Summers honored with Exemplary Leadership Award
BASA Executive Director Kirk Hamilton presented Dalton Summers, superintendent of River View Local Schools with an Exemplary Leadership Award from the Buckeye Association of School Administrators. Contributed | Beacon
WARSAW – Dalton Summers, superintendent of River View Local Schools, was honored by his peers with an Exemplary Leadership Award from the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA).
“Anytime you receive an award for doing your job it feels good and is very humbling,” he said.
Summers was presented with the award in October 2017, but Dr. Kirk Hamilton, executive director of the BASA, came to the Dec. 19 River View board meeting to give a second presentation in front of Summer’s board of education and local community.
The recipient of the Exemplary Leadership Award is chosen after nominations from other superintendents within each region. It recognizes outstanding educational leadership which has resulted in the enhancement and improvement of educational opportunities for both primary and secondary students in Ohio.
Summers has been a superintendent for eight years and is serving his sixth year as River View’s.
“River View is a rural school district, but goes above and beyond offering opportunities for its kids,” he said. “One of the reasons I moved here with my own kids is because of the importance the community puts on education. I’ve worked in three different school districts and they’ve all been rural, but the value on education is strong here and so is the longevity of the leadership. We have three board members that I’d say have been serving for well over 25 years. Our treasurer has been here for I think close to 20 years and I believe there have only been five superintendents. That says a lot about the district.”
During Hamilton’s presentation at the board meeting he noted Summers’ advocacy and willingness to speak on behalf of all students at the state level. Summers has testified multiple times to both the House and Senate Education Committees with regards to the state budget and educational funding. He currently serves on an education funding committee led by Representative Cupp and John Patterson where they are studying the different components of school funding and preparing recommendations for the next biennium budget. Summers serves on a sub-committee from this group that is focusing specifically on the topic of school transportation and the costs associated with the operation.
“I thank my board for always allowing me to do a lot of things,” he said. “The job of a superintendent has changed a lot in the past eight years. There are a lot more out of district obligations than there were before. You used to just manage the district, but now there is a lot of advocacy at the state level. You have to be part of the process if you expect things like funding to change and I appreciate my board allowing me to do that. I also believe we have the best team from principals at the high school down to the elementary schools to some of the hardest working teachers around.”
Summers also wanted to be sure to thank the community.
“This community truly values education,” he said. “The auditorium filled up for every single Christmas program presented here.”
Category: Education
