Interview with Dr. Matt Holton, Superintendent, Chaffey Joint Union High School District

This month focus will be an interview with Dr. Matthew Holton, Superintendent for Chaffey Joint Union High School District 

Transcript

Dr. Matt Holton

SPEAKERS

Don, Dr. Holton

Don  00:04

Hello, my name is Don English Director of Children Deserve Success and Executive Director of the San Bernardino County Wide Gangs and Drugs Task Force. And I want to welcome you to our Children Deserve Success Podcast. Monthly we will be sending out these recordings regarding all things related to child welfare and attendance, School Attendance Review Board, foster youth services, McKinney Vento Homeless Programs in our county and the San Bernardino County Wide Gangs and Drugs Task Force. This month focus will be an interview with Dr. Matthew Holton, Superintendent for Chaffey joint Union High School District, Dr. Holton. So happy to have you here today. 

Dr. Holton  00:46

It is a pleasure and honor to be here with you.

Don  00:48

I'll tell you, I'm looking forward to our conversation. So with that, I want to ask you to please if you could tell us a little bit about yourself and and kind of where you grew up. And how'd you get started in education?

Dr. Holton  01:02

Absolutely. So I'm from the area, I graduated from the Chaffey District. And matter of fact, a fun story is that when I became superintendent of the Chaffey District, three of the board members that hired me actually signed my diploma. So I have been around this district for many years, graduated from Upland High School that was a part of the district at the time, but by the vote of the people later on, that school left our district and they're no longer a part of us. But yeah, I grew up and grew up in the area, started my teaching, experience up in Hesparia and was up there for a few years and then was able to come back home down here and get a job with a district, started as after being a teacher, both math and physical education and coaching and being an AD came back down to the Chaffey District was a counselor, assistant principal, principal, assistant sup, and this is my 15th year as superintendent. But the story as far as me getting into education. Well, that's a different one. I was playing soccer in college, and one day I went my coach's office and he said, Hey, with the local high school is looking for a JV coach, and they're looking for one of our players to do that. So had never done that before. But I decided to take him up on it to earn a little extra money and and see what I could do with that. And so I was a assistant or excuse me, I was a JV soccer coach at West Covina High School, ended up loving it changed my major from business to to kinesiology and one thing led to another and here I am today Don.

Don  02:48

Well, I'll tell you, you know, you, you serve as superintendent of the second largest high school district in the state of California. Tell us a little bit about what's distinct about the Chaffey Joint Union High School District as it relates to your roll.

03:05

Well, the Chaffey District you're right, it's it's among a number of other districts in the state who have separate elementary districts that feed into our high school district. And it just kind of works for us the elementary districts are able to focus on elementary aged kids. That Chaffey District is able to focus on that unique period of time when a high schooler is a high schooler. And so it's worked in our community for over 100 years. The Chaffey District, well it encompasses three major cities, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Montclair, a little bit of Upland little bit of Fontana, Mount Baldy area about 175 square miles, which is home to about a half a million people who live in the boundaries of our district, who send a little bit over 23,000 high school age students to a comprehensive high schools, a continuation school, an online high school and adult school in a small community day school. So we're proud of the district we're proud of the direction of the district and proud to build on the history than the district.

Don  04:12

You know, Matt? I think we were in high school around the same time, and just really interesting to see your ascension. But in in seeing that I was wondering what inspired you to pursue the superintendency?

04:30

That's a great question because I may be like you I don't know that when I got into teaching. I just wanted to teach and coach and be around kids. But I really I really enjoyed the leadership aspect of coaching then being an athletic director and then being an assistant principal and so I just I just kept moving from one spot to the next and taking on those bigger roles and thankfully, I was able to do that and and that that, the end goal was the to be able to be a superintendent to be able to run a district and have influence on my community. And so, again, I would say that it didn't start off that way. But after a while, I did have aspirations to get to that chair.

Don  05:14

Fantastic. When you became superintendent, what were your initial goals? And how have both changed over time?

05:21

Again, a great question, but somewhat of a complicated question, because what I wanted to do was just continue to build on the instructional focus that the district had already really established. However, I became superintendent in '08 and as you may recall, that was the year of the economic downturn. So as soon as I became superintendent, or shortly thereafter, a few months thereafter, the bottom dropped out. And so it went from these incredible ideas to continue to move the district forward, instructionally to keep the district afloat, because that was the biggest financial challenge we had ever we had ever experienced. And so what that was, when you think about that, or at least when I think back to it, it allowed me to establish my leadership and a much more rapid pace than if I were just to move in to continue things kind of as they were, because I had to be in front of people, I had to really develop those quick relationships and trust with folks, because we were going to ask folks to, to be challenged with cuts and, and things that they had never experienced before. So then after that, and we did get through that, but it took a number of years, then we continued to really, really move towards the goals of really making sure our students in our district when they graduated, they would be ready for both college and career, the operative word and really to make sure that both of those opportunities were being met.

Don  07:03

Fantastic. Dr. Holton, how has your district changed under your leadership?

07:10

Well, I think when anyone comes into a leadership position, their personality and just their style of leadership, especially in the superintendent chair affects the entire district. Really, I think, I tried to bring a lot of energy, I tried to make sure that relationships were were at the forefront, but then really tried to focus on some metrics, tried to focus on what would help our students once they left the district. And one of those metrics was meeting the A to G requirements. Our students at that time, when they graduated, when they shook the principal's hand and walked across the stage, only 23% of them were meeting the A thru G requirements, which allowed them to go to a California or UC institution in our state. So what you focus on gets done. And so we really tried to begin to focus on that and look at the default courses that kids were taking, and, and really move towards an opportunity for students to graduate, at least college ready at the time. I'm proud to say that right now we're more around 70% of our graduates meet at A thru G requirements. And that has been, that has been something that not only affects those individual students, it affects our entire community. And so we are very proud of that we host regularly other districts from across the state who are who are now looking to accomplish that same goal, and just asking how we did it, and how we got to this place. And so, again, I'm really, really proud of that and want to continue to make sure that kids have those options.

Don  08:43

You know, that day after graduation, we know it's crucial that we have a post secondary plan. But in addition to meeting the diverse needs of your community of the schools that you serve as superintendent and that you lead. So in saying that, what do you think is the most critical thing that a person needs to know when leading such a large organization? And does that change or stay the same in leading the individual employee?

Dr. Holton  09:09

Well, I gotta go back to what I believe in that is a superintendent has to develop, caring, compassionate for each individual, employee and student and if they can do that, then then obviously those relationships become key superintendent anymore, can't sit in your office and superintendent has to get out they have to know their staff, they have to be in classrooms, they have to be visible and engaged at student events. They have to take time to to meet with students and to be a part of, of really everyday life on every campus, which is which is difficult to do when you're a part of a large organization. But I would say if you were to ask me what key component a superintendent would need to have going into it is develop those relationships and trust

Don  09:57

And I think communication is key and I see how you model that, you know, I've been around you, I've been in meetings with you and your leadership teams. And you model I think open and honest communication. So kudos to you for that. And your staff. Your district has some really positive educational outcomes across the board. I mean, from schools, within communities that may be very different, including the model continuation high school and alternative education programs. But what do you think are the major contributing factors to that? And what would you say is the most essential thing that another school district and you kind of alluded to it earlier could do to model that?

10:35

Yeah, well, I'm gonna go back to just just the importance of what you focus on is going to get done. So I think you have to involve your staff, I think you have to really look at what are we really trying to accomplish here? I'll give you an example. You know, we we started off really being able to meet those goals of our students being college ready with the ATG requirements. But then when we surveyed our greater community, we learned that not only do they want kids to be college ready, they want them to be career ready. So we began to really embark on ideas and efforts that maybe were around years years ago, but not so much today. In other words, we, we are able to bring back career interest inventories, really allowing kids the opportunity to understand what there is out there and to try to match their hobbies and their skills and their talents to perhaps something they could do in the future. But really engaging, and not an exaggeration over 1000 employers in our area, and asking them, what is it that they want the kids to be able to do so with that we learned specific employability skills that we focus on that different teachers and different departments have been able to own and, and so that way, we know that when a kid again, now graduates, we know that they have been able to be introduced to some of those employability skills. Not only that,  life skills, you know, those things that at a party, you might talk about with friends, just saying, I wish I would have learned this in high school, well, those are the things that we were trying to accomplish, you know, some of the financial literacy aspects and, and, and just physical wellness and health and the importance of exercise, nutrition, I mean, all of those things that will help an individual get to a better life, and then learning skills. So we expect our students to leave us and go and continue in some sort of college opportunity or vocational opportunity and to have those skills to continue to learn basic skills, reading for comprehension, understanding how to, to problem solve, and to move through a variety of different opportunities that will, will help them be successful in the future, we think is important. technology skills are incredibly important. And we know that that is going to be critical for our students as they as they leave us. So that is a part of, of those career readiness initiatives as well. So in other words, just not not taking the college readiness aspect, but really moving to the career readiness as well.

Don  13:16

Absolutely, just really, it sounds like what you're saying is, you know, we have to tend to the whole child. And I know, some people use that as a buzzword, but it's really important. I had a unique opportunity to serve the Chaffey district for going on 30 years now as a teacher, as a principal, as a grant writer, and grant administrator, and now as director. And so, Chaffey District at the time was our largest feeder for our community schools. And so, you know, as you know, those are some of the most hard to serve students. I was very proud that most of those kids at the time, we were able to send them back to the Chaffey Joint Union High School District to receive diplomas prior to our superintendent. Sure, saying we're going to go ahead and administer we're going to go ahead and give students diplomas, which I think is good for some kids, and for some not, but they still, and I believe you would agree are part of the Chaffey family.

Dr. Holton  14:09

Absolutely.

Don  14:09

So with that, what can we do with San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools to improve the support we give districts, students and families that we serve?

14:21

Yeah, I would, I would love to be able to come up with something. Mr. English, but really, when it comes down to it, this organization, superintendent of schools, they support us and they provide the services I think that we need, but I think what I can say is that what I've learned about the organization here in San Bernardino, is that when there are challenging times this organization under Ted's leadership steps up, and I can refer back to the pandemic. You know, we had a challenge at that point in time where we needed to get together as superintendents across this county and Ted needed to lead that. And he did. And he did it, he did a great job of that really helping us engage with public health, helping us engage with each other learning from each other, helping us to determine some protocols and directions when when we really didn't know where we were going. So what I would say to that is, this is a well run organization that is all about support in the districts across San Bernardino County. But what I'm especially impressed with, and I have confidence in that is if something ever comes up, like the pandemic, that this this, this group out here is ready to lead.

Don  15:35

You know, I, I'd be remiss if I didn't say that I'm proud to be a board member of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District, I was appointed and look forward to remaining on the board for four more years after this election. And so I speak fondly of the district. But again, it's because of the metrics, the data and the outcomes that the district attains for all of his kids. And I know, you know, you have different pockets, you may have the south, where you have some lower socioeconomic areas, and you have the northern schools that are a little higher socio-economic areas. But what I'm proud to say is that even when you look at Measure P, and what was done in those institutions, in those schools on those facilities and, and the care, and the concern that you have for each and every kid, regardless of what their socio economic status is, regardless of what community that the school is in, so I'm very, very proud of that. Finally, Dr. Holton as the superintendent, is there any final thought that you'd like the community at large to know about the district?

Dr. Holton  16:38

Well, let me start with Mr. English, we are proud that you are in honor that you are a board member with us, you know, it's really neat to have an individual on the board that really understands schools and understands at the level that you do. So right back at you, we are really proud that you are you're serving and leading in that role. I think what I would most want the community to know is that we are a high school district, again, focusing on high school kids, and we are going to commit to this district they are this community, this greater community that we are going to do everything we can to help our students and prepare them for life after high school. You know, part of that we talked about the career readiness piece, we talked about the college readiness, but part of it is just their well being. This is a this is just a very difficult time in our history right now. And students are challenged with mental health issues. And they're, they're challenged with, with a number of things that that are really in society today. And so a lot of it lands on the school district to continue to help kids so that they can reach those those goals of being prepared after high school. But if a kid doesn't feel safe, and have kids not being helped with their mental health or physical health, then there's no way they can get there. So just know that we love our kids, we're gonna continue to do what we can to help them in every way we possibly can.

Don  18:06

Yeah and under my leadership with the foster youth services, coordinating program, and homeless education, you know, we continue to link and leverage resources to serve our kids throughout our county, which I think is vital. But again, when you talk about serving the whole child, you talk about the mental health supports that are necessary. And I know on our campuses, we do have wellness centers Chaffey Union High School District, we found that those wellness centers do decrease exclusionary discipline. And so that's part of my role at the county office, is to really talk about what interventions can we utilize to decrease exclusionary discipline? How can we increase our attendance rates, and really kind of alleviate chronic absenteeism? And I think as you alluded to a lot of it, relationship building is key. Creating environments where kids want to be and were families want to be in always talking about families and education because it doesn't stop with the kid. Particularly depending on the population that you serve. And before I let you go, you know, I have to talk a little bit about my endeavor in Trojan land, you know, I am now a USC Trojan now. I came I started as a California Golden Bear. So they say now that I am a Brojan you know, I heard that term from one of my colleagues because he's a Brojan, but I thank you so much for being here. I know you are busy men. Again. Yeah. 23,000. I think 152 was the number that we were told at the last board meeting. So again, proud of that, and just thank you so much for being here today.

Dr. Holton  19:45

It was an honor. Thanks for having me.

Don  19:47

Thank you for listening. We hope you find this information valuable. If you have any topics or questions that you would like addressed, please email them directly to cwa@sbcss.net as always, we hope you stay well. And continue to transform live thru education.