Decatur Associate Superintendent Van Soelen In Running For Iowa Job

(Editor's note: A version of this article originally appeared in Cedar Falls Patch.)

Thomas Van Soelen, the associate superintendent in the City Schools of Decatur, is a candidate for the school superintendent's position in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

"At one point, I counted up all the superintendent openings in the United States and there were 125," he told community members at a public reception Tuesday in Cedar Falls. "I didn't apply for all of those. I applied for this one."

Van Soelen, who attended high school and college in Iowa, has worked since 2005 for the City Schools of Decatur and is the No. 2 administrator behind Superintendent Phyllis Edwards. 

According to his LinkedIn account, he served as Director of Teaching and Learning in Clarke County School District in Athens before taking the Decatur job.

He graduated from Unity Christian High School in Orange City, Iowa, before attending Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. He also studied at Florida Atlantic University and got a doctorate in elementary education from the University of Georgia.

When Decatur Patch asked Van Soelen for a comment Wedneday morning, he replied by email:

My family and I are excited about the prospect of moving closer to our families. Cedar Falls has much in common with Decatur: high achieving students, highly educated and engaged citizens, a university nearby, growing enrollment, need for high school construction. I believe it is a good match for my skill set. If selected, I would miss the healthy debates around and the intense support for the City Schools of Decatur. Decatur has helped me a better leader, and I am grateful.

The Cedar Falls School District has 5,121 students and a population of about 40,000 according to the school district website. Decatur, in contrast, has about 19,000 residents and 3,500 students.

In Cedar Falls, Van Soelen said he would like to continue learning and build relationships.

"I'm looking for a place that I can do intellectual work, that I can really be learning and developing with a community," he said.

Van Soelen said he also seeks a job where he can build relationships - such as between the school district and the University of Northern Iowa and with other community groups and businesses - and where he can engage his skills in change management. Cedar Falls' current high school project is a chance for both, he said.

The school board is in the process of deciding whether to build a new high school or renovate the existing structure.

Van Soelen has some experience with such projects. The Decatur City school board approved a plan just last week to renovate their high school at a cost of $58 million.

Like Cedar Falls, Decatur residents will need to approve the bond in a public vote, which will take place in November, according to Decatur Patch.

Van Soelen said he sees the 120 days set aside for public meetings and input on the project in Cedar Falls as a chance to gain feedback not just on the high school but on how residents feel about a range of issues. He said that feedback could then help the district develop a strategic plan for the next five to ten years.

Gathering feedback and working collaboratively are important for any leader, he said. He said as a new superintendent he would spend the first 90-100 days learning from the community and listening as much as he could, and he even started that process as soon as he checked into his hotel Monday night.

"I walked the community for about two hours, and any person that I felt like might talk to me I just stopped," he said.

Beyond chances for the kind of work he said he enjoys, a move to Cedar Falls would also bring Van Soelen closer to his family in Iowa and his wife's family in Minnesota.

Van Soelen is the second of four candidates interviewing for the superintendent job this week. The first candidate, Charles City and Riceville Superintendent . The other two candidates will interview and meet with the public Wednesday and Thursday.

The Cedar Falls School District is looking for a new superintendent after the board decided not to renew first-year superintendent Mike Wells' contract.

The candidates are:

• Dr. Andy Pattee, Superintendent, Charles City Community School District, Charles City, Iowa (Reception 4:45 p.m. Monday)
  
• Dr. Thomas Van Soelen, Associate Superintendent, City Schools of Decatur, Decatur, Georgia (Reception 4:45 p.m. Tuesday)
  
• Dr. Douglas G. Van Zyl, Superintendent, Fort Dodge Community School District, Fort Dodge, Iowa (Reception 4:45 p.m. Wednesday)
  
• Dr. Rich Powers, High School Principal, Cedar Falls Community School District, Cedar Falls, Iowa (Reception 4:45 p.m. Thursday)
  

The board worked with search firm McPherson & Jacobson, whose consultants reviewed and screened candidates. On Thursday, consultants presented the applicants to the board of education and provided them detailed background information on each applicant. Van Soelen interviewed with the school board Tuesday.