For years, Ben Horsley was the face of the Granite School District as its director of communications and community outreach. He was often quoted in news stories about Granite. Now, he’s the district’s top leader as superintendent.
The Granite School District board appointed Horsley July 9 right after it was announced that Superintendent Rich Nye would leave to become Gov. Spencer Cox’s senior advisor of education.
Nye’s final day as superintendent was July 26.
In an interview with KUER, Horsley said he understands that some community members have concerns about how quickly he came into the job. He called it “an awkward time for this type of an appointment. I don’t think anybody loves the timeline.”
“I don’t want to belittle anybody’s concerns or denigrate that concern. The board of education had very little notice in terms of Dr. Nye leaving, I don’t think that was intentional. I don’t think anybody was trying to play a game or anything. But he notified the board as soon as he was able to.”
Some have also expressed concerns on social media about his lack of teaching experience. While Horsley taught college students at Brigham Young University, his 15 years working in Granite have all been at the district level. He’s never been a K-12 classroom educator. The rest of his experience was outside of education.
“I can appreciate that concern.”
One way to address that, Horsley said, is to go out and make himself available to educators and listen to them. He said the only way he can know teachers have everything they need to be successful is to meet them and listen to them. Additionally, he said one of his first tasks will be to meet one-on-one with principals and district-level administrators to get to know them and understand their questions and concerns.
“I know if our teachers have the help and support that they need, that our kids will have the best chance at quality instruction and good outcomes.”
Horsley is not looking to start over from scratch, but repeatedly said he wants to build on the foundation created by Nye and continue working on the district’s strategic plan. That includes increasing graduation rates, as well as increasing math and English language arts proficiency. When Horsley was appointed, the board directed him to follow that path.
“What that means is the kids will continue to have extraordinary opportunities in our classrooms. It means our teachers will be supported, it means our parents will be engaged. That's the vision that Dr. Nye outlined. And I'm just going to do my best to perpetuate that vision with my own little twist and ensure that we continue to have engagement from all of our key stakeholders moving forward so that we have the best product around.”
Horsley thinks the biggest challenge facing Granite right now is attendance. At the district’s secondary schools, he said about 30 - 40% of students are considered chronically absent. After the pandemic, chronic absenteeism has been an increasing problem not only in Utah schools but across the country.
Michele Jones, a teacher at Cyprus High School and president of the Granite Education Association teachers union, said the association has already met with Horsley. As the group has done with previous superintendents, it was to establish a relationship of collaboration and to let Horsley know what projects they are working on.
Jones is supportive of Horsley’s plan and vision, especially since it continues Nye’s work. She also agrees that chronic absenteeism is a big problem.
“We’re all just kind of waiting to see what happens. What he is saying is, I think, really positive. But the devil’s in the details,” Jones said. “There's a lot of people who are just kind of waiting to see what the action looks like.”
Horsley didn’t want to announce any plans or initiatives he was working on until he could get more input and announce it to administrators. He did say the one thing the district can work on now is being more supportive of its schools.
“I think too often we think that the best ideas are generated in some conference room at the district office. When, frankly, the best ideas and the most creative solutions are being found in our schools. I need to be out in schools as often as possible.”
Due to declining enrollment, the district has closed schools in recent years and will likely close more in the future. The driving force behind that is a declining birth rate, which is also affecting other districts. He said one thing the district can do is work to bring back students who have left Granite for charter schools.
“Why did those parents choose to leave? I want to know that, I want to understand that and I want to fix it.”
Horsley signed a two-year employment contract that expires June 30, 2026. His contract, obtained by KUER through a public records request, says he will make $265,000 annually. According to Nye’s contract in 2023, also obtained as a public record, he started off making $283,341.
The first day of school for Granite is Aug. 14, 2024.
