A Conversation with Dr. Samuel Lee

[00:00:05.800] – Steve Barkley
Our guest today on Leaders Learning from Leaders is Dr. Samuel Lee, who has been the superintendent of Bensalem School District in Pennsylvania since 2015. Previously, he served as the superintendent in Bristol Township School District for 5 years. Dr. Lee has held various administrative roles including principal, curriculum director, and director of special ed services. And he’s been a secondary social studies and special education teacher. Welcome, Sam.

[00:00:41.130] – Dr. Sam Lee
Thank you, Steve. It’s great to be here.

[00:00:44.020] – Steve Barkley
Really appreciate you sharing your thoughts and ideas with us. For a starter, would you just talk a little bit about the Bensalem School District?

[00:00:54.190] – Dr. Sam Lee
Sure. We are a community about 21 square miles large or small in southeastern Pennsylvania. We border New Jersey on the east, Philadelphia on the southwest, and the rest of Bucks County all around us. We have approximately 6,500 students. We’re a very eclectic and diverse district. Our community composition also reflects our population. We have an eclectic array of businesses, properties, small industrial and commercial, and we’ve been around for well over 100 years.

[00:01:43.940] – Steve Barkley
So as you look back across your 10 years, what are some of the major changes that took place during that time, and what kind of demands would you say that placed on your leadership?

[00:01:59.530] – Dr. Sam Lee
Well, we’ve experienced and gone through a massive renovation and construction at our high school. That was— oh, it began over 10 years ago and culminated in 2017-18 school year. We’ve also, in alignment and in consideration of our renewed and advanced physical plant, adjusted our high school curriculum and program of studies. We offer career and academy pathways for all 2,200 students at Bensalem High School. They’ve been remarkably well subscribed and successful. So the space was renovated and renewed to reflect our academic aspirations, and our kids have taken full advantage of it in the last 10 years. So we’re awful proud of that. Of course, education is constantly in flux related to what the world requires and demands of our kids. We try minimally to keep pace. On a good day, we try and get out in front of some of these trends that society in the world asked of our students and kids and, quite frankly, our community. So we’re forever and always evolving with the mindset to do absolutely what’s best for our kids and provide what the community and kids deserve.

[00:03:34.110] – Steve Barkley
Talk a little bit about what that does pressure-wise to the person sitting in the superintendent’s chair?

[00:03:42.970] – Dr. Sam Lee
Well, there’s certainly the resource appropriation allocation to support – everything we want. That is forever with me, and I suspect my colleagues across the country and educators across the world. There are the requirements and demands that the world puts on us to produce the next whatever. I often wake up thinking about the class of 2044, the kids who were born today in Bensalem that will graduate in 2044, how we prepare for them, how we accommodate them, how we advance their aspirations and goals and ambitions, as well as their families. So that’s a remarkable challenge. Unfortunately, I don’t have a crystal ball to help me along here.

[00:04:39.910] – Steve Barkley
That’s a powerful vision. Having been a superintendent in a district for more than 10 years, you’ve passed the average number of years that generally tend to go with the superintendency. I wondered if you’d talk a little bit about what some of the elements are with board and staff and community relations that promotes longevity?

[00:05:14.450] – Dr. Sam Lee
Sure. First and foremost, I’ve been blessed to serve remarkable communities. Relationships, Steve, you said it, that’s key. And I think authenticity. I don’t often reflect back into myself about my modus operandi or how I present or conduct myself. Relationship building and maintenance have come rather natural to me. I enjoy being around people. It’s what attracted me to the profession, being around young people, managing and working with them. Helping them along. And for what it’s worth, they taught me more than I think I gave to them. And that goes for a community. I happen to live in where I work. My children, all 7 of them, they’re all adults now, have graduated from Bensalem High School, K-12 all along the way. But the relationships are key. With the student, you have a 13-year relationship, maybe more depending on how your programs are structured. And that’s so important to me to know the community, know who you’re in service of, and develop and keep those relationships. There’s a lot to this job, and I know we’re going to talk a little bit more about it. But in my mind, it’s relatively simple.

[00:06:53.960] – Dr. Sam Lee
And this is how I break it down. Parents and community just want to know if they can trust you, if you’re in it together, and they can count on you to be there for their kid. And that’s how I live and that’s how I work.

[00:07:12.490] – Steve Barkley
How about relations with staff?

[00:07:17.460] – Dr. Sam Lee
Very important. They need to have our support. My job is entirely to provide the optimum environment for them to apply their craft. I’m proud to say, in Bensalem Township, our teachers want for nothing. As far as their professional commitment and the ability to do their job. That’s very important to me. It’s very important to our board. It’s very important for our community. And a lot goes into those relationships. I mentioned the tenure of the average student in Bensalem Township School District. The tenure of a staff member far surpasses 10 years of most superintendents. So you’re 30 to 35 years in a good career. And I recognize how hard our staff works, the commitment that they have, and how all-consuming and encompassing their work and day-to-day can be. I respect that. I did their work. Some days I miss it. Some days I’m I’m just in awe of what happens in the classroom. I really am. And I tell them that. I let them know how respected they are and how important they are. And I let them know I can help them if they need help, or I’ll try to help them.

[00:08:53.880] – Dr. Sam Lee
And I appreciate when they try and help me or help me. I think my tenure helped me advance and develop relationships professionally and personally. So what may come as a difficult task or a challenge to people who are not as far along in their career as I at one place, it comes easy to me. I like being in the schools. I like being around our team and I have a great team I work with in our administrative office. They’re talented, they’re committed, they support our kids. And if you do that, you’re good by me.

[00:09:39.660] – Steve Barkley
I have to say that as I listen to you say that you like it, I get the strong message that that shows.

[00:09:49.750] – Dr. Sam Lee
I hope so. Yeah. My job, it can be very challenging and difficult some days, but there’s an incredible amount of joy that comes with it, as there is when I was a classroom teacher or a high school principal.

[00:10:10.070] – Steve Barkley
Yeah. Thinking about superintendents across the state and across the country now, what do you see as a couple of the common challenges that they’re needing to address?

[00:10:27.190] – Dr. Sam Lee
Oh, that’s a fantastic question. How much time do we have? [laughter]

[00:10:31.850] – Steve Barkley
Well, go ahead, I’ll let you know. [laughter] If you give a hint with the problem, that’ll be even better. Let’s talk about a couple problems and a couple of thoughts that you have.

[00:10:46.220] – Dr. Sam Lee
Okay. Resources are first and— not first and foremost, they’re top of mind right now, especially in Pennsylvania. It’s budget development season. Harrisburg’s putting together their numbers for next year. We’re doing the same in Bensalem Township. The cost of what it takes to properly do our job and remain committed to our mission and role continues to go up as it does across most sectors and places. We’re a labor-intensive environment. We talked about staffing and people a few minutes ago, and our teachers and staff and those who support our children, they deserve what they get and they cost money, to put it simply, and the money comes from our community. Now, I’m fortunate to have served and worked in places that rate their schools and take care of their kids, but there’s not an infinite pool of resources to support what we do, and you combine that with the requirements and demands that are before us that we need to attend to. And most of them make great sense. They really, really do. But they require time and resources to move and advance. And our resources aren’t infinite. They’re very finite. We— most of what we have is accounted for.

[00:12:31.830] – Dr. Sam Lee
Through our required requirements and some of the mandates. And it all makes sense, Steve, because the more of us you have with kids, I think the better the outcomes are going to be. The more we’re able to bring out the best in them and support them when they’re not at their best. And that goes for all of us too. That goes for everybody in our in our sphere. So resources are continuing to challenge us to move our missions. I think the additional requirements, which are obviously connected to the resources, keep coming. I think the world doesn’t make it easy for children these days, and I’ll talk about social media a little bit if I could.

[00:13:26.400] – Steve Barkley
Yeah, please.

[00:13:27.690] – Dr. Sam Lee
Yeah, can be a distraction. It can be a tool to help people get along, but the question is how and where and who manages it. I know in Pennsylvania, that there’s a big push to ban cell phones in school. I’m not sure where I’m at with it professionally. I think again they can, you know, devices can be a tool. We put devices in all our kids’ hands. We give them Chromebooks. Every student in Bensalem Township has a device. So part of our charge and responsibility is to help them use it responsibly. And it doesn’t stop at the school door, right? Responsibility is a 24/7 thing. So that’s a significant challenge. The evolving nature of what we provide for our kids through way of content and curriculum is also a challenge. I think in an aspirational sense, we could probably provide more content for our kids, but there’s only 7.5 hours in a school day. And when we do not provide what the world thinks we should, we often get challenged by it. But that’s okay. That’s what we do.

[00:14:58.450] – Dr. Sam Lee
And we absolutely do the best we can all day, every day. So resources, curriculum, program, and maintenance of people. It’s no secret that our educational pipeline is not what it used to be. In Pennsylvania, our colleges are producing 1/5 the amount of certificated professionals as compared to 15 years ago. And finding people in high content areas and demand and disciplines is very, very hard. Special ed, sciences, chemistry, physics, math. Now, we’re fortunate in Pennsylvania, we’re in Southeast especially, we’re a very attractive place to work if you’re going to be a teacher. And so it hasn’t bottomed out in our district or our county yet, but if this trend continues with less interested aspiring professionals, especially in those areas, we’re going to be in a lot of trouble shortly. And I know districts across the country are further along that continuum than we are. And I certainly wish them the best. And if I could make a plug for our profession, there’s no greater calling and no greater job. I’m not going to be doing this forever. I’ve had a great run and a joyful run and that will be my call to anybody who wants to do this job.

[00:16:41.740] – Dr. Sam Lee
I have a daughter who’s a teacher. She’s pre-K— not pre-K, K-1 and 2 at a neighboring district. She’s 10 years into her career now, still loves going to work every day. I’m excited for her in that. And I have another daughter who is an an aspiring school psychologist in graduate school now. So the other 5 I couldn’t talk into being educators.

[00:17:07.540] – Steve Barkley
You got a phrase or 2 you might hit us with – how you see school systems dealing with the AI question out there now?

[00:17:20.850] – Dr. Sam Lee
Oh yeah, it’s something I should have responded to in the last question, Steve. Thanks. It’s a thing, it’s here. We use it for legitimate academic purposes. We encourage our students to leverage it to advance their academic connections and progress. But we all know there’s incredible amount of risk associated with it. It comes with being responsible with technology and with the internet and being aware of your sources. And we provide those resources and support for our kids too. But it’s a thing. It’s going to become more and more prominent, and we’re managing it. We certainly have a policy to accommodate it. We have guidelines we’ve published, and I think where the rubber hits the road is in the classroom with the teachers and the students and facilitating and supporting proper, appropriate use of AI. It can be a remarkable tool. As I mentioned, I use it. I assume most of my colleagues use it in one way, shape, or form. But it also could cross over into the nefarious if left unchecked.

[00:18:45.880] – Steve Barkley
Yeah, it’s back to the earlier comments that you made about the whole technology element.

[00:18:54.000] – Dr. Sam Lee
Yeah.

[00:18:55.180] – Steve Barkley
How do you educate? I did a blog a little while back on a couple of people that have actually started a business of running events where you’re not allowed to bring your cell phone. So it might be music in the park, you know, or a picnic kind of thing, but people are actually paying to buy a ticket to go to this place.

[00:19:23.150] – Dr. Sam Lee
Really?

[00:19:23.740] – Steve Barkley
Not allowed to take their cell phone in. They actually spent 2 hours listening to music at a concert and nobody’s got their phone out recording it. So learning our own skill set is going to be a necessary piece for all of us.

[00:19:43.770] – Dr. Sam Lee
Oh, there’s no question about it. We could continue this conversation and I’m going to be honest, I just glanced over my phone. [laughter]

[00:19:56.290] – Steve Barkley
[laughter] Yeah.

[00:19:57.430] – Dr. Sam Lee
So, it impacts and affects all of us, but I think it comes down to the personal, individual, and if we can support the personal and individual appropriate use of everything that’s available to our kids in our community through instruction and support, I’m all for it.

[00:20:18.550] – Steve Barkley
Yeah, I’m going to add one word to that: modeling.

[00:20:22.310] – Dr. Sam Lee
Yeah, right.

[00:20:23.190] – Steve Barkley
Such as support and modeling, it becomes a critical part. Yeah.

[00:20:27.750] – Dr. Sam Lee
Yes, absolutely.

[00:20:29.880] – Steve Barkley
So when I was doing my homework, looking in a little bit to your background, I saw quite a few connections you have with soccer and with coaching. And so I was making a guess that there’s a coaching element into your leadership practices.

[00:20:51.440] – Dr. Sam Lee
Well, I’ve been told that, Steve. Some people just call me the coach in our cabinet. There is. I think you have to bring elements of planning and preparation and focus that coaching and playing requires to the work that we do. Definitely, there’s an application – direct and significant application to teach. And I used to do my planning just like I would do coaching sessions. And I would execute along the same lines as well. Feedback is important. Honest, authentic feedback is helpful. And the whole purpose is to get people better, be better today tomorrow than you are today. And know that there’s going to be tough times. You expect it, you anticipate it, you don’t hope for it. But when those times hit, you have the resilience and the energy to keep moving on. And I’m sure you’ve heard this – when you’re failing, you’re learning, right? And failure is never more apparent in athletic competitions. One team or one person wins, the other doesn’t. And you got to come back the next day and get ready to play the next game. Unfortunately, in education with our students and with ourselves, you have – if you break it down to yearly cycles, you have 180 days for kids, right?

[00:22:35.400] – Dr. Sam Lee
You just got to move a little bit every day. And you have, for us, 260 days or 189 in our case for teachers. So just make sure you make that aggregate incremental progress on a bad day. And on a good day, you maybe get a little more, knowing that at some point you’re not going to get as much. Does that make sense?

[00:23:00.560] – Steve Barkley
Yeah. Well, the phrase that I use with teachers is your best year of teaching is in front of you.

[00:23:07.460] – Dr. Sam Lee
Yeah, that’s great. I like that.

[00:23:10.440] – Steve Barkley
You know, if you’re looking back towards your best years, then it’s probably time to be moving on.

[00:23:18.140] – Dr. Sam Lee
I absolutely agree with you.

[00:23:19.730] – Steve Barkley
I think wherever you failed last year, you learned. That’s what should make you better this year.

[00:23:23.740] – Dr. Sam Lee
Sure. Yeah, I wholeheartedly agree with that. I think it takes 8 to 11 years to become a really, really good teacher. I did that 11 years in the classroom. And I was definitely better year 11 than I was year 5 or 6. And I think the first 2 years are overwhelmingly challenging for our teachers. And that’s where we try and focus and provide the most support. Because when we engage a professional, we want to keep them. I always, historically, have the last interview for contract positions. Any contract position in our district. And we have over 500 teachers, but if we hire 40 in a year, I meet all 40. And I just want to make sure that I’m recommending to our board and ultimately our community someone who is going to keep their kids in a good spot, in a good way, for a long time. It’s a 30-minute conversation that represents 35 years.

[00:24:33.490] – Steve Barkley
Before we look at closing out, Sam, I wondered if you’d have some thoughts to share with people who might be listening to this podcast who are at the start of their superintendency or their central office people thinking about or putting the interviews out for that superintendent role. Thoughts that you would offer those people at the start of this? Doing my own guessing, I’m guessing that when you were working as a building administrator and different roles in a central office, you learned a lot, but that step into the superintendency puts you into a spot that you didn’t get a chance to practice for. At least that’s my guess. Am I at all accurate there?

[00:25:26.900] – Dr. Sam Lee
That’s a fair guess, Steve. There are things that I’ve encountered in this role that I never expected to encounter, but for those aspiring to it, I recommend it. It really, really is a great job. You have remarkable and phenomenal impact on kids, community, county, in our case Commonwealth, and ultimately country. You’re growing the next generation of of citizens, and you’re doing it not in the most direct of ways, but the influence and effect you have can be remarkable. Learn as much as you can about as much as you can. That was helpful to me. I had a number of great mentors in this profession and field, people who developed confidence in me, and gave me opportunities even when I think I wasn’t deserving or when I thought I wasn’t interested. I was fortunate that way. I tried to pay it forward my entire career. And it’s— it really and truly is a great job, but it requires a lot of technical skill or awareness, and it requires a lot of relational skills. And patience is another thing that I think is incredibly important. And what a colleague shared with me long ago as a superintendent don’t run to a problem.

[00:27:14.190] – Dr. Sam Lee
Most problems you’re not in the best position to sort through or fix. If it gets to you, then you lend support and advice and counsel. But 90% of the things that happen all day, every day in Bensalem, I’m certainly interested, but they get resolved without my influence and some would say interference.

[00:27:38.670] – Steve Barkley
That’s a powerful though

[00:27:41.800] – Dr. Sam Lee
It’s hard because you want to, you know…

[00:27:45.560] – Steve Barkley
Yeah, I get it. Time is on your side is not an easy thing to think through. And it says belief in the people in your organization too.

[00:28:03.610] – Dr. Sam Lee
Well, thank you. Yeah. And I have great confidence and trust in the people that – my colleagues, our colleagues, and the people I work with. And community. They’re remarkable people, and they only want what’s best for their kids – the same thing I want.

[00:28:24.080] – Steve Barkley
I was just going to say that I’m hearing loud and clear that’s what you want it too. So that’s a powerful message. Well, Sam, thanks so much. If a listener wants to follow up with you with a question or extend the conversation some, what’s the best way that they might be able to get connected with you?

[00:28:43.510] – Dr. Sam Lee
Yeah, they can email me, slee@bensalem.org. And I am connected to my email. I know we talked a lot about technology. That’s a tool that I take full advantage of. And I love learning from people and getting to know people. I enjoy that. It’s helpful for me, and I hope at some levels helpful for others who are connected.

[00:29:20.720] – Steve Barkley
Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

[00:29:26.170] – Dr. Sam Lee
Thanks, Steve. I enjoyed being with you today. Appreciate it.