“Coming to the corporation office, I found that there are a lot more responsibilities than being a building administrator. I found myself walking the grounds throughout the corporation, walking the buildings throughout the corporation, getting an overall picture of the needs of a corporation rather than the needs of a building. Dealing with vendors, dealing with the insurance trust – just the overall operations of a corporation compared to the overall operations of a building have been a transition for me,” Briles said.
Briles recently attended his first school board meeting as superintendent, and while it’s taking some getting used to, he said he’s eager for the opportunity to show that he can not only handle admirably the role of superintendent, but to prove that he can benefit the community that he calls home.
Briles said he jumped at the opportunity when former superintendent Dr. Steven Disney left the corporation to teach at IU Northwest, and since he obtained his superintendent’s license, Briles said he wanted to take this next step. Since the Oregon-Davis School Corporation has been his home for 11 years, he said it’s like the students and the community are a part of his family. This, he said, gave him a sense of belonging, so he felt like it was a great opportunity to prove himself.
Briles said one of the biggest things that he is tackling is adjusting to the corporation’s budget.
“I think the biggest thing in my role right now that I’m getting adjusted to is the overall budget of the corporation and getting a better understanding of where we’re spending our money, how we’re spending our money, and trying to adjust ways that we can monitor and adjust the spending to help save some of the money that we’ve spent in the past,” explained Briles.
Tim Pletcher will take the role of high school principal in Briles’ wake. For Pletcher, a former teacher at South Bend Washington, this will be his first stint in administration.
