Face of change: New Canyons District presents huge challenges

It's early in the morning to be talking about disillusionment — on a Monday, no less — but David Doty, superintendent of Canyons School District, is not the kind of man who minces words.

The March sun glitters high in a brilliant blue sky as he heads toward his first appointment of the day: visiting an elementary school for a performance by kindergartners. It's the first time he's been able get out to a school in weeks, it seems. Before that, his office was consumed with a legislative session that had turned a wanting eye to his district's finances. It hadn't been pretty.

"The thing that has been most discouraging to me about this job has been my inability to resolve the legal and political conflict that has surrounded the creation of the district," Doty says as he nears the parking lot of Willow Springs Elementary School. "I wasn't na?e when I came into this. I knew there would be a lot of conflict and friction to deal with, but I guess I had maybe a little more hope than I now have that I would be able to play some role in settling that down and resolving it."

Still, as he opens his car door to the sounds of children laughing and stomping around on the playground, Doty can't help but hope that things will get better. Besides, there's plenty more to worry about than his feelings.

As a superintendent who came to the job uncharacteristically and almost unintentionally, Doty draws criticism from some principals about his minimal teaching background. He draws skepticism from some parents with his innovative education policies and resentment from others as the representation of one district that took money from another.

Yet Doty is pragmatic and optimistic. His unique background frees him from the entrapment of the status quo, and while he doesn't intend to be a superintendent all of his days, he's embraced his job with passion. He feels the weight of his fledgling district's success or failure sits squarely on his shoulders. It makes him tense.

Back in the school, Doty sits in a room full of 5-year-olds puckering their faces like yellow lemons then leaping and bending their bodies into little bananas. It relaxes him a little, watching the children laughing and the teachers caring. He chuckles at how cute the kids are.

He needs mornings like this to get him through the day.