This story first appeared in a Colorado Community Media newspaper. Support CCM’s neighborhood news. The Colorado Sun is an owner of CCM.
Erin Kane sat down at her desk on her last day of work at American Academy and looked around the room. Dozens of photos from her career, framed diplomas on the wall, a stack of books about state education law, all sat untouched. The packing hadn’t begun yet.
It was March 30 and Kane was poised to sign a contract that day to become Douglas County School District’s next superintendent. The deal included a three-year term, $250,000 annual salary and a proposed start date of March 31.
Morning bled into the afternoon, and despite being happy with the school board’s final offer, Kane had not signed yet. Her day was instead filled with goodbyes and mentally preparing to box up her things to leave the charter school she helped found more than 15 years ago.
Most formative for Kane during her time running the DCSD charter school, comprising three campuses and serving nearly 3,000 preschool through eighth-grade students, she said, was the chance to lead both American Academy and the district as an interim superintendent.
“I have seen through the lens of a charter leader, and I have also seen through the lens of a school district,” she said. “I sort of have this 360-degree view.”