Nichols announces final year with school district

Last month, Gunnison Watershed School District Superintendent Dr. Leslie Nichols announced that the 2025/26 school year will be her final one in the position. Nichols, who took on the role in 2018, has since guided the district through a global pandemic and spearheaded major renovations and expansions to school facilities.

This week, Nichols spoke with the Times to reflect on her 8-year tenure.

(Editor’s note: The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)

Why did you decide this was the right time to step down as superintendent?

This is a hard job and I’ve loved it every day that I’ve had the privilege of [having] this job. I really feel lucky that I’ve been able to lead this district and do the work of public education in this gorgeous place. I think public education is the foundation of our democracy, and that really matters a lot to me. Both of my parents were incredible leaders — my dad as a career officer in the Marine Corps and my mom as a priest in the Episcopal Church. From both of them I learned that leadership has an arc — you step into your role, work hard to do all you can to leave things better than when you started and hand things off in good condition to the next leader. There is a time to lead and a time to move on, and my time to hand everything in the Gunnison Watershed School District off to the next leader is here. I think, personally, I have felt the weight of the work. It is exhausting and, listening to my own inner-voice and intuition, I’ve known I need a rest. This is just time to take a break and for the next iteration of leadership in the valley to step in. I’m really proud of the work I’ve done, and I’m excited for the next leader to take the district to the next level. I just felt like it was the right time.

What are you most proud of when reflecting on the eight years as superintendent. And what were some of the biggest challenges?

This might be surprising to folks, because it’s kind of a quiet thing that I’m really proud of and it’s the work we’ve done district-wide to establish restorative practices as the foundation of our schools. Restorative practices are rooted in relationships and understanding each other as humans and as people. It’s a philosophy that goes back in America to John Dewey — you meet the child where they are and you take them as far as they can go. In education, to do that, we have to have strong relationships. Then to jump forward to the 21st century and the research that’s occurred in education, we know that it is in relationship that learning occurs best. We are emotion scientists. We are developmental scientists and acknowledge through restorative practices, that these relationships actually are everything for the work that we do. It’s almost revolutionary. It means that kids feel safe when they show up at our schools, because they know there are adults here who love them, care about them, want the best for them and expect the most from them. 

I’m also extremely proud of this district for being open everyday from the first day of school in 2020 through the entire pandemic. We were not closed a single day after spring of 2020 when the whole state was closed by governmental order. I’m proud that we were one of the first districts to recognize the seriousness of that pandemic. I’m proud of the collaborative work that this valley did across agencies, with the school districts, with the county, emergency services and the city of Gunnison and the town of Crested Butte — so kids could be back in school and parents could go to work. I learned a lot during that time on how essential school districts are to the economy, and being open really matters for kids to do all the beautiful learning that we do — but that also really matters for the economy to function. 

I’m also very proud of the $120 million bond project — it’s just such a big deal for this community, and I was humbled when we passed the bond. Almost half of this community did not want to spend money and raise their taxes for this purpose, and I hope that we are making every member of this community proud with the investment that we are putting into facilities for career and technical education, for improved learning spaces so that we can use the science of reading, the science of math and the science of learning to meet our kids needs the best and help them grow as much as they can grow. I hope they’re proud of our new playgrounds and our new athletic fields. These are the community’s facilities. This is multiple generations worth of investment in public school in this valley. You can tell so much about a community by how they take care of their young ones, and this valley is doing it right. It’s been a huge responsibility and we take it very seriously and I’m really proud of that as well.

What are challenges and future projects that you hope to see undertaken by the school district?

I’m really excited that the board had the wisdom to jump into strategic planning over the past school year, and we are launching that strategic plan this year. That document and that work will be an exceptional stabilizing force for this transition in leadership, because the board has identified their focus areas and priorities for the next leader to run with. The next leader [will be able to] take that charge from the community through the board, and say, ‘Yes, we are going to continue our path towards exceptional academic growth and learning with purpose and student well being.’ We’re going to continue our collaborative structures across this district. We are one district and we are stronger when we work together. We are so lucky to have these two communities and incredible staff across the valley. There are differences in communities, in populations, but we learn from each other, we support each other and continuing the collaborative structures that we’ve established is important for the next leader — that’s our Wednesday early release structure, our professional development structures and then instructional coaching that is a specific piece of how we support our teachers to be the best that they can be. Then to continue growing our family and community partnerships through stronger outward communication. I think there is going to be continued work for the next leader and to value and expand and capitalize on those partnerships, both with families and community organizations. We’re excited about that, and that’ll be great work for the next leader to continue. I also get really excited about our pathways expansion, with our career and technical education (CTE) programming that is such fertile ground to strengthen with our healthcare and outdoor industry and tourism. 

Given changes to education at the federal level, what message do you have for parents and educators?

I hold on to optimism that we will make it through the national narrative that is undervaluing the importance of public education in America. Again, I think that our public schools are critical structures in our grand American experiment in democracy. I think we’re learning in this moment that democracy is maybe more fragile than we have felt it to be in the past and I do have optimism that we will recognize that we value the core principles of democracy, that recognize every individual as important and then that we recognize the importance of public schools. Because without an educated, engaged electorate — without a citizenry that can read and write and do arithmetic, we don’t have voters who can share their voice to make our government run the way that as Americans, we hold importance where every voice matters. 

The federal cuts to the Department of Education, one of the smallest agencies that exist, are concerning. I still think the value this country holds in education will persist. I think some of the cuts, the impacts, are very difficult to explain and pinpoint. But for example, it’s up in the air right now because of the shutdown, but what will happen to federal support for school nutrition is a little unknown right this moment. If federal support for school nutrition goes away, then we may not be able to serve breakfast and lunch the way we do now for students and it might not seem like a big deal, but if kids aren’t fed, they really have a hard time learning and that is why the federal hot lunch program exists. 

Additionally, some of our funding in Colorado [could be impacted] because of revisions to the school finance act. I was on a school finance task force that got to participate and really push for recognition that rural districts in Colorado have greater funding needs because of our remoteness from urban areas. That remoteness factor was designed to use national data based on the census, and helped us identify how remote a school district is. That center was part of the Department of Education and so that data is no longer being gathered and updated. Most people don’t really care, but for students in the Gunnison Valley, their funding depends on that wonky office in Washington DC to do really good work telling us about how remote we are, so that we get funded in a way that makes sense. Colorado’s figuring it out — but the devaluing of education at the federal level right now is concerning. It breaks my heart because I care so much about education and I also am optimistic we will work our way through this and reground as Americans and recognize the importance of education.

What’s next, and what are you most excited about in this new chapter of your life?

I am looking forward to taking a rest. I’m going to take a gap year, as the kids say these days, and just rest and recover. I don’t know what’s next. My tenure at Gunnison Watershed started unexpectedly with the death of my husband. I have two beautiful kids who are now young adults. Solo parenting for the last eight years while having this big job has been a challenging adventure. So resting and reflecting on that is going to feel good. I also have a fairly new partner in my life, and we plan on getting married. His name is Chuck, and he lives in Salida, and that’s in my future. I will share time between Salida and a little house in Lake City. It’s like 900 square feet of heaven. Those are kind of the broad logistical plans and personal, joyful plans. But professionally, I’m a little bit of a blank slate right now and excited to see what calls to me next. I’m not not finished, but I’m also not certain today what that’s going to look like.