By Tim Schmidt Record Managing Editor When Superintendent Dr. Chris Gaines came to Wright City in 2008, the school district was struggling in several areas. Facility improvements were needed, state …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
Attention subscribers
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, or you are a print subscriber who had access to our previous wesbite, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you have not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
If you are a current print subscriber and did not have a user account on our previous website, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue
Need an account?
Print and web subscribers
If you're a print and web subscriber, but do not yet have an online account, click here to create one.
Online-only subscribers
If you are a digital subscriber with an active, online-only subscription then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Gaines Q&A: We changed the perspective of others
Posted
By Tim SchmidtRecord Managing EditorWhen Superintendent Dr. Chris Gaines came to Wright City in 2008, the school district was struggling in several areas.Facility improvements were needed, state test scores were low and a vision for the future was nonexistent. All three were goals that were set and met during Gaines’ tenure.During that time, Wright City went from being ranked near the bottom of Missouri school districts to being named one of the most improved in the state. In the past three years, the district has earned “Distinction in Performance” with scores above 90 percent.Gaines’ last day leading the district was June 30. This month, he began his new position as superintendent in the Mehlville School District, located in south St. Louis County. Gaines said he is excited to lead one of the largest school districts in the state. Mehlville has about 10,600 students, compared to 1,500 students at Wright City.Gaines said he is proud of the achievements the district made during his tenure, including the passage of two bond issues that allowed the district to air-condition a portion of the high school, make improvements to the high school athletic facilities and purchase land on Roelker Road as the future site for a new high school. Most recently, Gaines set a plan in motion for the district to construct and open a preschool facility on Bell Road.Gaines will be succeeded by David Buck, who served as assistant superintendent under Gaines.In his final days in Wright City, Gaines spoke withThe Recordand reflected on his tenure here.Q: What will you miss about the district and the area?“I think I will miss the people the most. We have been here for seven years and gotten to know folks pretty well. People here are just so supportive of the district. The support for Blue and Gold is unbelievable. But you also have that same level of passions and support for our band boosters, athletic boosters. It is really nice. The community is very supportive of kids.”Q: Over the last couple of years, the district has received a lot of attention for its improvements in state test scores. What do you attribute to those gains made? What was the difference?“We have gotten attention and we shared what we thought it was. We have been able to share it at state and national conferences. We call it our ‘rock, paper, scissors approach.’ We found out what our rocks were. It was student engagement and taking data into action and rigor and curriculum assessment. That is what we focused on. We measured our progress toward that. Our scissors part was we cut other stuff away so we could better focus our resources there. The paper part was we tracked everything. As part of that, we spent a lot of time and money on staff development. We developed people around those rocks. I think that is what made the difference.”Q: You’ve had a number of projects, specifically facility improvements, what was your greatest accomplishment in your time here?“The lasting impact of what we will see is the early childhood building. I wish we could have done it as a bigger preschool serving more kids. From a student comfort standpoint, getting the high school air-conditioned certainly made a difference to that building. It was the only building with no air conditioning. I think the other thing is lining out the plan for regular maintenance of the buildings and those projects along the way. We had a plan for redoing the parking lot, a plan to paint the buildings; those kind of things and getting the board to expect that happening.”Q: You were able to pass a couple of ballot measures early on, how disappointed were you to see voters not support the latest tax increase proposal earlier this year?“It was disappointing, but if we look at it in contest of what happened statewide, we were in line with what happened. Statewide, we’ve seen significant support on tax issues over the last few years. Statewide, we saw that come to a halt this April. A few (districts) passed things, but most didn’t. It was disappointing. I communicated to the board in May that probably, I don’t know if they want to put something on ballot in ‘16, maybe ‘17, but something needs to be done in the next couple of years without a doubt. Maybe it was the timing. The ambulance district, library board had passed; people had just seen those tax bills right before we got it on the ballot.”Q: How has your position and your view of the district over the years changed?I don’t know my impression has necessarily changed, but I think we have changed the perspective of others because of our academic gains and us getting some recognition from that. I think we are a little bit more recognized now from schools to the east. We’ve had a number of schools come visit us from across the state and seen what we have been doing. Schools have asked our people to come to them. I guess the thing that has somewhat surprised me is that we’re not seeing the growth that we could see. I still think the opportunity to really explode is still there. You drive through Wentzville, there are houses going up everywhere. That is just not here yet, but I think we’re at the point where we got a quality school for folks when they want to come this way.Q: At the end of the day, what lured you to be interested in the Mehlville opening?“I liked the people I talked to. They have budget challenges. I’ve done that before. Academically they are in decent shape. They have a new strategic plan that we need to flesh out and get things done. I think it will be fun and interesting and I think it will be pretty fast-paced.”Q: A tenure of a superintendent isn’t very long, so was there a concern to not let this pass you by?“When you look at it, a superintendent tenure is anywhere from three to seven years. I was at Bourbon for seven years, here for seven years. Do I have the seven-year itch? I was talking to a friend of mine and talking about jobs and opportunities to move up to a bigger district, there is only so many of them. When they open up, you have to jump on those opportunities.”Q: Do you leave with any regrets?(Long pause) “I guess there are always things we wish we would have done better here and there. Overall no, not really. It’’s been really good for me personally and professionally being here. I think most of all, we will miss folks. There are some really good folks. The board has been good while I’ve been here. People have been willing to try things.”
Dr. Chris Gaines, left, receives a plaque from Wright City R-II School Board President Austin Jones, recognizing him for his service during seven years as superintendent in the district. He is leaving for a similar role in the Mehlville School District.Derrick Forsythe photo.
