Dean's the choice
One week turns into permanent position
By GEORGIA PURDY Newsboy Correspondent

Butch Dean

When the Jasper Independent School District Board of Trustees designated Bill Dean as the "Lone Finalist" for superintendent of schools, they chose a man with extensive experience, much of it as an employee of the district.

Dean was first hired in 1971 as a math teacher, a position he held until 1977 when he left teaching to work for Jasper Federal Savings and Loan. In 1985, he was hired as the district's business manager and kept that job until December of 2006 when the title was changed to Director of Finance and Operations.

"He's a good person to have because of his background in school finance," Board President Eddie Hopkins said. "He's a number cruncher and I think we are blessed to get him. With his background, he can also be an asset to other districts around here. He has already been an asset to us through some rough financial times. Without his experience, we wouldn't be in the position we are in today."

Finance and operations included not only the complicated business of school finance but also transportation and child nutrition.

"He has a lot of knowledge of the district as a whole," Hopkins said. "For example, he took over the transportation director's job when Bubba Mixon left and that's one of the toughest jobs in the district. He was also involved with the child nutrition program."

Dean's selection by the Board to take over the vacant superintendent's job came in increments because he had originally decided to retire. When Dr. Eddie Dunn left last fall for Ennis, he was asked to become Interim Superintendent.

"He had mentioned desiring to retire in June and that was the basis of our original decision to put him in the interim position," Hopkins said. "That's why he wasn't in the pool of candidates originally."

Dean said that when Dr. Dunn left, the board asked him to take the interim position while a search committee went through the process of looking for potential candidates.

"I said, 'If that's what you want me to do, let me think about it,'" Dean said.

Dean laughs when he describes his decision.

"I thought about it over the weekend and figured, 'Ok, I could do this for a week,'" never dreaming that he would eventually be asked to take the job.

Dean said he did not know who was interviewed for the job or how many persons, but he was later asked him if he would stay in the interim position longer.

"We had narrowed the field down to two candidates and both would have been good," Hopkins said. "We realized that his services could be utilized for an extended period of time and even thought about calling him the 'extended interim superintendent'. He told us he would do whatever was in the best interests of the district."

Hopkins said that the board felt that he was the best choice, and that even though they had narrowed the field down to two good candidates, neither had Dean's knowledge.

"We thought he was the best choice, especially because of the school finance situation," he said. "We knew it would be in our best interests for him to take the position. He has so much knowledge."

Dean has a number of goals he wants the district to pursue when he becomes superintendent.

"My number one goal is to improve instruction," he said. "I want to see us move forward in that area because it is so important for our students."

His position of the state mandated TAKS test is that an end of course exam would be fairer to students.

"You have situations, in science and math for example, where students are tested at the exit level on material covered two or three years earlier," he said. "Having students test at the end of a course would be much more fair."

Another important goal he wants to pursue is a facilities study to see how best to serve the students. He says that is a way to look forward, to see what facilities need to be added to enhance student achievement in the future.

Stating the need for workers in trades and technical careers, Dean cited the importance of upgrading vocational programs.

"We are also reviewing some new student programs at the high school," Dean said. "There is a need for people in trades and technical careers. For example, there is so much construction going on in the Golden Triangle and a need for sheet metal workers. We don't have such a program. Those kinds of programs are expensive and over time, federal money has decreased significantly. Some of our existing programs don't even qualify for federal funds anymore; yet, there is a need for courses that will benefit students who will go into the job market but will not pursue a four-year college degree."

Hopkins sees Dean's experience in finance as probably his biggest asset.

"He has a good relationship with all of the taxing entities and also has a wealth of knowledge about school finance and tax issues," Hopkins said. "His knowledge is something we didn't need to retire."

"I look forward to meeting the challenges and moving the district forward," he said. "I might be showing my age, but I would really like to see kids think of going to school as fun once again."