Name: David Flatley

Title: Retired Superintendent of Schools

Dave Flatley has been an educator in both private and public education with over 40 years of experience. The first 15 years of his career were spent as a secondary teacher of science and mathematics followed by administrative positions including assistant principal, principal, director of instruction, assistant superintendent, and superintendent of schools.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Educational Leadership!

I hope David's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as an Educational Leader?

The most challenging work has always been leading change with folks who have no professional background in our field. Unfortunately, some elected and/or appointed members of boards of education or commissions have authority without experience or training.

2. How did you become an Educational Leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

As a very young teacher, one of my supervisors asked me to lead a very significant accreditation process for our school. The members of the team were experienced educators who were all significantly older than me. The process went smoothly and the school’s accreditation was secured. While it was many years before I would leave the classroom, I gained confidence and interest in leadership.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

At the moment I’m enjoying retirement, although I have failed this effort a number of times to return to work! While working, I structured my days to maximize my time in the hallways and classrooms of schools. This meant waking very early in the morning so that I could arrive in the building early enough to get some time in the gym. Then get ready to arrive in my office, typically before even the early arriving teachers. I would scan my emails for emergent situations and review my schedule with my assistant before heading to a school to welcome students as they arrived.

Typically, I would schedule meetings to occur in other people’s offices so that I would be forced to be out of mine. I enjoyed having lunch in a school cafeteria with students. Afternoons I would typically find myself completing routine office “administrivia” so that I could attend a sporting event or arts program after school. Most evenings included some sort of public session, either with a Board of Education or some other parent or community group. I tried to get at least 6 hours of sleep.

4. What's a recent lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of as an Educational Leader?

Even superintendents are born with two ears and only one mouth.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your journey as an Educational Leader so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted you?

There are so many that it’s tough to choose! I’m fairly religious, so the Bible has had a pretty significant influence. Becoming a Leader (Warren Bennis) is important to me, as is Goodwin’s Team of Rivals. However, the most influential text in my professional life has been, “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young educator who aspires to be an Educational Leader, what would you say to them?

Stick to your core values NO MATTER WHAT!!!!

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as an Educational Leader, so far?

So there’s that word…MEANINGFUL!

I retired as a school superintendent just months before COVID-19 closed schools across the United States and in many places around the world. Many of my early conversations with former colleagues centered around my good fortune in having retired before COVID. However, once we came to understand that we would need to reopen schools DURING a pandemic, those conversations changed and I was asked to consider lending a hand.

I returned to a very high-functioning school district as the Deputy Superintendent. The boss tasked me with developing the reopening plan and leading a diverse group of teachers, administrators, parents, and community professionals to consensus around various issues including masks, distance control, vaccinations, and quarantines. The 41 people on this team were all strangers to me and we could only “meet” virtually! After hundreds of hours of meetings and even more hours of research, a plan came together and we brought kids back into classrooms for the opening of school in the fall.

Upon reflection, this was some of the most challenging and meaningful work of my career. This was brought home early one morning at the district’s high school. I volunteered to check the temperature of students as they returned each morning (part of the plan). On my very first morning at this assignment, one 17-year-old student recognized me as “the new guy.” His comment is one I’ll never forget. “Hey, mister, thanks for letting us back into school.”