Elizabeth superintendent ready to face challenges

Snowberger says he is looking to calm tensions

BY THELMA GRIMES TGRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

With a depleted school board due to a majority resigning, growing tension and unease in the community over curriculum not being taught in the district, and a growing national issue of politics breaking into the classroom, the new superintendent of the Elizabeth School District says he is ready to take the lead.

Just before three school board members resigned from the vemember panel, Dan Snowberger was unanimously approved as the new superintendent. e divided board approved Snowberger’s contract on March 13 in a 5-0 vote.

With a smile, Snowberger said he is glad the board’s nal show of unity was to make him the new district leader.

Right after the o cial vote to make Snowberger superintendent, the resignations of three board members were o cially approved.

During the interview process, Snowberger said he had no clue three members would be stepping down, but he feels even now that the entire ve-member board wanted only what’s best for the district, which has just over 2,200 students.

“ ey are truly committed to getting focused on what our kids need to be successful,” he said. “We are getting kids ready for very di erent futures than what we had when we were in school. In my conversations with the board and individually, we shared the same philosophy. We need to make sure our schools do not become political.”

In a time where many industry professionals with decades of administrative experience are retiring, Snowberger says he still has the drive to lead, educate and ready students for success in adulthood.

“I am passionate about what I do,” he said. “I am not giving up on public education. I certainly share some of the concerns that when schools become political, we fail, and families go elsewhere. We have the responsibility to prepare our kids for success in life. We have to guide it back.” e decision to apply for the Elizabeth job came down to timing and programs the Elbert County school district is o ering. Snowberger was superintendent in the Durango School District between 2012 and 2021.

Snowberger said his wife was injured in an accident and needed better care that was o ered along the Front Range, which is how he came from Durango to the Colorado Springs area. With his wife back on her feet, Snowberger said he wanted to get back into a leadership role and Elizabeth o ered what he is looking for when it comes to technology and direct employment programs.

“My last district where I was superintendent we were working extremely hard in cooperation with our community to expand our career and technical education options,” he said. “Seeing that Elizabeth was in the same homegrown talent initiative was a huge attraction to me. Schools have to expand their thinking in what we are preparing kids for.”

Addressing tensions/unrest

O cially, Snowberger’s rst day will not be until after May 31. He is currently serving as the director of education operations in Monument, a position he has held since 2021.

In the meantime, Snowberger will be on campus in Elizabeth one or two days a week, which he agrees will help in getting to know the district and sta , especially with the community going through some unrest.

As superintendent, Snowberger acknowledged that he has a “huge” role ahead in supporting the board in current challenges and leveling the tensions among sta , parents and the community.

“We have an amazing sta here,” he said. “Needless to say, they are highly committed to students and community here in Elizabeth. at is certainly exciting. We are struggling in education with people choosing to go into the profession. So, it’s important to us that we retain the sta that we have here. We’ve gone through some challenges with our board that has led to some concern with our sta .”

Snowberger said work must be done to calm the waters.

“I refer to it as putting the rudder in the water and getting us on a rm course,” he said. “ e key is there is a very clear mission in this district and that is preparing children for success when they leave our schools. My intent is to focus on that e ort. Conversations that need to be had in concerns with curriculum and ideologies — we will work through that, but it will be done in a matter that is focused on our kids and what they need.”

Snowberger said he holds nothing against the board members who resigned, noting that school boards are unpaid positions in Colorado and can be highly stressful.

In resigning, Elizabeth School Board members said the community became hard to deal with in regard to continued complaints about controversial curriculum they agreed shouldn’t and hasn’t been taught in the district.

“It’s an odd situation for sure,” Snowberger said. “I don’t think it was a situation that paints anyone in a bad light or good light. I think they just had to make a decision.”

Snowberger said while there are strong disagreements in the community, the focus has to continually remain on student success and keeping and maintaining a school district that people want to move to and be a part of.

Politics in schools

In a statement after the resignations were accepted, Snowberger said it is unfortunate that adult issues have disrupted and continue to disrupt work being done in classrooms.

“When adult con ict gets in the way of our focusing on what we can do for our kids tomorrow, that’s just sad,” he said. “And, unfortunately, that’s not just Elizabeth. We’ve seen that play out across the country where we have had challenging situations among