“I always have a desire to serve, that’s why I wanted to become a superintendent, just so I could give,” he said during a meet and greet Thursday. “And I feel like in a community like this, I can give more.”
Editor’s Note: This is the second story in a series examining the superintendent candidates for the Eudora School District. The Eudora Times is attending each candidate’s public forum, requesting to do our own question-and-answer session with each candidate and calling references who know the candidates. Our goal is to provide one story and one Q&A for each candidate.
The second superintendent candidate introduced to Eudora this week brought forward-thinking curriculum to his district and has nearly two decades of experience in education, colleagues of the candidate told The Times Thursday.
Jason Cline is superintendent of South Brown County Schools in Horton. There are about 500 students in the district, he said in his introduction video to the Eudora community.
Cline brought behavioral and academic initiatives to his current district that have been hard to miss, said Larry Mills, principal at Horton High School, one of the schools in Cline’s district.
“Jason is the type of superintendent that is always forward-thinking,” Mills said.
Cline has spent 19 years in education. He’s previously served as a superintendent in Hay Springs Public Schools in northwest Nebraska, he said. He also served as a principal and assistant principal, and he’s taught fifth grade and sixth grade.
Aside from teaching, Cline has also worked as a coach for various athletics teams. He coached basketball, football, track and baseball, he told community members Thursday.
“I always have a desire to serve, that’s why I wanted to become a superintendent, just so I could give,” he said during a meet and greet Thursday. “And I feel like in a community like this, I can give more.”
Cline studied elementary education at Kansas State University. He received his master’s degree at Benedictine College in 2008. He was born in Atchison, which is about an hour north of Eudora.
Colleagues who have worked with Cline in South Brown County Schools said he’s been a great person to work with.
Rex Lockwood is vice president of Cline’s district’s school board, and he’s worked alongside Cline for a little under two years.
“He’s very outgoing. He meets the public well,” Lockwood said.
Lockwood said he hears only good things about Cline from teachers inside the district.
“He spends quite a bit of time in the buildings,” Lockwood said.
Mills also said Cline started many grant-funded programs aimed at professional development for teachers and technology. While these are practices common in schools across the nation, they just hadn’t come to Horton, he said.
“Had Jason not gotten us involved in those things, that wouldn’t be happening, especially in a district our size,” Mills said.
Cline also created a curriculum director position in the district, which Mills said has facilitated a lot of curriculum alignment that didn’t exist before.
“Now we’re moving forward with an improved level of curriculum all the way through,” Mills said.
And throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there were many opportunities for panic as plans fell through or took a turn, but Cline always was even-keeled and ready to face what came next, Mills said.
“He’s a good man to work for, and I appreciate the vision that he brings to our district,” Mills said. “I would hate to lose him, but at the same time, if he is selected, I know [Eudora] would be getting a good man, a good superintendent.”
See our full Q&A with Cline here.
Reach reporters Nicole Asbury and Cami Koons at [email protected].
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