Superintendent

In February, the district announced that then-Athletic and Activities Director Josh Porter would be the next superintendent of the district.

“I’m committed to our district and the Fort Dodge community,” Porter said after the announcement. “This is home, and I will take a great deal of pride in making sure we continue to move forward together. Having the ability to influence and work with people and leaders at multiple levels to ensure a brighter future for our kids is a responsibility I embrace every single day.”

The position of superintendent opened in 2022 when former Superintendent Derrick Joel resigned to take a position elsewhere. Dr. Denise Schares served as the interim superintendent for the 2022-2023 school year.

“My goal is to be a stable, calming influence,” Porter said after his hiring.

Porter is a 1999 graduate of Fort Dodge Senior High and moved back to Fort Dodge in 2021 after 14 years in the Clarinda School District. He served as the athletic director, interim high school principal, middle school principal, and transportation director there before applying for and accepting the FDSH athletic and activities position in May of 2021.

Porter obtained his bachelor’s degree from Central College in 2006, his master’s from Grand Canyon University in 2010, and secured his superintendent license through Drake University in 2022.

Brandon Ruffridge was hired in April to replace Porter as athletics and activities director.

Executive director of educational services

Fort Dodge Middle School Principal Aaron Davidson was tapped to move over to the Central Office to become the executive director of educational services by Porter. This new role was created along with the role of director of curriculum and instruction after Porter and the School Board decided to realign the administrative organizational chart. The former roles of directors of elementary and secondary education were replaced by these two new positions.

Moving from building administration to a district-wide role was something new for Davidson.

“I really enjoyed that; it was my dream job at the Middle School,” he said. “That’s where I wanted to get to in my career and then fast forward to Mr. Porter came in and ask me if I’d be interested in this position, and I ended up saying yes.”

The new position has been “refreshing in a way,” Davidson said. Prior to becoming principal at Fort Dodge Middle School in 2019, he was a principal in elementary school buildings in the Pocahontas Area and the former Pomeroy-Palmer school districts. His new director position has him spending plenty of time at the middle school and the district’s five elementary schools.

Davidson has had a “big learning curve” settling into this new role and working with district leaders in a different way, but says he is a lifelong learner and finds it rewarding.

“It’s been enjoyable to work with someone like Teri (Boezinger), who’s a super strong curriculum director,” he said. “Her expertise there is off the charts. And then working with Josh and him being able to give guidance to both of us when we’re moving into some new things, along with Brandon Hansel (director of financial services) and Kim Whitmore (director of human relations). It’s a really strong administrative team.”

Director of curriculum and instruction

In June, Porter announced that Teri Boezinger, a school improvement and MTSS systems specialist at Central Rivers Area Education Agency, would be the district’s new director of curriculum and instruction.

In this role, Boezinger leads the district’s efforts to align and provide continuous improvement of the preschool through 12th-grade curriculum, instruction, assessment and professional development to maximize student achievement.

“I came from the AEA, so being in a building is a change,” Boezinger said. “I love the community; I love being in Fort Dodge. I love the community in the school district. I love the attitude of everyone, that they’re so willing to move forward and not be stuck in the past.”

Like Davidson’s role, Boezinger’s position was created with the administration realignment.

“I was nervous when I started because we have a lot of change happening and I was nervous about that change, but we’re kind of hitting it head on and moving forward, and everybody is going with us and it’s quite fun,” Boezinger said.

Director of safety and security

Porter’s first hire after being named superintendent was to fill a brand-new administrative role that had not had any kind of equivalent previously.

Former Fort Dodge Police Chief Roger Porter was hired to be the district’s director of safety and security. He came into this role with 27 years of experience in law enforcement, having retired in April 2023. Prior to his retirement, he served as police chief for six years.

In this new role, Roger Porter has his main office at Fort Dodge Middle School, but works in all district buildings. He works with the school resource officer from the Fort Dodge Police Department that is in the buildings, as well as the buildings’ principals, to make sure all of their safety protocols are intact.

“The significance of that role and what he’s able to provide for our district is unmatched,” Josh Porter said. “He’s able to touch hands on every single building. He’s worked with every secretary, every administrator. He constantly is communicating with us. His focus is the safety of our students and staff.”

Roger Porter has improved how the district conducts investigations and conducts searches and manages lockdowns, Josh Porter said.

“Ultimately anything security and safety-wise we rely on him to make sure that that’s taking place,” Josh Porter said.

Director of communications and community relations

The final team member added to the FDCSD Central Office was Lydia Schuur as the director of communications and community relations. Schuur replaced former director of communications Jen Lane, who left the district to take a job at Friendship Haven last summer.

“Lydia’s rocking it,” Josh Porter said. “We’re doing some upgrades on how we advertise, our social media presence. Our website’s getting revamped and she’s working with a company who’s creating an app for our district. She’s really pushing that needle forward.”

Prior to her current position, Schuur had been the communications specialist for the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance for four and a half years. She has also served as an at-large council member of the Fort Dodge City Council since November 2017.

Middle School principal

With Davidson moving to the Central Office, Fort Dodge Middle School needed a new leader. Longtime Sioux City Community School District administrator Shawn Chesteen was hired to fill that role.

Chesteen had been principal at Sioux City North Middle School for the past nine years, and prior to that he served as an assistant high school principal in the same district for five years.