Newton to become permanent LCSD1 superintendent

Feb. 6—CHEYENNE — Laramie County School District 1 has hired Interim Superintendent Stephen Newton to fill the position full-time, agreeing to a two-year contract that's set to begin July 1.

Newton has been interim superintendent since former Superintendent Margaret Crespo left the position last August. He was one of three candidates that was publicly interviewed by a panel of stakeholders in recent weeks.

"I feel incredibly grateful and blessed to be able to continue to serve the staff, students and community of Cheyenne," Newton said in a Tuesday news release.

Newton was voted in at a LCSD1 Board of Trustees meeting Monday evening, and signed the two-year contract immediately after the meeting, according to the news release. It will pay him $189,000 a year.

"On behalf of the board, I would like to say we are pleased to offer the position of Superintendent of Schools to Dr. Newton," Board of Trustees Chairman Timothy Bolin said in the release. "We believe he is an excellent choice to lead our district for many years to come."

During his public interview in late January, Newton provided some insight into what his approach to leading the district would be.

Newton was asked a dozen questions crafted by Laramie County Community College President Joe Schaffer, LCSD1 Parent Advisory Board Chairman Brian Bohlmann and LCSD1 Parent Advisory Board vice chair Samantha Van Riper during the interview. The questions ranged from his approach to the district's long-discussed library book checkout policy to his attitude on how the district could best serve students with special needs.

"You're called to this life because you have a commitment to serve," Newton said during the interview, speaking about his general impulse to be an educator. "And the degree to which I have failed to serve, I have failed to lead."

His priorities, he said, were to create a safe, supportive environment where educators can cultivate fruitful personal relationships with students.

"Our best chance of success is to level both the internal factors that kids come to us with that make it hard to learn and the external factors largely outside of their control of these that make it hard to learn," he said. "Nothing levels that playing field and provides more advantage to a kid ... (like) a high-quality teacher in their lives. If you put an exceptional teacher in the life of a kid, it will be of more consequence than anything else we do."

He also talked about addressing behavioral problems in schools, which Schaffer said was on the rise across the country. Newton said that, in his time in education, he'd seen a widening gap between high- and low-achieving students.

"I think our best students — our students who are showing success — are more successful and better human beings than I've ever seen before," he said. "I think our students who struggle are struggling more intensely, and in higher quantities, than ever before. So, I don't know that I would answer it as better or worse, but I would absolutely say the business has changed fundamentally in the area of mental health needs."

Prior to becoming interim superintendent, Newton had been LCSD1's director of instruction since 2015. In that role, he directed curriculum, instruction, assessment, accreditation, interventions, professional development, athletics/activities and federal programs.

Newton has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Wyoming for the graduate school in the college of education as a professional learning consultant for the Center for Model Schools.

He started his career as a high school teacher in 1995 in Arizona. Newton then served as an academic professional for the University of Wyoming before assuming a position as a high school teacher at LCSD1's Central High, according to the district's news release.

He became an assistant principal at McCormick Junior High before joining Central High as associate principal and then head principal.

"I feel incredibly grateful and blessed to be able to continue to serve the staff, students and community of Cheyenne," Newton said in the release.

Newton graduated from the University of Wyoming with a bachelor's degree in biology. He also holds a master's degree in education, educational leadership and a doctorate in education, curriculum and instruction from UW.

Newton will remain the interim superintendent until his contract officially starts on July 1. He was given the position over two other candidates: Thomas Meyer, a superintendent in Bellevue, Iowa, and Michael Hamel, a superintendent in Rawlins.

Samir Knox is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's criminal justice and public safety reporter. He can be reached by email at sknox@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3152. Follow him on Twitter at @bySamirKnox.