By William Smith
Community Editor
Robert Scott, future Burlington Community School District superintendent, was in Burlington this past weekend, to get a feel for the community while meeting with local leaders and attending a school board meeting.
One thing was obvious to him. Burlington bleeds purple and gray. And now, so does he.
Scott, who takes over for retiring BCSD Superintendent Pat Coen on July 1, said he has rarely seen a community so passionate about its schools.
“I really felt it when I was going through the interview processes here. Just the pride. I could feel the purple passion coming through. It just kept drawing me in more and more,” he said. “My mission, which is service to others, I felt like I could really bring that here and help Burlington.”
A Davenport native, Scott has spent most of his life in the Quad Cities area. He’s also a big sports guy and remembers playing Little League baseball in Burlington as part of the away team.
“I played on these ball fields when I was a kid at Central High School. All three of my kids have played on these ball fields,” he said.
Scott joined the U.S. Army for two years after high school and was stationed in Germany, before attending St. Ambrose College and graduating from the University of Iowa. He’s been married to his high school sweetheart for over 30 years, and their three children have already flown the nest.
“My son is a pharmacist; my middle child, she just graduated with her master’s degree and will be teaching elementary; and my youngest is a freshman in college right now,” he said.
Starting out his teaching and coaching career in the suburbs of Chicago, Scott soon moved back to the Davenport School District, where he served as an associate principal for four years. He went on to serve as associate superintendent for another eight years.
“During those eight years, the majority of my time was spent at the secondary level,” he said. “I had four high schools I oversaw, one of those being an alternative high school; five middle schools, and two of those were K through 8.”
Scott was just in his first year as the director of athletics and activities for Centennial High School in Ankeny when the superintendent job in Burlington opened. He couldn’t resist applying.
“It was just too good of a job to pass up. I was looking for a one-high-school district,” he said. “I’m going to have a lot of fun here.”
Scott is hoping the rest of the staff and students will, too.
As an administrator who rose through the ranks as a coach and teacher, Scott said he has a proven history of being pro-teacher.
“I continue to think like a teacher. I was vice president of the teacher’s union when I was a teacher. I know what it’s like to sit on the other side, and I can think, ‘How does this impact teachers?’ when I’m making a decision. That’s one of my strengths,” he said.
“At the end of the day, I have to ask, ‘Is it the right thing for kids?’ I want to have the smartest people in the district around me.”
Like most school administrators across Iowa and the rest of the country, Scott has two huge challenges ahead of him: helping the district recover from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and working around the current teacher shortage.
“We have to get kids caught back up from the academic loss they had. We do have monies available, but teachers have been working really hard, and it’s been stressful for teachers,” he said.
“One of the benefits of COVID has been our acknowledgment of how online learning can be successful for some kids. For some kids, it’s been a great thing.”
In the end, though, numbers are just numbers. Scott is looking forward to the practical, hands-on work that connects a student’s education to the community around them.
A reason to graduate beyond just a letter grade and a pat on the back.
Scott likes to call that transition between student life and adult life “the 13th grade.”
“I talk a lot about the 13th grade. I’m trying to work with our administrative team on what’s next for our kids. It could be two-year college, four-year college, the military, going right into the workforce,” he said.
That’s why Scott puts such an emphasis on extracurricular activities. For many students, it’s the first conduit to the world outside of their own.
“Kids being involved in at least one activity has always been a mission of mine. It could be the chess club, the band. It could be a sports team,” he said.
“I just want to see them connected.”
When Scott takes over the superintendent job on July 1, he wants everyone to know him.
More importantly, he wants everyone to be able to find him and talk to him about anything.
“I really want people to know that I’m here to serve them. I’m here to serve the school board, I’m here to serve the teachers and the parents, and the students and staff. I want them to hear that over and over from me,” he said.
“And I want to be accessible. It’s one of the things I’ve always been in my career. I enjoy meeting with people.”