ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Earlier this year, Dr. Todd Carter announced his resignation as USD 480 superintendent, and Stephen Linkous was announced as his replacement.
As Linkous tells it, he is no stranger to the education field.
“I'm a career educator, I've been in the education field for 30 years now – I don't know where those years have gone, but they've certainly flown by,” Linkous said with a laugh. “I'm originally from Denver, and after I graduated college ... I actually graduated from a college in Kansas City, Mo., and I also went to college for a couple years at a school in Central Kansas. I went back home and was in Colorado for several years as a teacher in some districts in the Denver area. I eventually became an assistant principal and then principal and then went to Texas. I went to Houston and was a principal there and got promoted to the Central Office and supervised a group of schools there, and from there I became an assistant superintendent in Arizona. I was also the Chief of Staff in Kansas City and Arlington, Va., and now I'm in Liberal.”
Linkous said his interest in education was sparked by his family.
“I had an uncle who did a lot of traveling, and he would always send me postcards from the places he'd been, and he'd also send me books so I could read on the history of those places, and I'd always liked history,” Linkous said. “I had several wonderful teachers who encouraged me, and not only was I interested in history, I was also a school athlete, so I was wondering how those two paths could converge, and education seemed the perfect fit. Both of my parents did non-profit work, so I was used to community service and giving back, and I'd also worked at some summer camps with younger children. History became an option to major in, but there's not really a lot you can do with a history degree outside of certain fields. I definitely consider myself a people person, so education became the perfect road, and I've enjoyed it ever since.”
Ultimately, his love of the Midwest brought him back to Liberal.
“I really love the Midwest – I like the area, I like the people, I like the work ethic and attitudes and everything else. My personality also fits in much better with this area than it did in our nation's capital – being there was great too, and I learned a lot, but you have to know where you fit in the best, and I knew the Midwest was where I wanted to be,” Linkous said. “It was one of those situations where someone who knew I was looking for a superintendent spot reached out to me and said 'I know you're looking to get back to Kansas, and I know your son's graduating, have you thought about Liberal?' I'd heard of the town and had met a few people from Liberal, but I ended up doing some more research about the district and the demographics and everything else, and it was very similar to other districts I'd worked with. Also, seeing the passion people here have for the school system was awesome, and I ended up very excited. I ended up applying and going through the interview process and getting to know a bunch of people in the administration and the community, and I knew this was the place I wanted to be.”
Still being rather new to the area, Linkous said one of his first priorities was getting to know the community.
“You have to have strong relationships with the people working on your team, and you have to be very clear as far as goals and what needs to be done. We've got some great people in USD 480, so I'm looking forward to getting to know them better and learning more about where their strengths are and helping them get stronger in areas where they might need a bit of help,” Linkous said. “Since I've gotten to town, I've also had meetings with the police chief and the mayor and the Seward County Community College president and some other prominent figures in town, and I feel it's important to build those relationships because we all have to work together and support each other.”
With the 2024-25 school year rapidly approaching, Linkous said there is plenty to prepare, along with some longer-term goals.
“One of the big tasks is getting fully accredited, that's one less worry the district has to worry about. We do still have a lot of work to do as far as the chronic absenteeism, but we are talking about how we can fix that,” Linkous said. “I'm also really excited to get into the schools themselves – I'm a former teacher and principal, and being among the students and staff in the actual school buildings is where I'm most comfortable because I'm familiar with all those different pieces. I'm also looking forward to meeting the students and their families and helping the district grow, because I know there's so much we can do. Data gives you a piece of the story, but it almost never gives the 'Why' behind it all, so with the things going well, I'll get to see why they're doing well, and I'll also get more of an idea behind what's going on with the areas where we're struggling some. I'm really excited to be back in the school buildings themselves – my last two jobs, there wasn't as much of that and way more bureaucracy, but being in the buildings and seeing the work firsthand and in person, that's what I'm most excited about. One of my main longer-term goals is to help USD 480 become one of the top school districts in the state – I know that will take A LOT of work and time and effort, but I think we can make it happen. I would like for the district to have annual goals to be met and break those down into manageable steps so we can make it happen. We have talented faculty and staff, and we have amazing students with a great capacity to learn, so I think we can really focus everyone toward that. I also want to build from within the district and for us to be at a point where, if we have an assistant superintendent position or principal position open up, my leadership team will already have a handful of names ready to go.”
Overall, Linkous said, he is excited to be part of the Liberal community.
“It's always somewhat amusing because when you move somewhere new, you always plan to be there awhile. Because of Liberal's size, all the different athletic events are very well attended, and with my son having recently graduated after being an athlete himself, going to those events and supporting the USD 480 student athletes will help fill that gap in my life and help get my competitive juices going,” Linkous said. “Those events are also a great way to get to know people because everyone's more laid back and everyone's willing to talk more. I'm also looking forward to seeing how Liberal functions as a community and seeing how we can work better with our community partners. I want the community to know I'm really excited to be in Liberal. This is definitely the place I want to be, and I'm very blessed to have this opportunity. I take these students' education personally, and I know we, as a district, will do everything we can to ensure these students get a quality education they can take with them after they leave. I'm also very excited about the community size because that means I'll really get to know the teachers in the district as well as the principals and students.”
