'Beyond blessed and humbled': Q&A with future Edmond Public Schools Superintendent

Edmond Public Schools has announced its newest superintendent following the retirement of Dr. Angela Grunewald in January. In a public meeting on Monday, the district announced the 23rd Superintendent of Edmond Public Schools will be Dr. Josh Delich.

In a post made to the EPS website, the district says Delich brings 21 years of experience as an educator, joining the district after holding leadership roles in Minnesota's two largest public school districts for six years. The district said Delich has also served as a high school and middle school principal, a classroom teacher and a coach.

Delich says he hopes to begin his first day of work at EPS on July 1. But ahead of his first day, News 9 had the opportunity to ask the future superintendent a few questions about what he will bring to Edmond Public Schools.

What is your reaction to being named Superintendent of Edmond Public Schools?

Delich: “I am beyond blessed and humbled to be the Superintendent of Edmond Public Schools. If you spend any time in this district, you quickly learn, as I have, the amount of excellence that is going through this system, both from the classroom level all the way up into our school board.”

What is your plan of action when you take over as Superintendent?

Delich: “Listen, learn, lead, act and execute. At the present time, I think it's important that I first can integrate into the system to kind of understand what is in there, because my innovative idea may be something that Edmond Public Schools is already doing. Right now, I would want to first listen, learn, lead to better understand what's going on before I start infusing some of the ideas or experiences I have into the system.”

How have past experiences prepared you for the role?

Delich: “I have an opportunity to bring in some external ideas. But also at the same time, knowing that there's amazing work that's going on here and trying to just infuse myself into a system so that we are able to continue on with the work that needs to happen here at Edmond Public Schools.”

How will you follow in the footsteps of past leadership?

Delich: “[Dr. Angela Grunewald] has done a tremendous amount of work here and an amazing amount of work. I am so humbled to be able to follow such a superior leader, somebody that's been invested in the community and has institutional knowledge beyond words. I am so blessed to be able to work alongside somebody like that and learn from her as she transitions into her next phase of his life, which is so well-deserving.”

How will you manage the current relationship between the district and State Superintendent Ryan Walters?

Delich: “When you have conflict, you have differences. You have got to sit down, create the space to kind of better understand the perspectives on one side, as you may have perspectives on the other. I look forward to meeting Ryan Walters and spending some time just kind of getting to know the individual. Also, for him to get to know me and then figure out where to where can we, align and where can we best keep moving things forward?”

How will you address Oklahoma’s teacher shortage?

Delich: “This is a national challenge that the school districts are facing. You know, how do you attract and retain teachers? If you look into my previous experiences, as well as what I will bring into Edmond, it’s really how do you create an environment and a culture where every single employee, every single person, feels that sense of belonging. How can I help support making sure that this is a place where people come, they want to come here, and they don’t want to leave.”

What will you focus on in your first year as Superintendent?

Delich: “There's four, four key areas that I really want to spend some time in the next year, really looking at. The first one being the student achievement and outcomes. You know, where are we going with those? How do we continue to advance those? The next one is our staff and student, and teacher performance. How do we grow and get better every single day as a system? The next one is looking at operational efficiency and effectiveness. How do we really dive into creating more opportunities where we can be more efficient, more effective, and create greater results for our kids? The fourth one being ... 'how does Josh get into building and enhancing the public relations and the connections with this amazing community?'”