Patch Exclusive: After 10 years, Kellcy Downsizing His 'Glass House'

Growing up in Washington and Oregon, Walt Kellcy Jr. had aspirations of becoming a deejay.

That didn’t exactly happen, but he certainly makes his voice heard as the senior pastor at and as president of the .

In December, though, Kellcy will step out of the spotlight on the latter front. After 10 years marked by the comings and goings of administrators and the rise and fall of buildings, he is retiring from the school board.

Kellcy said that over the course of a decade, he has seen the district go through different styles of leadership, and that under CPSD Superintendent Debbie LeBeau, it has become more transparent and more focused on student achievement. During his time as president, he said that he is most satisfied with the board creating unity around common goals.

“When we come together to talk about an issue,” he said, “it’s value-based as opposed to agenda-based.”

While Kellcy said that the two go hand in hand, “it’s better to have everybody on the same page and headed in the same direction.”

Kellcy said it was also important that the board establish priorities, and in turn, develop an accountability plan.

“Now everything is focused on the accountability plan and how it addresses the board’s priorities.”

Kellcy said that he feels that this board acknowledges the struggles it has faced, “and while there are certain demographical and contributing factors, we don’t blame those. We just acknowledge that they are what they are and that this is where we’ve got to go. That has been a real refreshing change.”

Kellcy previously worked for 10 years as a county chaplain and a year with the Lakewood Police Department, helping launch the program. When his son, Micah, died in 2004 in a motorcycle accident, he stepped away from that role.

But he never considered eschewing his commitment to local schools.

Micah and his older brothers, Caleb and Josh, all graduated from Clover Park High School and went to college. And on a bookshelf next to the desk in his church office, among the family photos and Starbucks city mugs, is a letter from Josh that mentions how proud Micah was of his father.

“At the time, you’re so swallowed up with grief that you’re just trying to keep one foot in front of the other,” said Kellcy, who has been married to his wife, Martha, for 37 years. “But after you’re able to kind of balance yourself again, you want to continue to do the things that he would have wanted you to do.”

“I was doing this before he died and I wanted to continue to do it after.”

He said that the biggest challenge the district currently faces is getting parents involved in student achievement.

“Education isn’t just about reading, writing and arithmetic,” he said. “Now we’ve got to deal with social behavior, morals and values … Kids don’t come to school necessarily ready to learn. There are too many personal issues in their lives that are disruptive to learning.”

“You have to deal with that as a teacher — you have to not just be an academic person, but you have to have some social skills and you have to have counseling skills. It’s probably one of the more challenging professions right now because of the diversity of needs and students that you deal with.”

While Kellcy said he will remain involved with Clover Park Schools in some context, whether on a school-board committee or with a specific school — he got his start on the Learning Improvement Team — he feels that 10 years on the board is long enough.

And he can leave knowing that he has accomplished what he set out to do in his final term.

“I have felt that as president that you can make sure that everybody is on track, that we keep all of the minor issues behind us and keep what needs to be on the front burner on the front burner.”

Now he is shifting his focus to his church, which has grown from 300 to 600 parishioners since moving into its current location on 112 Street six years ago, as well as community ministry. He has started working with Lakewood pastors to bring them together around the common goal of helping kids.

“What can we do as churches to help our school district provide a quality education?” asked Kellcy, a 20-year Lakewood resident. “We’re having those kinds of conversations.”

Kellcy clearly has no qualms about remaining a face of the city — even though it does present some challenges from time to time.

“You’d like to be able to step out of roles when you go in public, but you can’t,” he said. “You’re always the school-board president; you’re always the pastor. You’re always somebody other than yourself.

“You just realize that you live in a glass house.”

And when he is making a difference in the lives of children in Lakewood, Micah constantly enters his mind.

“Absolutely,” he said. “Not a day goes by.”

Check back with Patch for an update on the transition the CPSD board is facing.