The Englewood Board of Education has completed negotiations with
Sean McDaniel, who will become the next superintendent.
The contract was approved March 13.
McDaniel agreed to a five-year pact and will officially become
the superintendent July 1 after superintendent Jim McCabe retires.
His starting base salary is $146,000 a year plus benefits and, at
his insistence, any raises will be tied to performance based on
goals and objectives established by the school board.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am as I prepare to become
Englewood’s superintendent,” McDaniel said by phone from Oklahoma.
“I officially go to work in the district July 1 but I am going to
be visiting Denver as frequently as possible to meet people and
build meaningful relationships so I can hit the ground running. Of
course, we’ll be spending part of the time on the visits looking
for a new place to live.”
The board unanimously selected McDaniel as its first choice to
be superintendent. “I feel we used an excellent process that got
the public involved. We had good applicants, and I feel we selected
a new superintendent who is focused on kids, is a strong leader and
who has excellent communications skills,” said Heather Hunt, school
board president.
McDaniel, superintendent at the Coweta, Okla., school district,
said he grew up wanting to be an educator.
“My first influence was my dad, who was a career educator. He
taught for years at Western Hill Elementary School in the Mapleton
School District,” McDaniel said. “Then, I loved school and school
was a great experience for me. I decided I wanted to be a teacher
when I saw the influence adults had on the lives of the students
they taught. I wanted to have that kind of positive influence on
kids, so I decided on a career in education.”
He grew up in Westminster and graduated from Ranum High School
in 1981. He accepted a basketball scholarship and attended
Northeastern Oklahoma State University. He earned his bachelor’s
degree in education and journalism then returned to the same
school, where he earned his master’s degree in secondary education
administration.
“I have only spent a short time in Englewood so far, but I am
really impressed with the community and I am so pleased to have
been chosen to be Englewood’s superintendent,” McDaniel said.
“Englewood has a lot going for it as a school district and a
community. The schools have great faculties and parent support, and
Englewood has a great sense of community. I can’t tell you how much
I am looking forward to working with the district and the community
to provide the best possible education for all our
students.”
The school board launched the superintendent search late last
year, They worked with a consultant from the Colorado Association
of School Boards to develop the process. The district enlisted the
assistance of teachers, parents and residents to evaluate the 24
applications. The evaluation team narrowed the field to six and the
board trimmed it to four finalists including McDaniel.
Karen Miller. who was on the school board during the
superintendent search three years ago, said the process used this
time was very similar to the 2005 process.
“It was a good decision in 2005 for the board draw on expertise
from [the Colorado Association of School Boards] to set up the
superintendent search and we did that again this time. Both times,
the process went very well,” Miller said. “It was important that we
had community input because I feel we had a stronger field of
candidates this time, so it was a fairly difficult decision to
narrow the field to the four finalists. All four finalists were
good administrators, and I feel we selected the candidate who is
the best fit for our district. I am looking forward to working with
him.”
303-566-4108 | tmunds@ccnewspapers.com