Nichols announces final year as Gunnison Watershed superintendent

Reflects on highlights, replacement process underway

By Kendra Walker

Dr. Leslie Nichols has been superintendent of the Gunnison Watershed School District since 2018, and in that time has led the Gunnison Valley’s schools through a global pandemic, a major expansion and improvements project, among many other trials and successes that come with public education in a rural, small-town mountain community. Nichols recently announced that this school year will be her final year as superintendent for Gunnison Watershed, as she plans to take a much-needed break and possibly eventually return to the classroom. 

“This is my eighth year with the district and I’m honored to continue this work. I love my job every day and I feel so lucky,” Nichols shared with the Crested Butte News. “But it’s also a stressful job and I plan to take a little time to rest and recover.”

Prior to her time at Gunnison Watershed, Nichols was the superintendent/principal of the Hinsdale County School District and Lake City Community School, and she spent 15 years teaching secondary math and English. Her two boys grew up playing hockey in the area, so she was no stranger to the Gunnison Valley when she took on her role for the Gunnison Watershed School District. “I already felt very connected to this community when I started here,” she said. 

Getting through the pandemic

Nichols reflected on the many highlights from her time as superintendent in the valley, including the collaboration that it took to get the schools safely through Covid. “Covid took over very early on during my time here, a year-and-a-half into when I started. I really think that will be a defining point in my career and I am very proud of the work this district did during that incredibly stressful time,” she said. 

During that time, the Gunnison and Crested Butte Schools quickly transitioned to remote learning in the spring of 2020 and managed to reopen for in-person learning that fall of the same year. “We transitioned to remote learning literally overnight, where many districts took weeks,” Nichols said. 

“We had zero closures for the duration of the pandemic, which was rare and took a lot of work and collaboration across this valley. I think it was a risk that we managed really well and kept the priority of in-person learning for students. That in turn supported families and the local workforce and the local economy, and that was so important.”

Nichols also remembers the difficulties of that time. “It’s still hard to think back on those years, they were really challenging. It’s a huge, defining moment of our lifetimes. Those students will always remember that school was really weird for a couple of years, and we are still noticing the educational impacts of those years in different ways,” she says. 

Improving facilities with the bond

Nichols shared that she is very gratified for the voter-approved bond that made the current facilities construction project for improvements and expansion possible. “I’m so grateful to the community for the $95 million bond we passed in 2022. That’s huge these days because we’re actually seeing the benefits now in real-time — improvements to instructional spaces and athletic facilities, the Pathways programs that directly feed into and support our local economy — these all have decades and generations of impact. It’s tough because I know not everybody voted for that bond, but I absolutely know this investment across this entire valley benefits every single person who passes through, or lives here for a while, or lives here for a lifetime. When we invest in education, everybody wins.”

Nichols also reiterated how the bond project allowed the district to make tremendous improvements to school security. “We have more secure entrances across all sites, the quality of the whole system is phenomenal. These are very tangible ways to keep our kids even safer in our schools.

Student wellness and restorative practices

“I’m also really proud of our work to improve student wellness through better implementation of state standards and health education,” said Nichols, noting the district’s collaboration with Gunnison Valley Health to have clinical therapists in the schools. “There is still work to be done through funding streams, but we are providing access to clinical therapists with minimal barriers to kids and families to get the support they need.”

Nichols also highlighted the district’s approach to school culture and discipline through restorative practices. “We understand that kids often behave in unexpected ways and we are here to help them learn how their behaviors affect others, what to do when they cause harm, hold clear consequences for behaviors that harm others or themselves and keep kids growing and learning.”

Learning resources

Nichols reflected on how far the district has come with technology upgrades and improvements. “It was a bit of the wild west eight years ago in this district when it came to technology. But we have revolutionized how kids are learning and how teachers are integrating technology. It has supported better instruction,” she said, noting the one-to-one Chromebook program and instructional technology in the classrooms. 

She continued, “With the development of improved technology, we’ve been emphasizing the importance of skillful use of that technology. It’s not the everything, we’re not just putting kids on computers. We know that learning happens best in those strong relationships between teachers and classmates, and we use technology to enhance engaging, student-driven instruction.” 

Nichols also noted the district’s increase in resources for students learning to speak English. “I’m really glad we’ve managed to commit and grow the resources to those needs, which improves instruction for every one of our students.”

Regional and state leadership

During her time as superintendent, Nichols was also able to drive the district’s local priorities at a regional and state level. In 2021, Governor Jared Polis appointed Nichols to the state’s Early Childhood Leadership Commission (ECLC) to help advise and support the establishment of universal preschool in Colorado.

“I’m really proud of that work because we do have universal preschool for four-year-olds in Colorado. Those are without question the most important developmental years for a human,” she said. “It’s such a step in the right direction for the state and the country. My contributions were around bringing the perspective of remote, rural school districts and how a universal preschool program could work, and really being a voice for how different it is where we live from the Front Range metro areas. It was really a privilege to get to do that, that was rewarding.”

Nichols also advocated at the state level for improvements to the school finance formula for K-12 education, which determines how much money public school districts receive from state funds based on variables such as student count, student populations and district characteristics. 

“I feel that my greatest contribution there was bringing the voice of Gunnison Watershed and of rural school districts. The cost of living is higher for our district, our smaller size means we don’t have economies of scale and getting services here costs more money.” Nichols explained that the school finance formula now includes a remoteness factor that weighs students in remote school districts to receive additional funding. “So we now get some more funding because of our location. It’s still not enough, but still an acknowledgement,” she said. 

“I absolutely feel my state-level contributions have benefitted Gunnison Watershed.”

The search for the next superintendent 

The district will now begin the process of finding her replacement, and Nichols feels that the Gunnison Watershed schools are in a good place, with a strong administration team and school board, as well as sound financials.

“The future looks bright here at Gunnison Watershed. We have done the hard work developing our five-year strategic plan. The staff and community came together with the school board to say what’s important for our school district.

“This is our five-year plan through 2030 and it highlights our big focus areas of work, including our holistic learners, caring and exceptional staff, and strong family and community partnerships,” said Nichols. “I really do see it as a very important document for continuity in the transition from one superintendent to the next.”

Nichols said the district will be announcing the job vacancy in October, with the goal to hire by next March to have some overlap with Nichols before her official end date on June 30, 2026. 

“My hope is there will be some time while I’m still here to have a really robust handoff,” Nichols said. “Over the next few months, we’ll be gathering input from parents and the community and staff about what exactly we are hoping for in our next superintendent. We have a good model that is pretty successful in pulling together different community members and families.”

From there, Nichols said there will be interview teams made up of parents and employee groups for the identified finalists and the school board will ultimately decide on the final hire. She also noted the possibility that the school board may choose to engage a recruiting firm to assist with the hiring. 

Aside from helping to find her replacement, overseeing school construction activities and leading the district through another successful school year, Nichols shared that she is also getting married to her partner Chuck sometime in the next year. Following her departure, they plan to split their time between Salida and Lake City. 

“It’s been an amazing run here and I’m excited to see what’s next,” she said. “I don’t know what I’ll do next, but going back to the classroom is on the list of maybes. I’d love to teach middle school math again, it was my favorite. I miss being with students.”