CPSD's Wilson Has a New Role With a Big Focus

Lynn Wilson knows about focus.

In 25 years working for Fortune 500 companies, he concentrated on quarterly earning reports, stock options and cost-cutting.

Now, his concentration is single-minded. It's on student achievement in the Clover Park School District.

As the district’s new administrator for business services, operations and capital projects, Wilson said that he gets to think about how he is contributing to his community and its kids.

“I’m making a different impact,” he said referring to the private sector where “everything is about the return on shareholder investments.”

“I have come to learn and appreciate that everything (here) is focused on student achievement.”

Wilson, who has a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s in public administration, got his start in education when his prior job was transferred to Minnesota – “and I didn’t want to go with it.” He began his career in the district in 2002 as the head of the finance department, and in 2008, added the director of information and technology services title.

Wilson, who sums up his new role as “primarily the head of the non-instructional side of the district,” said that he supervises finances – “budgeting and finance are two big components for a school district” – student nutrition, transportation, operations and maintenance and capital projects. The latter has been a major focus in recent years with the construction of a new Lakes High School and ground about to be broken at Hutdloff Middle School.

He said that the district has been very active in trying to secure new funding to replace schools on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, citing “real issues” with the age and quality of those facilities.

“A big part of this job is a lot of community engagement,” he said. “With capital projects, we’re the ones who plan the levies that we present to citizens.”

Wilson said that his favorite thing about his job is the diversity of the work.

“You’re involved here,” he said. “You really see the big picture of K-12 financing and all the priorities. You’re working with everyone from the superintendent down to the teaching and instructional staff.

“It doesn’t matter where you work in this district or what you do; you have to be focused on student achievement.”

In order to do that, Wilson said, there are some roadblocks to contend with, primarily the underfunding of K-12 education in Washington state that forces schools to go to voters with levies. In a district with high levels of military families, poverty and transients, that is especially challenging.

“I think that ultimately, your mission statement is more about your budget than any other document you prepare and present to the public,” Wilson said. “This is how I am going to fund my priorities.

“It’s very tough this year as we look at losing funds and making some difficult decisions about how we’re going to deliver the necessary instructional programs to our kids.”

But Wilson is up for the task. He said that he realizes that CPSD doesn’t look like Lake Washington or Bellevue – “very different,” in fact, but that they are here to serve the population as it stands.

“Quite frankly, you don’t get to choose the families or the students you serve,” he said. “That’s not the way it works. Everyone has challenges.”

And first and foremost, he said in regard to the federal No Child Left Behind act, “It’s not acceptable to leave any child behind. It’s just not. There’s no reason or excuse that makes it OK to do that.”

“We have to structure ourselves in a way to serve the families in the community. If you’re talking to the guy responsible for our budget, there are some big cost drivers associated with that.”

Superintendent Debbie LeBeau said in a news release that she looks forward to working with Wilson in his new role.

“I have worked with Wilson personally on many aspects of the district's finances and information technology projects — too many to mention —and all had very successful outcomes,” she said. “I am excited to begin working with him in this new capacity.”

When he is not working, Wilson can be found spending time with his family. He and his wife, Margaret, a second-grade teacher in the Tacoma School District, have four sons, and together they enjoy boating, biking and sneaking off to their winter home in Arizona. Not that days off come easily, though, with both of them in education.

“Eventually, the end of the rainbow is that you want to be on a snowboard,” he said with a laugh. “I only do it part-time and play at it.”