School District 38 is bringing in a fresh perspective to lead its schools going forward.

Monday night, during D-38’s regular board meeting, the board unanimously approved the selection Dr. Stacie Datteri to succeed K.C. Somers upon the conclusion of the school year.

The board also approved a contract to begin July 1. Negotiations with finalists began following Board of Education deliberations on April 6.

Datteri comes down to the Tri-Lakes area from Greeley where she currently serves as the Assistant Superintendent of Academic Achievement and Elementary, K-8 School Leadership for Greeley-Evans School District 6.

She has served in this capacity over the past 10 years and previously worked in the district as an administrator dating back to 2005. She’s also worked as a teacher in Yuma and Joes prior to her administrative work.

Board president Tiffiney Upchurch said, on behalf of the board, that she is looking forward to working with Datteri to continue the district’s success.

“Dr. Datteri comes to District 38 with 21 years of administrative experience and 29 years in the field of education… She stood out through this incredibly, incredibly competitive process due to her high qualities of demonstrated leadership that she brings to the table,” she said.

Other finalists for the position were Michael Freeman, Alicia Welch and Amber Whetstine. Welch is the current Director of Human Resources for D-38 while Whetstine is currently serving as acting superintendent for the remainder of the school year.

“I am humbled and honored to serve as your next superintendent of schools in Lewis-Palmer School District 38,” Datteri told the board shortly after the vote. “As your next superintendent, I will lead with my core beliefs. I will focus first on always doing what is best for students.”

Earlier this month, the district held a public forum with all four candidates for a Q&A session prepared by the district’s Public Forum Advisory Committee.

Immediately after the forum, D-38 released a follow-up survey online for further feedback from stakeholders that was open for 24 hours. A total of 1,010 people, composed of parents, district staff and other community members, completed the survey with a combination of multiple choice, rating scale, and constructed response questions.

Common feedback included an overall positive outlook of the district currently, with staff recruitment and retention, teacher quality and financial management being identified as the three most critical issues school districts face.

Two areas they felt the next superintendent should prioritize were responding to district growth through improved infrastructure and maintaining conservative values in public education by focusing on academic performance “rather than social or political ideologies.”

Additionally, the majority of those surveyed said the superintendent should be open to diversity and inclusivity and committed to the long-term stability of the district while maintaining an unbiased and non-political approach to leadership.

Datteri said she will approach her first six months by listening to learn and contextualize her experiences through a D-38 lens. She intends to engage students, current families, community members and staff to ask for their advice and experiences to inform her work.

“As I was looking at all of the great and amazing work that you’ve been doing, I think about all of the things that I can bring to the table, the things that I’ve learned along the way that are just going to be able to mesh and continue the legacy that you’ve already created,” she said.