Mike Gass, Superintendent
June 26, 2019
Dear TSD Board of Directors, Staff, Students and Community Members,
Since the spring of 2015, I have had the enormous honor of serving the Telluride School District and community as your superintendent. It is with mixed emotions that I will be retiring at the same time as Marcie at the end of the 2019-20 school year. We have had an amazing run of over 30 plus years in Colorado as educators and feel there is no better way to retire than from TSD! We love the community and the friendships we have built within it and both feel it is time to enjoy the coast of Oregon, and enjoy each other’s company.
I am making this announcement as early as possible so the Board of Education will have ample time to find a suitable replacement and with the goal of helping the next superintendent make a smooth transition this time next year.
In the past four years, I have been incredibly fortunate to work alongside amazingly dedicated and talented public educators in service to Telluride’s children and families. Together, we have moved the dial for our students in meaningful ways:
- Student achievement, graduation rates, and enrollment in post-secondary educational opportunities has never been more impressive;
- Parent engagement and volunteerism are moving in a positive direction;
- We have improved our facilities through construction projects on campus and built 6 new housing units in Ilium.
- We have adjusted systems to include more students in rigorous academics through programs such as AVID, Dual Immersion and a strong legacy of Advanced Placement.
- Our voters overwhelmingly supported, through a recent election, maximizing our mill levy increasing staff compensation, keeping small classes, continuing innovation, and additional operations.
Because of the hard work and commitment of a truly great group of teachers, administrators, board members and support staff, the future is very bright for TSD.
I want to publicly thank all of the school board members I have been privileged to work alongside for giving me the opportunity to serve the Telluride community. I would also like to thank the many parents and community members who have served unselfishly on numerous committees, engaged in countless community-wide efforts, and have raised their voices across Colorado to improve our schools. I am sure our community’s engagement in our schools will continue to be one of our strongest assets for years to come.
With one year to plan, I look forward to delivering on the many important projects that are currently underway. We will continue to focus on improving student achievement, assuring equitable programming for all students, increasing access to preschool through the county measure, and looking to maintain our arts and non-core programming.
When we graduate the class of 2020, it is my greatest hope that any legacy I leave is that of a stronger, more stable, more equitable, and higher achieving school system than when I arrived. I sincerely want to thank everyone for their guidance, good will and support of our students during my superintendency in Telluride. We have an incredible final year to look forward to in 2019-2020, and as I depart next spring I am sure I will miss working alongside the state’s best educators and most committed community.
Let’s make the next year the best year!
Respectfully,
Mike Gass