all of that is a lot of work, but we’re fortunate to have a lot of people who come in every day, take on those challenges and don’t give up.”
The Bald Eagle Area graduate spent much of her life on her family homestead in Porter Township, where she lives today with her husband, Bill, and raised two children, Annie and Dan. Hastings attended Lock Haven University, earning her Bachelor of Science degree in early childhood education, before moving to Virginia Beach. There, she taught in the Portsmouth Public Schools and earned her Master’s degree in educational leadership from Old Dominion University.
It wasn’t long before she made her way “home” to Clinton County, where she started her long career with Keystone Central and now looks forward to enjoying her retirement.
“This has been a personal decision. It’s the time in my life,” she said of the timing, adding that she is looking forward to pursuing her passion for writing. “I’ve loved education and everything I’ve done, but there are other things I’d like to pursue. I’m grateful I’m at a point where I’m able to do that.”
She was clear that it doesn’t mean she has checked out. “My goal for the final months is to have things in a place where the next person steps in and it’s a seamless transition. Another goal is to do what I do every day – help keep things happening and be available to the team. My intention is to stay on it and provide a high level of work until the day I leave.”
Hastings said her interest and involvement in education won’t cease simply because she is retiring. “I’ll always be a proponent of the public education system and a supporter in any way I can.”
In regards to hopes for her successor, Hastings said she is confident, knowing there is “an excellent team to work with,” and offered the following advice: “Keep your eye on the kids; that’s where it’s at. When you go to the schools and you see the kids excited about what they’re doing, involved and engaged, it helps you remember and stay connected to why you wanted to be in education and that’s for the love of kids and knowing what you’re doing is making a difference in their lives.”
