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Three superintendent finalists named for Eagle County School District

Jason Glass
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EAGLE — A former Eagle County educator is among the three finalists vying to head the Eagle County’s school district.

The three are:

• Jason Glass, director, Iowa Department of Education. Glass was director of human resources for the Eagle County school district from 2007 to 2010.



• Karen Brofft, assistant superintendent, Englewood school district.

• Donald Johnson, superintendent, Middleton-Cross Plains Area Schools in Wisconsin.

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One of the three will replace Sandra Smyser, the Colorado Superintendent of the Year. She’s leaving to be superintendent of the Poudre school district in Fort Collins.

The school board received applications from 24 candidates, half from outside Colorado, said school board president Jeanne McQueeney. They quickly narrowed it to 12 semi-finalists.

“Then it got hard,” McQueeney said.

The finalists will go through a battery of interviews with the school board and two different citizens’ committees, with 10 members each.

Karen Brofft

Brofft is assistant superintendent of learning services and communications for Englewood schools .

She has more than 20 years in education and worked in public relations and technology for seven years before entering education. Before Englewood, she worked in Douglas County school district as a teacher, principal director of curriculum, instruction and assessment.

She earned her Ed.S. in administrative leadership and policy studies, her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction and a bachelor’s degree in communications.

She’s a former instructional coach in Douglas County.

She has two older daughters. One recently graduated from CSU and is working as an environmental planner, while Karen’s younger daughter is pursuing a degree in business.

Jason Glass

Glass has been director of the Iowa Department of Education since December 2010.

Glass taught high school and university in Kentucky. He worked for the Colorado Department of Education to ensure a quality education for students with disabilities.

He was vice president for Qualistar Early Learning in Denver, where he helped develop an early childhood education quality rating system.

As the human resources director for Eagle County schools, he helped pioneer the district’s performance-based compensation.

Glass graduated from the University of Kentucky, where he earned a bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees. He earned his doctorate in education from Seton Hall University.

Donald Johnson

Johnson has led the Middleton-Cross Plains Area Schools in Wisconsin since 2007. He is a resident of Middleton, Wisc., and is married to his wife, Cindy. They have three daughters who are living and working in Colorado and Nevada.

Smyser was selected to head the Poudre School District in Fort Collins. She’ll finish the school year and be here through the end of June when her current contract expires.

Smyser was recruited from Steamboat Springs to lead Eagle County schools in 2008.

The board is going to stay the course regarding its curriculum changes and other policies, such as its performance-pay program and the mentor teacher program, said Jeanne McQueeney, school board president.

“The path that the board has chosen of the strategic plan is one that they will continue down,” McQueeney said. “The staff and public should not be concerned that the board is interested in changing directions.”

The new superintendent of Eagle County’s schools will earn $175,000 annually.

Staff Writer Randy Wyrick can be reached at 970-748-2935, and rwyrick@vaildaily.com


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