Kevin Cole, a school board member from Labette County USD 506 in Altamont, was elected KASB President-elect at the 2023 KASB convention in Wichita. He will serve one year in that position, then a year as KASB President, and then as KASB Immediate Past President.
I spoke with Kevin on the eve of his election about his background, views on school board leadership and educational improvement, and his personal leadership goals for KASB.
What public education has meant to him.
A lifelong southeast Kansas resident, Kevin attended the now-closed Thayer High School, with about 60 students at the time, and credits the school for giving him a foundation for success. “I grew up attending a 1A school with a hardworking single mom, with a generation curve that could have gone the other way. It was public school teachers supporting me and setting an example,” he said. Kevin became the first in the family to graduate from college, earning a degree from Pittsburg State University in 1992.
He spent 25 years working for the Coca-Cola company, including 15 years running a distribution center and 10 years as a regional sales manager, mostly for southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri. He now works for Pete’s Corporation, a chain of convenience stores in the same area, as a corporate manager dealing with property acquisitions, real estate and finance for the corporation.
His business career is matched by family experiences in education. He’s been married to Becky, an elementary teacher in Labette County, for 21 years; and his mother- and father-in-law were career educators. Kevin has two daughters, one a veterinary technician who graduated from Independence Community College and another studying to be a teacher at Wichita State University; and has an 18-month-old grandchild.
What drew him to serve on his school board.
Kevin applied for a vacant seat on the USD 506 school board a little over eight years ago. He says he acted on a long-time interest, inspired by the example of his wife and her parents. “I felt like it was a way to give back to them and other teachers and support and lead and advocate for educators and students,” he said, so he approached the superintendent about the open spot.
“It really wasn't about district issues or concerns or listening to “chirping” in the community,” he said. “I felt like my management experience, experience in operations and finance, had value that I could bring to the school district,” he said. “What I didn’t have was an agenda. I'm here to serve and learn and help the district and be a part of something that’s bigger than us as individuals.”
Kevin was appointed to fill the vacancy, then was elected to a full term, and was just reelected to his third full term.
What makes a successful board of education.
“I’m lucky to serve on a board where we all feel the same way,” said Kevin. “We will disagree, but we'll agree to disagree. At the end of the day, we walk out united. We just have to accept we all have differences. But we have those conversations to find common goals about kids. When we have new board members come on board, we bring them in. We've engaged board members that have been running against each other. We lay out expectations and foundations for the culture of the district. I think communication and building relationships is the key for our district.”
Earlier in the fall, I spent a day in Altamont visiting with students and educators after researching that USD 506 does significantly better than average on state assessment scores, graduation rates and postsecondary success rates when considering the percentage of low-income and students with disabilities. I asked Kevin how he thought the school board contributed to this success.
“First is bringing a positive, appreciative attitude to all the staff, and I'm talking everybody from the bus drivers to the cooks to custodians, to teachers and our administrators,” he said. “We consistently tell them how much we value them every single day. That comes through the board down. We're all speaking the same way so that the message gets across.”
“The second thing is, in our district, we believe that our students are ultimately in charge of their own education. We believe that they have the ability. Now, we're going to help them along the way, but they're going to be accountable for expectations. At any given juncture when a student's fallen behind, we're going to try to help them get to that level but at the end of the day, they have to be responsible for their own successes. I think we have a culture that says, I'm going to work hard. I'm going to get my work in on time. I'm going do these things because I don't want to let my school or myself down.”
Kevin notes these things don’t just happen. Over his eight plus years, the board had to deal with staffing issues to make sure everyone was working at a high level on the same shared vision, changes he said were sometimes painful but necessary.
The most important goals and biggest challenges in education.
Although Labette County does comparatively well on academic measures, Kevin believes that the focus on education must be broader.
“From an academic standpoint, we have high standards and test scores and all that. But we really want is these kids to be prepared when they leave,” he said. “I’ll give you an example. A new Domino's Pizza opened up in Parsons about three years ago. I stopped to get some pizza for my family and noticed some Labette County kids working in there. I introduced myself to the management and had a conversation. I told him I was on his school board and thanked him for giving some kids opportunities.”
The manager told Kevin he had never had high school students with such strong work ethics and dependability. “So, they’ve hired more of our kids because of those characteristics,” said Kevin. “That’s what businesses say they want. We can’t lose sight of that.”
Such personal and workplace skills, identified by the State Board of Education as the Kansans Can Competencies, were developed through community meetings, employee input and research. These skills have been a major emphasis of the State Board Kansans Can Vision for student success.
Kevin shared another conversation, this time with a local legislator. “He was talking about test scores, saying every student needs to be at Level Three and Four on state assessments.” The State Board of Education says students at those levels are “effectively” prepared for postsecondary education. Research shows that about 75 percent of students at those levels will complete or be enrolled in a postsecondary education or earn an industry credential two years after graduation.
“I disagreed with him that kids at Level Two (defined by the State Board as “basic” preparation) who have the basic foundation to go on to be successful in their career, are not going to be successful. Not everyone needs and wants four years of college. That includes plumbers, laborers, CNA people, secretaries, construction workers, jobs that drive our economy.” Many of those students, he said, don’t need college-level preparation, but they need workplace skills to show up and be responsible.
Kevin’s second big concern is the growing number of high-needs students. “Over the last six to seven years, my wife, who is a teacher, has said every year that this class is the ‘worst’ class she has had in terms of kids with problems.” He cited several examples: a student who had been homeschooled until fourth grade and came with no alphabet, no writing or math skills, essentially at the same level as a kindergartener; a student with severe behavioral problems that can turn violent; a student whose parents don’t provide her a coat in the middle of winter and who sent back one donated by the school. The challenge, he says, is how to keep improving learning when so many students face things that hinder learning. “But I’ll say this about the majority of our teachers, they keep trying,” he said. “They don’t want to give up on any of them.”
Moving beyond his school district
After several years of service on his local board, Kevin became interested in a more regional view of education. One experience was serving for multiple years on the board of his regional special education cooperative. “I’ve learned how special education and regular general education work together and the challenges of serving those students with special needs,” he said, noting a population that continues to increase and outstrip funding.
He also grew more interested in working with KASB, replacing a fellow Labette County board member, Gail Billman, on the KASB Board of Directors as Region 3 Vice President and running for KASB president-elect this year.
“As regional vice president, I’ve tried to participate in KASB activities, like the online coffee chats we had and attending regional listening tours and advocacy meetings,” he said. “I’ve tried to be a voice for our district and region with Legislators, contacting committees and inviting them come to our district.”
A strong voice of local board members is critical, he says. Asked why there appears to be a split between the positions of many local school boards and their Legislators, he suggested that many voters don’t know about the legislative positions of local boards or how their Legislators are voting on them. “We have to have bigger conversations,” he said. “As an association, KASB needs to help boards get engaged to tell their story at a much higher level so we can have a bigger impact.”
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