{"id":96757,"date":"2018-12-11T17:18:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T00:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-school-board-plans-midyear-review-of-superintendent-dan-snowberger\/"},"modified":"2018-12-11T17:18:00","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T00:18:00","slug":"durango-school-board-plans-midyear-review-of-superintendent-dan-snowberger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-school-board-plans-midyear-review-of-superintendent-dan-snowberger\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango school board plans midyear review of Superintendent Dan Snowberger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Durango
Durango School District 9-R Board of Education will hold a midyear review of Dan Snowberger that will include an examination of how he handled a 911 call involving a district administrator on Oct. 19 at Needham Elementary School.<\/span>JERRY McBRIDE\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Durango School District 9-R Board of Education said Tuesday it plans to examine how Superintendent Dan Snowberger handled an incident at Needham Elementary School in October in which 911 was called on an administrator who was reportedly trespassing on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce Mr. Snowberger returns to work from his approved leave, we will conduct a mid-year evaluation of him, including an examination of the incident and follow-up correspondence concerning it,\u201d board members said Tuesday in a statement posted on the district\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The statement, which was crafted in work sessions, adds that the board evaluates Snowberger\u2019s performance in three main areas: board-superintendent relations, operational expectations and results policy. The board said it will judge Snowberger in those areas, and conversations will be treated as a personnel matter.<\/p>\n

Personnel matters are typically dealt with in secret, behind closed doors.<\/p>\n

The board statement said: \u201cThe Durango School District 9-R Board of Education appreciates the recent public statement of apology made by Superintendent Dan Snowberger. We value Mr. Snowberger\u2019s achievements, and we applaud his many accomplishments during his tenure with the district. At the same time, our thoughts and best wishes are with his family as they recuperate from last week\u2019s accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Snowberger\u2019s wife, Olga, was injured in an auto accident Nov. 30. Snowberger has taken an extended leave to help his wife recuperate.<\/p>\n

\"Snowberger\"
Snowberger<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Last week, Snowberger apologized in a letter that was posted to the district\u2019s website for his handling of the 911 call on Oct. 19, including statements he made to The Durango Herald<\/em> when it inquired about the incident.<\/p>\n

Police were called to Needham Elementary School to investigate the presence of Julie Popp, the district\u2019s spokeswoman, who was reportedly banned from the school and was on campus.<\/p>\n

Board of Education President Nancy Stubbs said crafting the board\u2019s letter was \u201ca difficult process,\u201d and the final product was eventually trimmed from what initially was a six-page document.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, we boiled it down to the essence of what we thought was needed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Also, she said the school board is exploring issuing monthly or bimonthly articles on the website about the board and how it conducts business.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people don\u2019t understand what we do, why we do it and how we do it, and we want to try and correct that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Herald<\/em> had several exchanges with Snowberger in which Snowberger and Needham Principal Jennifer McKenna denied an incident occurred<\/a> and refused to discuss the matter with a Herald <\/em>reporter. Snowberger then emailed a reporter accusing the reporter of attempting to \u201cslander an individual without evidence\u201d and he called the effort \u201csad and despicable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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