Administrative

Dr. Randy Freeman, interim superintendent, discusses future construction plans with Terri Bahret, transportation director. (Photo by Karlee Brunner)

School district sees change in administration

Dr. Freeman serves as interim superintendent

By Lindsey Schroeder

September 24, 2007

Walking down the hallways of either the high school or the grade school this year, students and faculty are seeing a new face. Dr. Randy Freeman is currently serving as interim superintendent of schools, a position he is grateful to have.

"I feel fortunate to be able to be in Silver Lake as the interim superintendent right now, and I've had opportunities to meet a lot of wonderful people, students, parents, faculty, and staff," he said.

Freeman previously served as superintendent at a school in Williamsburg, Iowa. While he is living here, his wife and two children remain in Iowa. Freeman said that living away from his family is hard for both him and his wife.

"I think the hardest thing for me is when they're involved in activities to not be able to watch them...I think, probably to be honest, it's harder for my wife than it is for me because she basically has to be a single parent," he explained.

Freeman is originally from Topeka, so he said that his prior knowledge of Silver Lake played a part in his decision to apply for the job.

"Because I grew up in Topeka, and I taught in this area, I knew a lot about Silver Lake as far as a school and how successful they were in athletics. I did not know, before I investigated, the success that they have had academically," he stated.

Freeman said that other factors contributed to his decision to move to Silver Lake.

"It gives me an opportunity to be closer to my family, who all live in Topeka, and I think it is a school district where I would want my daughter to graduate from. I think the values and expectations in this school are what we would expect as parents for our child," he added.

Freeman has been in education for 30 years, serving as a teacher, coach, building principal, and superintendent. He has spent 18 of these years in Kansas, and 16 as a superintendent in Troy, Kan.; West Point, Neb.; Williamsburg, Iowa; and now in Silver Lake.

Freeman said that the people of Silver Lake have impressed him the most.

Dr. Freeman grew up in Topeka and still has family in the area. (Photo by Karlee Brunner)

"The quality of the students, faculty, staff has been very, very impressive to me," he commented.

Freeman said that the biggest challenge he faces as interim superintendent is the same as if he were a permanent superintendent.

"I think the biggest challenge, just as it would be if I were permanent superintendent right now, is just getting to know the people, getting to know the culture of the community and the school district, and being able to establish relationships with people. I think, particularly in this situation right now, probably the biggest challenge this year is going to be the building project," he stated.

Freeman set several goals for this school year.

"My goals for this year are support the academic excellence that is being achieved by the students of our school district, work closely with our board of education and administrative team to make the best leadership decisions possible for students, work closely with our architect and contractors to complete the building projects approved by the patrons this past spring, and work with our faculty and staff to enable them to be effective in their job performance," he said.

Freeman does not plan to make a lot of changes this year.

"I really like to take a look and see what's working well and what's not working well before I would want to try and make a lot of changes...There probably won't be a lot of changes directed from my office this year. I believe that there aren't any really burning issues... In my mind, I already have some things that if I'm named the superintendent permanently, we want to look at, but there wouldn't be anything that would be a drastic change, particularly for students, that they would see," he explained.

Freeman expects the school district to have a productive year.

"I anticipate that we're going to have a fantastic year because of the people that are here, not really because of me," he commented.

He also encourages people to come and introduce themselves to him so that he can get to know everyone.

"I love visiting with folks and attending student activities, so if you see me out and about, please feel free to come and introduce yourself. I may not be able to remember everyone's name at first, but over time I would hope to get to know each and every one of you personally," he added.