Chestnut stays as superintendent of MUSD

The hunt for a new superintendent will not be on Maricopa Unified School District’s agenda any time soon

Superintendent Steve Chestnut, who announced earlier in the month that he was a finalist for the same position at a large district in the Valley, said he will stay on board with MUSD.

Deer Valley Unified School District hired candidate Curtis Finch, superintendent in Big Rapids, Michigan, to fill the role with approval of the board at its Tuesday meeting.

“It was a professional opportunity I wanted to take a look at, but it wasn’t because I was unhappy here,” Chestnut said.

The prospect attracted Chestnut because of the chance to manage a large post.

MUSD, which educates about 6,500 students at nine schools, is similar in size to previous districts Chestnut managed earlier in his career in Washington state.

DVUSD is considerably larger with nearly 34,000 students and 38 schools.

However, MUSD will hold onto its superintendent for now.

“I’m not actively seeking another job,” Chestnut said.

Chestnut and MUSD.[quote_box_right]About Steve Chestnut

Hometown: Bellevue, Washington

Family: Chestnut lives in Maricopa with his wife Kellie. Their son Matt and his wife Jen live in Seattle, with two kids and one on the way. Their daughter Monica and her husband Brian live in Denver.

Hobbies: Appreciates spending free-time visiting children and grandchildren, attending church and enjoying big city amenities.

Favorite sports: Football and baseball

What he likes most about Maricopa: The climate, people and the small town-feel.[/quote_box_right]

Chestnut was hired in 2012 after MUSD was still reeling from the effects of the recession, state budget cuts and a teacher shortage.

He and the Governing Board were forced to be resourceful.

In 2013, they considered closing Maricopa Wells Middle School to save money, eventually deciding to keep the doors open.

The same year, the district shut down all-day kindergarten to alieve budget pressures, before re-instating it a year later.

To increase funding received from the state, Chestnut and the board in 2013 chartered six schools for a contract that would have paid out $2.5 million to the district for 15 years. Unfortunately for MUSD, the state severed the agreement with all districts due to budget cuts only two years later.

The challenges for Chestnut and the board were just getting started.

For years MUSD worked to pass a 10-percent budget override proposal to solve the teacher shortage and improve instructional technology in classrooms. Their efforts finally succeeded in 2016 after the initiative was struck down by voters in 2012 and 2014.

Currently, 48 out of the 50 override-created positions have been filled, and Chestnut said it may take until the end of July to hire the others.

Funds from the override also allow the district to spend $500,000 a year on instructional technology for students. More specifically, it funds the purchase of 595 student laptops and 17 carts with charging stations.

Chestnut’s most important goal for the district, however, remains consistent with that of the board: Raising MUSD’s “B” state letter grade to an “A”.

“That’s a big mountain to climb, and we’ve got to climb it,” Chestnut said.

Improving Student Achievement

It will take teamwork and a variety of successful integrations to contribute to higher student test scores — a feat Chestnut said might take a few years.

To accomplish this goal, he said the district plans on successfully integrating:

• 50 additional certified positions
• The new Ram Academy
• Instructional technology into the classroom

Fresh curriculum could also assist the district’s goal of raising student achievement, Chestnut said. In early May, the board approved new district-wide math curriculum, an update students and teachers hadn’t seen in over a decade.

Adoption of new English-Language Arts Curriculum could be on the horizon for the 2017-18 school year as well, he said.

“It’s going to take several years to get where we want to be, but I think we are going in the right direction,” Chestnut said.