Sand Spring, Broken Arrow Superintendents begin Challenges

As Tulsa Public Schoolâ€™s prepares to interview superintendent candidates, two Green Country school districts are welcoming their new leaders.<br><br>Both Lloyd Snow of Sand Springs and Dr. Dennis Shoemaker

Monday, June 26th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

As Tulsa Public Schoolâ€™s prepares to interview superintendent candidates, two Green Country school districts are welcoming their new leaders.

Both Lloyd Snow of Sand Springs and Dr. Dennis Shoemaker of Broken Arrow are less than two weeks into their new jobs, and both say theyâ€™re looking to improve their districts immediately.

â€œWe have technology needs, we have infrastructure needs,â€ said Snow. â€œWeâ€™re going through the process now of looking at our facilities district-wide with a possible bond issue in the future.â€ Snow added that he expects a bond proposal to come from the district within the next year.

Dr. Shoemaker, who came to Broken Arrow from a district in Kansas, faces a different problem. He must lead a district that serves 15,000 students and is growing.

â€œWith that growth means weâ€™re going to have to get a long-range view of how itâ€™s going to effect the students,â€ said Shoemaker. He called the situation a challenge and one he wants to face at this point in his career.

Both men say they see themselves as a dying breed. Superintendent candidates throughout the state of Oklahoma are decreasing. â€œThere are fewer applicants wherever you go,â€ said Shoemaker. â€œThe jobs are more difficult to do. You need a whole different set of skills than you did when I went into this business.â€

Snow agreed, saying that leaders need to have a passion for children. Both men say they see that passion at their new school districts.