Central student journalists interview Dr. Snell after award

After Dr. Michael Snell was named 2018 Pennsylvania Superintendant of the Year, Central’s journalism class contacted him for an interview. With hopes of discovering more about his passion for learning and the inner-workings of his job, the student journalists recorded his answers below.

Q. What inspired MCL?

A. MCL came from a book called “Inevitable.”

So one of the things that I do is I belong to several groups. There’s a group called a study council that I go to once a week. Superintendants from across Pennsylvania and New Jersey all get together in these sessions.

There was a session where the theme was the future. What would public education look like? And they gave us a bunch of books to read and some resonated and some didn’t.

So, the book “Inevitable“ by Chuck Schwann and Beatrice McGarvey was clearly the driving force. So I read the book, put the book down and realized I couldn’t go back to being the same kind of educator that I was.

You know, I’ve been in this profession for 25 years. I was moving along just fine. So, it really came down to: can I continue to do what I’ve always done, which I could’ve but, personally, [my] north star, [my] compass, said I just have to change things up.

Q. What has been your biggest problem: PR? Skepticism? Motivation? Immaturity? Challenged learners?

A. Inertia. The lack of change, of movement in public education… There is a notion that for 120 years we have done business the way we’ve always done it.

Public schools are good, don’t get me wrong. We’re not broken, but if we’re not careful, we’ll become obsolete... so there is this notion that we’ve always done it this way.

It was good enough for your parents and that’s all they want for you. When in fact the world is changing, jobs are changing, we don’t even know what jobs we’re going to have in 5-8 years so how do we really… [this era is] rapidly changing, and yet we are stuck in this lack of movement, lack of change.

I call it the backwards-forwards principal. Everyone understands what they had when they were your age, and yet our job is to prepare you forward… there’s all this nostalgia that leads to this inertia.

Q. What’s the best experience you have had as superintendent?

A. The best experience of superintendent? I don’t know.

Here’s what does it for me. I don’t know that I can point to one, like, epiphany of experience... I like getting people to do stuff they wouldn’t ordinarily do. Like when I work with principals, I edge them, I push them, and I cajole them, and I beg them and I force them because I guess I’m the boss.

All those scenarios… for me, when you take a look at what we’ve done the last four or five years... we’ve come a long way... What brings me satisfaction is that I have some influence in that change process.

It’s not all me. Frankly, I do less of this than, you know, principals, teachers, everybody else is fighting a good fight.

For me, I really enjoy that leadership piece. That influence piece… It is also sort of kind of neat because I can read this book, this idea and the conversation manifests itself into what you see here and kids learning at their own rate.

So, all of that I get a great deal of happiness from... I say to people that it’s very possible that I could have read that book and been put on Earth at this very moment at this very time to prove that public education can change.

Q. How do we get the funds for MCL? IT staff?

A. We have always... let’s just talk about the budget… We have budgeted roughly a million dollars… Every year since I’ve been superintendent, we’ve been talking about going one-to-one even before I was superintendent, 15 to 20 years we’ve been talking about it.

It got to the point where in the high school we got enough devices here… We did what we had to do to get whatever devices to achieve it… We’ve always budgeted that money and there’s been no real increase to do so.

We stopped buying textbooks… so we’ve saved money in that respect. We haven’t seen many savings in paper… So paper hasn’t really been the offset that we expected it to be.

Q. How does Central go against the popular opinion regarding learning styles?

A. Here’s one thing I realize… [before I worked here] I always heard of Central and they were always doing crazy things... I always sort of heard of Central.

This district did this thing called the IM Series way back in the day— vision is part of your job, my job is to look around the corner.

What’s going to happen in five years? Schools put you in this box that says everybody learns at the same rate the same way and we know that is just false. Crazy, goofy ideas come from us and they usually work out.

Q. What’s your end goal with MCL?

A. I don’t know. I sort of term it like this… It’s one conversation at a time.

So, whether you’re a kindergartener or a fifth grade cat, we can have a conversation with you and your parents and respect and understand how you learn, what is your best learning style, and our answer more often than not is, “Yeah we can do that.”

When I was in high school you couldn’t do much else than 8 periods a day... If I left high school early, someone would’ve tackled me and asked, “What are you doing outside? You’re suspended…”

Technology will help us manage that and then humans will let us remain insanely human… We will arrive when we can have a conversation with you and your family, and how do you learn best, what do you want to learn and “yeah we can do that.”

Q. What’s one of the hardest decisions you’ve had to make?

A. I think the toughest decisions you have are personal.

When something goes south or goes sideways, being the boss is never fun. It’s overrated... There are tough decisions, there are tough things you have to do. It’s difficult.

If you’re an administrator... just wait. There are tough decisions you have to make at times, and I try to do that with humility and respect…

And sometimes snow calls. The worst call is graduation— rain or no rain. That’s a pain.

Q. Why does Central always have to be the guinea pig? The first to try everything?

A. I think it’s an expectation… It’s back in our DNA.

We were the first to roll out devices... You have to be comfortable being out there and working that angle. It’s a whole lot easier in the middle of the pack... but when you’re out front it’s a little colder and a little bit more daunting...

At some point people say “What’s next? When is enough enough?” and I think that’s a good question. I think we’re at a really good place with MCL right now… So there’s this sense that we are out there and that’s just what we’ve always been.

Q. We always see the kids who thrive in an MCL environment (the “poster children”). What about the kids who don’t thrive using MCL?

A. So that’s a great question. Customization means to customize. If we say everyone should customize and everyone should take Apollo, that’s not very customized.

You know, so when you go into Starbucks now you have over 4,000 choices… when you come into this high school, we want you to have any number of choices about how you learn best.

So, if you really need a traditional class for math, go get it. We still offer that. If you want to do a hybrid, blended, self-paced class to just get geometry done because you think you know half of it already, you want to knock it out in an online course so you can get through that, then okay, you can do that.

There are folks that when you start this whole effort, they overexaggerate and overassume that everyone is going to do that… The problem is, everyone has become accustomed to everyone goes to school for eight periods a day and the bell rings.

That wasn’t perfect either; it was just what people expected. We started to change the system up and everyone overreaches and says “Oh, we have to do that now.”

That’s not customized learning. Customized learning is how you learn best.

Q. In a culture where people are so attached to their devices that they can’t even eat a meal without it, how do you respond to criticism regarding giving young children iPads?

A. I think you can go back in history and read any of those sort of things... When the television came out and I was a young cat, people thought it was going to make you go blind. Here’s the problem: the research is inconclusive, but yet, if you spend morning, noon and night looking at that device, it’s probably not a good thing. If you spend morning, noon and night eating maple glazed donuts... that’s not a good thing either… Just be smart and moderate it… I’m not so sure that looking at a textbook all day long is the best thing either, but you used to do that…

Some of the parents that complain are the same ones who can’t put their device down either… There are equal amounts of parents that are addicted to it as you guys are, and it’s about moderation and being smart.

You know people aren’t going blind; small children always needed glasses. It wasn’t because we gave them iPads… I’ve spoken with optometrists and they don’t see any increase.

I don’t believe in cyber schools. I don’t think 180 days sitting in front of the computer is the way to learn… All

I know is technology is not going away.

Q. How do you deal with bad publicity?

A. I sort of have an appreciation, I have a love/hate situation with the media. I have probably been as proud about what they printed and disappointed in what they’ve printed over the years…

You have to develop a relationship with reporters… I think in this day and age people have too many opinions... When we get bad press, I move on. I don’t read social media… I get the fact that the press is a constitutional right; it’s a very very good thing.

I’m just not enamored with, disappointed with what sells sometimes... When bad stuff happens, we try to rectify it and correct the story.

Q. What about regarding the Central boys accused of sexual assault?

A. We talk about it a great rate. We get legal opinions as well. It’s a non-school event; it’s an off campus event.

And so there are a number of things that we have to communicate, and again, it’s not a school matter… I think we issued a couple of statements early on... We have to be very careful.

It’s an allegation at this point and we can’t say more than we should…

I will give Ms. Romig a boatload of credit. I rarely give a speech that she hasn’t thoroughly vetted... She is a gift.

Q. What sets Central apart from other districts?

A. First and foremost, I would say the human element.

We’re the second most diverse school district outside of the City of York and I think that diversity brings us beauty and opportunities that other school districts don’t have… It’s about relationships.

It’s about one conversation at a time… when we work really hard at relationships we’ll be better than everyone else.

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