On the Record (Eric Lawson)

Bureau Valley School District Superintendent Eric Lawson talks about challenges and advantages in education, how the state of Illinois’ budget issues impact school districts and more.

Town of residence: Walnut

Occupation: Bureau Valley superintendent

Previous positions you’ve held in education: K-12 physical education, driver’s education, special education teacher’s aide, eighth-grade science, athletic director/dean of students, assistant principal, high school principal, assistant superintendent, superintendent

As superintendent of Bureau Valley, what do you consider to be the advantages of leading this school district? The advantages of leading the Bureau Valley School District are working with committed educators, great students and passionate communities.

What do you consider to be your biggest challenges? The biggest challenge would be lack of state funding. Being fiscally responsible for finance which is largely dependent on a struggling state. Unfunded mandates as well.

How do the state of Illinois’ budget issues impact Bureau Valley? In a major way. The state’s financial struggles places more stress on local resources to locally fund education. The state has dictated the amount of money school districts receive, if payments are provided at all, which depends on poverty levels, local sources of revenues, etc. Dynamics of school districts change on a regular basis, so to handcuff local rural school districts is unfair and inappropriate. Send us money!

How will the school district cope with dwindling state funds? Do more with less is the motto that I continue to hear and communicate. Essentially, do not count on the state when projecting budget, and do your best to hope and pray the state will fund. In the event this does not happen, which is highly likely, minimize operational costs as much as you can without making major impacts on the efficiency of the organization.

What do you consider the strengths of Bureau Valley to be? Resilience. Our people continue to fight and work hard for our children. The amount of pride our stakeholders possess is off the charts, and our commitment to the motto of UNITY, EXCELLENCE AND PRIDE.

What new programs/courses/extracurricular activities would you like to see added at Bureau Valley? We recently have added Auto Cad, Automotive, Natural Resources, while looking into a formalized co-op class specializing in “real life” skills of trades.

Have you seen education change over the course of your career? Absolutely ... the dynamics of schools have changed. Students have higher levels of needs than ever before. Shortage of teachers in specific areas is a concern. The focus shift from a high school diploma to college and career readiness has students attaining associate degrees and beyond while still in high school. Common Core curriculum, standards based grading ... Education continues to change rapidly.

What important elements have remained consistent? Not much ... Common Core has completely revamped teaching and learning. In theory, Common Core was supposed to create the more analytical student, but in reality, it has further confused parents and students. This is stated through observations in the classroom and feedback from parents/students.

Who influenced you to have a career in education? Great teachers, great coaches. I was blessed to have many influential people come across my path. The daily opportunity to mentor young people while leading adults is rewarding yet challenging. But great people have influenced my path.

Were there other careers you considered? Professional basketball, military, business.

Would you suggest a career in education to others? Why? Absolutely. If you can get past the challenges of finance and mandates, teaching kids is fun. I would expect high energy, a great work ethic, and be willing to put in lots of hours for little pay.

In the perfect world, Bureau Valley ____(fill in the blank): Would be located in sunny Florida!