Plugge kept focus on students

By The Gazette Editorial Board

Iowa City school district Superintendent Lane Plugge dealt with just about everything in his 11 years on the job.

Growing enrollment and changing school demographics; ambitious building projects and shrinking budgets. And through it all, he kept a cool head and a firm hand on the wheel.

“He's a person of integrity,” Jim Pedersen, director of human resources for the school district, told us this week. “He's got a tremendous work ethic. But most of all what you need to know about him is that he's always put students of this district at the center of every decision that he's made.”

That's a focus too many administrators lose, Pedersen said, as they struggle to balance budgets and worry about the political implications of their decisions.

Not all Plugge's decisions were without controversy, but there's little question that Plugge always remembered his primary responsibility was to the district's students.

Plugge announced last winter that he'd be leaving the district to take a position as chief administrator of the Green Hills Area Education Agency near Council Bluffs. His last day with the Iowa City school district is June 30.

He served the district during a period of rapid growth - during his tenure, school enrollment increased by more than 1,200 students - and all the challenges that entails.

He oversaw planning and construction of several new school buildings and additions. He helped puzzle through thorny redistricting questions and competing priorities of district stakeholders. In more than a decade with Iowa City Schools, he developed a community reputation as being an accessible administrator who listened to public opinion - even if his decisions didn't always please everyone.

And throughout his long term with Iowa City Schools, Plugge never lost track of his real charge: to manage the district's staff and resources, to plan for the future and navigate current circumstances with the best interest of the district's students at the forefront of his mind.

Pedersen said it was Plugge's interpersonal skills that anchored his success: He was approachable, articulate, and didn't flaunt his authority.

Pedersen said the district also benefitted from Plugge's length of service and his ability to retain chief administrators, lending a stability and consistency that allowed staff to keep their focus on the district's vision.

“Anytime you can keep that continuity, that consistency, that shared vision - if you can keep that person in a leadership role, it's good for the organization,” he said.

Lane Plugge was good for Iowa City schools and students.