Incoming Lawrence Public Schools superintendent Kyle Hayden, center, sits with student James Kahungara in a blended technology kindergarten class at Cordley Elementary School, Thursday, March 10, 2016.

Having grown up in the small town of Sabetha, incoming Lawrence superintendent Kyle Hayden said his own experience at school shaped his vision of how the educational environment should be. Even though Lawrence’s population is much larger, Hayden doesn’t think that means its school district can’t have a personal feel.

“I want to try to capture the small-town, small-school feel and bring that more to our schools,” Hayden said. “And I think that starts from the top, so my mission — even in the next few months before I’m officially the superintendent — will be to connect with people and connect with our schools.”

Current Superintendent Rick Doll announced in November that he would resign his position effective June 30. Hayden, 44, is currently assistant superintendent of business and operations with the Lawrence school district and was named the district’s incoming superintendent on Tuesday.

Incoming Lawrence Public Schools Superintendent Kyle Hayden, center, sits with students James Kahungara, left, and Posey Sears-Reese, in a blended technology kindergarten class at Cordley Elementary School, Thursday, March 10, 2016.

The Lawrence school board approved a two-year contract for Hayden at a salary of $205,000. The district has 20 schools, a college and career center, and serves 11,700 students in prekindergarten through 12th grade.

Hayden began his career as a social studies teacher in Udall, and over the past 21 years has worked various roles in districts throughout Kansas and Texas. He has been an assistant superintendent in Lawrence for the past five years, and prior to that he was superintendent of the Tonganoxie school district.

In addition to his experience growing up, Hayden said his early career in education also influenced his idea of a personable school environment. In the first half of his career, Hayden was a teacher, assistant principal or principal in several Kansas districts — Ellis, Valley Heights, Cheney — that have just hundreds of students districtwide.

During public meetings to gather feedback on the district’s superintendent search, some community members, parents and teachers said that communication between the district and the public could be better. Several teachers also said they didn’t feel their perspectives were taken into account in some of the district’s biggest decisions. The district does gather feedback prior to setting its yearly goals, but the process was more formal and usually involved small meetings at the district offices.

To create a more personable environment in the Lawrence district, especially at the middle and high school levels where schools serve larger populations, Hayden said some things will have to change.

“At district level we need to do a better job of building relationships with our staff, with our students and with the community at large, so our parents and our business partners,” Hayden said. “Lawrence is very supportive of education, but sometimes that sheer size that I’m talking about can create some disconnectedness and we end up working too much in isolation.”

The school board voted unanimously to hire Hayden. School board president Vanessa Sanburn said that part of that decision for her was his plan to improve communication between the district and teachers.

“We’ve got to deal with preventing teacher burnout, making sure that teachers are valued, making sure that teachers’ input is heard,” Sanburn said. “And so we need to be engaging in some serious discussion about how we need to do a better job in that area going forward. It was clear that Kyle (Hayden) is aware of that issue and ready to take it on in a meaningful way to help us move forward.”

The district employs 1,800 teachers and support staff, and Hayden said he sees better communication as part of making those employees feel valued and recognized. To that end, Hayden said he would like to start “listening tours” where he makes visits to schools throughout the district to talk to staff and students, particularly about what is important and what needs to change in the district.

“I want Lawrence public schools to send the message to everybody that we value people,” he said. Hayden said he will start the listening tours soon and will take that feedback back to the school board to help guide the board’s goals, which are drafted annually in July.

Though Hayden said he doesn’t see the board’s broader goals changing, he said the specific approach to accomplishing them is more flexible. Next year, Hayden said the top three things the district will address are: improving access to technology through training and initiating one-to-one student-to-device ratio; personalize learning by expanding the blended learning classroom model; and begin planning for major renovations to the district’s six secondary schools.

Hayden’s familiarity with and commitment to the board’s ongoing plans were also important to board members, as was his flexible approach. School board vice president Marcel Harmon said Hayden’s willingness to get feedback on how the district is rolling out its initiatives was a big factor in his vote.

“He’s open to getting input from teachers and staff and building administrators and the central office, trying to just kind of take another pulse of where we’re at,” Harmon said. “And then if there’s certain ways to redirect some of that, then he’s willing to do that. I found that pretty appealing.”

Hayden also said part of his motivation is personal. His wife, Katy, is a teacher at Free State High School, and their three children attend Lawrence schools. Next school year, his children will be at elementary, middle and high school levels. Sanburn said Hayden’s personal ties and subsequent commitment to the community impressed her.

“I do think that brings a really interesting perspective to a leader,” she said.

School board member Shannon Kimball also noted Hayden’s approach, and said she thinks it will offer him an advantage in his new role. Kimball and Hayden have both been members of the facilities planning committee for the past few years.

“He is very good at building collaborative teams and getting input and buy-ins from people in the areas that he works in,” Kimball said of her experience working with Hayden.

Hayden recognized that getting that buy-in is not easy, and said that he thinks that is one of the challenges that will come along with his new position.

“I think the primary challenge of being a superintendent is to keep everybody rowing in the same direction, and focused on the things that are most important,” Hayden said. “…But sometimes we don’t necessarily know the specifics on how to get there.”