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After an exhaustive search, the USD 214 Board of trustees hired Dr. Joel Applegate as its new superintendent during a 3-minute hastily called special meeting Feb. 13.
“After a rigorous and comprehensive search, we are thrilled to have found the ideal leader for our district,” Board President Diana Nunez said in a statement. “The board is confident that Joel’s leadership will ensure USD 214 continues to prioritize and advance student achievement.”
Applegate will take over July 1 following the retirement of Corey Burton.
Applegate is currently the superintendent in Oberlin, Kansas – a position he has held for five years. He has held several positions during his career as a teacher and administrator, including Director of Secondary Education in Liberal.
The board narrowed the pool to three candidates but the third candidate canceled, leaving Applegate and current USD 214 assistant superintendent Kevin Warner.
During Monday’s regular meeting, the board swore in a new trustee.
Just two years after retiring as principal of Kepley Middle School, Stacy Gee is back in the saddle at USD 214, this time in a broader role. Gee was sworn in as the newest member of the school district board of trustees at its Feb. 10 meeting and will fill the remainder of the term vacated by Ron Smith, who left his role at the district due to health issues.
The term expires next year.
The district asked for applicants to fill Smith’s seat last month, and Gee was the only one who answered the call. Board president Diana Nunez asked several questions of Gee as part of an interview process, and she discussed her history with Ulysses and the school district as a teacher, coach and administrator. She resigned as principal of Kepley in January 2023 as one of six district employees who resigned and received a $1,000 stipend for letting the school board know of their intentions early, which allowed the district more time to find a replacement.
“I am a lifelong resident of Ulysses,” Gee said, adding that she attended second grade in the very building in which she was being sworn.
Gee was a basketball player at Ulysses High School and went to Cowley County on a basketball scholarship before transferring to Hays.
“It took me about six weeks to realize that was not the right atmosphere for me, that I would never have survived,” Gee said.
Gee went to Colorado, then moved back to Kansas to play basketball at Southwestern. After earning her degree, Gee worked for a time in Arkansas City and then moved to Guam for a year before returning home to Ulysses, where she was a substitute teacher for a year before being hired full-time in the district. After years teaching, she spent three years as assistant principal at Kepley Middle School and four years as principal at Kepley.
She said she likes to play golf, spend time in Colorado and has three dogs.
Nunez asked Gee what motivated her to want to become a board member, and she said she hated the reason she was there the illness of Ron Smith.
My thoughts and prayers absolutely go to Ron and Carol for a full recovery,” Gee said. “Ron dedicated much of his life to education, so it will be an honor for me to serve out his term with the school board, and then continue on from that.
“Ulysses and the people are really all I know and all I have and all I care about,” she added. “It’s really about supporting students and staff and giving them the opportunity to experience success.”
Gee said there may be lots of things coming down the pike that may be difficult decisions for school boards in regard to public education and funding.
“I just want to be a part of continuing to provide support,” Gee added, saying that she always felt supported by the board when she was with the district. “I appreciated that and just want to be a part of that, as well.”
When asked what her vision was, she said it was providing as many opportunities as possible for students to be successful.
“Whether that’s in the classroom, in after school activities, whatever the case may be,” Gee said. “It’s all about providing those opportunities for students to be successful.”
None of the other trustees had questions, so a vote was taken to approve Gee, and it passed unanimously.
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