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Board of Trustees Appoints New Chief Superintendent
Eight years ago, the Board of Trustees of the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) were pleased to offer Gary Strother the privilege of leading CCSD as its next Chief Superintendent. At the time, CCSD taught 49,000 students in 105 schools. We had just under 5,000 employees. Total district revenues exceeded $500M for the first time.
Today, CCSD teaches over 58,000 students in 116 schools. We have over 5,500 staff, and work with a budget of over $623M. We have navigated three changes in provincial government, integrated numerous pieces of legislation that directly impact education, seen three municipal elections that brought forward new board compositions, contributed to a comprehensive provincial curriculum review, and worked to mitigate austere provincial budgets. We have also seen the retirement of Bishop Henry and the installation of Bishop McGrattan. Events like these can test any organization. Under Gary’s leadership, CCSD had not only met these challenges, but has thrived. We thank Gary for his loyalty, commitment, energy, faith and acumen.
With Gary’s retirement, the Board was very pleased to appoint Dr. Bryan Szumlas as our new Chief Superintendent, effective March 1, 2020. With over thirty years of experience at CCSD, Dr. Szumlas has served in numerous capacities, including teacher, principal, supervisor of teaching and learning and director with Instructional Services. Dr. Szumlas is a graduate of the University of Calgary and has made many educational presentations at the local, provincial, national and international levels.
Dr. Szumlas believes that as Chief Superintendent it is crucial to not lose sight of what matters most – the students. He says, “I am honoured to provide administrative leadership to the largest Catholic division in the province. Every recommendation we make must be rooted in the question, ‘How does this impact students in the classroom?’” Dr. Szumlas firmly believes in working closely as a team, valuing each person and that “with God at our side, we can make the necessary and sometimes tough decisions so that Calgary Catholic students can continue to live and learn in our Catholic faith”. The Board wishes Dr. Szumlas all the best as he embarks on this crucial work.
