Read Transcript:

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Jeff Kubiak: good morning, everyone, or good afternoon, wherever you are.

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Today I am joined by the amazing Katie Hilton, Director of Business Support Services for San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, and the newly crowned president of CASBO.

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I am Jeff Kubiak, and I am your host today, and we are very excited to, uh, have our friend, Katie.

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Welcome, Katie.

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Katie Hylton: Thank you so much for having me, Jeff.

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It’s nice to be here.

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Jeff Kubiak: Oh, I’m so excited.

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So today’s conversation we’re gonna explore, uh, Katie’s leadership journey, get to know her a little bit and how she personally defines radically student center, and dive into her passion and why she does what she does.

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And, um, really excited.

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So maybe, um, a little bit of a walk through your journey and, and how you became to the place you are today.

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Katie Hylton: Sure.

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Well,

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you know, everyone kind of says, “We mean to be in school business.” It was an accident and, uh, certainly that was my case.

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I am an animal science major.

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I went to UC Davis and was gonna work in the field of veterinary med, uh, moved to a small town with my first husband, so he could see me and then I, I needed work.

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So, uh, I went to the local school district and they said, “Well, you could either be as, as a teacher or as clerical staff.” I’m like,
“Oh, I, I can’t talk in front of people, so good luck for the next hour or so.” But, um, so I ended up subbing, subbing as clerical.

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And, um, you know, worked my way up.

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I started as a three and three-quarter hour attendance clerk at Hinkley.

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You know that Hinkley with the whole Erin Brockovich thing?

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Um, my kids went to Hinkley School and, uh, was lucky to l- uh, land in the warehouse full-time at, at Barstow Unified School District.

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And, uh, I was there for eight years and liked school business and felt that that was where I, I enjoyed being.

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I liked problem-solving and, and, um, having every day be different.

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Some days you could be in the warehouse, some days you could be out delivering, you know, everything.

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It was always a, a new experience and so worked my way from there into purchasing at, in the neighboring small school district and, um, and really that’s where I found my passion for working in school facilities.

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I was… They didn’t have a facilities department, so the maintenance director and myself, we were it, and I learned contract management and how
to go on job walks and construction meetings and take notes and write letters, you know, and, uh, and deal with all of the aspects of facilities.

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So- Built a couple of schools at, at, uh, at Fort Irwin, as part of a small school district, Silver Valley Unified.

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And I was there for 18 years and really thought I was gonna stay there.

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I was in operations, supervising, um, M&O facilities and a- came open and, and because of the many different hats I wore, um, I had… I didn’t think I was gonna be experienced enough, but I, uh, I came and they hired me, and I’ve been here since 2017.

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Jeff Kubiak: That’s an amazing journey.

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So when, when you reflect back and think of either maybe what are a few specific moments or one or two people that are the specific mentors to help you shape your leadership style, where, where do you, where does that kind of pop?

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Katie Hylton: Yeah, you know, first it was at, it was at Barstow and, um, you know, I was just really desperate for full-time work and knew that I needed
to make myself stand out in some way so that I could stand out from the, the field of other people applying for j- for the job, a- as a warehouse clerk.

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And so I thought, you know, maybe, I needed to learn more about the warehouse and this gentleman named John Howard, um, was my first mentor, and he taught me everything about the warehouse.

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Taught me about first in, first out.

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He taught me how to drive a forklift and just really just supported, you know, whatever question I asked, he was there.

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And when I interviewed, I interviewed against 17 other women because it was a clerk position.

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but I was the only one that had warehouse driving… uh, forklift driving experience.

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And so, I think my parents kind of instilled that in me, you know, the good work ethic, doing what you can to, to make yourself indispensable and trying to find those avenues where you can get someone to help support you along the way.

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So John was definitely my first, my first mentor and, um, got me into the field.

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And then, I think my architect, was a huge, a huge, mentor and help when, uh, I was at the small school district at Silver Valley, and all of a sudden we’re gonna build, we’re gonna build a preschool out of portables, 10 portables.

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Sounds like a small project, but for me it was, you know, something obviously I’d never done before.

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and when you’re at a small school district, there’s not a lot of depth in the jobs, and so everyone expects you to be the expert in the field because there’s nobody else that does what you do.

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And so being able to go to my architect and, and ask him questions and, and, uh, just pick his brain all the time and, uh, and there was two or three different architects within that f- that firm, and one who’s still there.

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But, um- You know, they were just resources.

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And then my family at CASBO, reaching out to, um, people that I worked with, um, in committees in purchasing.

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Back in the day it was called purchasing research and development, that we would work on, um, web, uh, workshops for annual conference and, and, uh,
just having those people that I could call on when I had no idea what I was doing, and my district depended on me to know what I was doing, you know?

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So you definitely need to have those resources and those connections, so that, that really helped me along the way.

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Jeff Kubiak: That’s phenomenal.

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Is, uh, John still with us?

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Katie Hylton: No, no.

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Okay.

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Yeah, John retired, gosh, I… You know, I’ve been in the business for 35 years, so Yeah.

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Jeff Kubiak: Well, I was just hoping that if John’s listening somewhere to, uh, pat him on the back because, uh- Yeah

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that’s, that’s a pretty neat step to, uh… Especially, you know, the fork- forklift.

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That really took you over the top in that interview, so that’s kinda cool.

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Katie Hylton: Yeah.

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I think I drove a forklift almost every day for about 25 years.

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I’ve, Coming to the county, they, one, they had a standup forklift, which I was, you know, driving the sit on old propane kind or whatever.

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Um, but they didn’t let me.

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They said, “Oh, you’re not certified for this.” And I’m like, “I’m your boss.

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Are you sure I can’t drive?” so since I’ve been here at county schools, I have not driven a forklift, and I kinda miss it ’cause it’s a little zen moment, you know?

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You can just kinda relax and just get in the moment and…

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But yeah, I digress.

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Jeff Kubiak: Yeah.

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That’s kinda cool.

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I, I drew, I, I had a little experience when I was in high school and college working at a supermarket, like in the, in the way back, right?

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So moving the pallets.

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that, that was definitely interesting.

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l- let’s jump over to your current role at the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools.

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That’s where I’ve had the first, uh, pleasure of meeting you.

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So in your role leading there, you’re making decisions that aren’t always visible to every school, every classroom, et cetera.

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So, like, how do you ensure those operational and financial decisions translate into better learning experience for the students?

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Katie Hylton: You know, Jeff, you’re right.

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I mean, a lot of what we do in business support services is isn’t visible in the classroom.

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Uh, we work in the background behind the scenes to make sure that operations are moving smoothly so that the students and staff aren’t just disrupted or, or disengaged because something isn’t working or because they’re not comfortable.

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I’ve told my crews for many years, “If you are, think that you wanna have a visibility and getting the pats on the backs and, you know,
um, having that, that big moment of, ‘Wow, look at me'”- Business support services and operations is not the place for you You know?

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Usually th- we only get called if there’s a problem, if things aren’t working properly.

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And, and so a lot of those decisions that we make are just trying not to disrupt education.

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And so a lot of those things include keeping a clean, safe, well-maintained facility, because there’s a lot of studies that show that if a student is comfortable, they can focus better on learning, you know?

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They’re not distracted.

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Um, and so we do a lot of things in the background just to make sure that our building envelope is safe and secure.

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y- you know, we want our HVAC systems working properly.

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We want our safe, uh, environment.

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We don’t want trip hazards.

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Uh, we want to have, temperature control, lighting, air quality, all of those things that feed into the comfort of a student and a teacher and her environment so that, the student can focus on what they’re supposed to be doing, you know?

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Again, there’s studies that show that if indoor air quality is poor, the student can be, could get sleepy, they could, you know, not focus properly.

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And so really preventative maintenance, maintenance isn’t, isn’t sexy or glamorous or, uh, you know, nobody’s really excited about when you’re on the roof changing filters or, you know, painting the outside.

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But, uh, you know, all of the building envelope i- in facilities really can help the student have a better success.

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you know, I just got a, a principal request the other day.

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There wasn’t, the, for some reason there wasn’t window treatments in a room- Mm … and the students were getting distracted.

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And then, you know, so it’s like, well, let’s get those in, you know?

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Yeah.

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And then let’s help, help with the temperature in the room.

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Let’s help keep, um, the distractions down.

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You know, if there happened to be, you know, God forbid, some kind of, you know, emergency on campus, you know, let’s have that classroom be able to be locked down, um, and not have people to be able to look in and see what’s going on.

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So just something as simple as that’s really important.

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But again, it’s operational and, and people are more interested a lot of times in the programmatic, you know, the books, the programs, the
learning, the technology and, and, uh, facilities is not as much in the forefront as, as you might think would be important in our field.

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Jeff Kubiak: Yeah.

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But it’s so interesting, Katie, having, you know, myself spent, you know, 25 years working in public schools.

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So if we look at, you know, the school itself as like a glove, you know, what goes in, y- you have to give kudos to the, you know, the purchasing and, um, facilities and operations and maintenance.

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And, you know, you go to a district office, and while most of those people don’t have a touch, of the day-to-day operations within a school, they are- In turn, you know, enhancing the lives and bettering our students too.

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And so I think that often goes unnoticed, but it’s so important and I, you know, I wanna make sure that we do recognize that

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Katie Hylton: I appreciate that, ’cause like I said, it, it doesn’t happen as often as we would like it to, you know?

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But, you know, I mean, it’s, it’s creating that safe, clean, comfortable environment, and it’s also kind of providing equity, right?

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I mean, we’re trying to have each of our schools have the same learning conditions so no matter where the student goes, they have that
same, um, sense of a comfortable, safe, clean space where they can focus on, on what they’re there to do, you know, which is get educated.

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Jeff Kubiak: Yeah, totally.

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And, you know, as a principal, my, my best friends were the custodial staff and the office staff because they got things done for me to help the students and staff, and so that’s, that’s phenomenal.

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You know, when we work with schools at K12, it’s not just about furniture or design, it’s about impact.

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Our radically student-centered approach puts students at the center of every decision.

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From that first conversation to the final walkthrough, we’re focused on creating spaces that actually work for the kids, the teachers, and the community.

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So if you’re looking to do more than just check a box on your next project, let’s talk.

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Visit k12.com, that’s K-A-Y-T-W-E-L-V-E.com, and see how we’re helping schools transform learning one student at a time.

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Because at K12, it’s not just about projects and furniture, it’s about purpose.

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Jeff Kubiak: so one of the neat things about, you know, business services, it can sometimes, like, feel very, you know, let’s call it systems driven, right?

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You got budgets, compliance, operations.

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How do you bring a, a little fairy dust to, to get the human element included there?

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Katie Hylton: You know, I mean, you’re right.

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Everything that we do in business support services and the whole business service branch is really systems driven but, you know, the systems
are there to support people and so it’s, it’s the why of what we do, and sometimes we need to remind people what the why is, you know?

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And so that’s, you know, we wanna try and connect those decisions that we make to a person.

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our, our warehouse staff, you know, we had a piece of adaptive equ- equipment that was, that took a while to get for one of our handicapped students.

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And, um, so, you know, I’m able to call warehouse, say, “Hey, we need to get that in and get it delivered.

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This student needs… They, they can’t move.” I said, “They literally can’t move without this piece of equipment.” And because my warehouse staff goes on
the campuses and they make the deliveries and they see the s- the students, they get the importance and they, you know, they got it out within the day.

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purchasing, sometimes they don’t get that opportunity.

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They’re here in the office, they’re, they’re writing contracts, they’re, you know, creating purchase orders.

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So we really wanna… Any opportunities that come up to involve staff with site visits, you know, uh, we’re- I’m always encouraging them.

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I think they moved it to the weekend, but they used to have a reading rally where they would have it, during the week, and they would ask, you know, reach out and ask for volunteers.

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So a couple years in a row, my whole staff, we went- To the reading rally.

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And, um, I have a, I have a Halloween costume- Mm-hmm … as Cat in the Hat.

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Yeah.

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And so, um, I got everybody the red shirts with Thing One through Thing Nine, and we all went as a team.

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And they got to see students, and some of them were helping in the, uh, in the snack area, and they were, you know, get- putting the straws in the little milk cartons, and some were reading to students, and some were just directing traffic.

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But they were so excited, you know?

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And it’s just whatever you can do to get the staff involved to where they can put that, that face and the name, or, or at least see some kiddos, you know?

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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It, it means a lot.

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Well,

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Jeff Kubiak: I think that’s really important.

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Anyone listening here that is a school leader or a district leader to, to share that because, you know, as a principal, I loved, uh, you know, either World Read Aloud Day or Read Across America, our fundraisers, like the evening family events.

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When you get people from the, you know, the district office or the warehouse facilities to come out there and to be a part of that community, it really helps to strengthen and, and bring that outreach.

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It’s phenomenal.

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I love it.

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Katie Hylton: yeah, like, you know, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, they get to see students just every day.

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Sometimes in the … you know, in the, in the odd procurement.

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we don’t, they don’t get out as much, and so the site visits are really important.

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Um, you know, we’re still trying to follow the rules, trying, you know, trying to fit within the compliance, um, that’s, that’s required and, and do the reporting and all that kind of stuff.

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every now and then it’s really worthwhile.

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But, yeah, the more … You know, I had some groundskeepers at my previous, um, my small district, wanted to do something for the kids.

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They wanted to paint on the football field, uh, the red, the ribbon, like the red ribbon.

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Yeah.

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But they wanted to do the pink ribbon for, the pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness.

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But we couldn’t find a stencil big enough, so, um, so I showed them, showed them how to do the math from, you know, taking, drawing it on a piece of graph paper and then extrapolating it and spraying it on the field.

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And we took a day, and oh, my God, so much pride.

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And, um, the kids loved it, and, and, uh, it just goes a long way to get the, get people out connecting with, you know, the why be- behind what we do.

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Jeff Kubiak: Oh, that’s awesome.

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So you know what?

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So if you look … You know, I know you’ve worked in small districts, large districts.

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So what separates s- districts that simply manage their resources from those that truly leverage them to transform learning environments and student outcomes?

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Katie Hylton: You know, I, a- a lot of it is mindset and a lot of it, I think, is whether you’re kind of being the fireman and you’re
just putting out fires and you’re just managing the day-to-day, or whether you’re more of a forward-thinking, a visionary kind of leader.

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And, uh, and I’ll be honest with you, I’m more of a firefighter in a way.

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I like taking care of issues and problems and figuring out the connections to get people together and take care of that problem.

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Sometimes the visionary… But if some- but if I have a visionary, I can figure out how to get there, right?

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Yeah.

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you know, COVID gave us a lot of lessons and, uh, prov- provided some opportunities for facilities, um, that we might not have always had in terms of funding.

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So at that point, I was like, “You know what?

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Let’s…” I, I, I did try to be a little visionary, but, you know, “Let’s, let’s use some of this money for some of the infrastructure that we can’t normally afford.”

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So, you know, we did things like we put in the touchless, uh, water fixtures, uh, plumbing fixtures, urinals, um, at our school sites and our admin sites, and we put in the, um, the keyless entry, uh, to reduce touchpoints and things like that.

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And so you have to manage your resources in a way because they’re, they’re just getting tighter, so you have to be more creative and, and look at ways that
you can leverage those resources, the ways, uh, how can you think ahead spend every dollar in a way that’s, that’s getting the most bang for your buck.

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Jeff Kubiak: Yeah, mindset matters, that’s for sure.

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so when you hear the phrase radically student-centered, what does that mean to you and what maybe beliefs in your daily work a- align with that?

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Katie Hylton: You know, back in the day, I took, I, I was taking some, professional development classes and classes on the different ways that students learn.

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‘Cause, and, and I think to me, that’s how radically we have to think about educating our students, because not every kid learns the same way.

00:18:55.132 –> 00:18:59.712
You can’t sit, um, a student at the same desk with the same materials.

00:18:59.752 –> 00:19:02.892
You know, some are kinesthetic learners, and they’ve gotta be fidgeting.

00:19:02.892 –> 00:19:05.232
Some, some hear and learn better that way.

00:19:05.232 –> 00:19:06.372
Some need to read it.

00:19:06.372 –> 00:19:27.712
And so I think the ma- the way that we can be creative with our spaces and flexible with our spaces so that we have one space, but it’s serving 20 to 30 students,
and they all have their own different quirks, how is that space, you know, really serving their needs and, and giving them the best educational experience?

00:19:27.712 –> 00:19:33.882
I think that’s, that’s what that means to me, just trying to be creative and, and, um, open-minded.

00:19:34.416 –> 00:19:35.866
Jeff Kubiak: Yes, very well said.

00:19:36.026 –> 00:19:36.696
Very well said.

00:19:37.066 –> 00:19:47.116
So if students were actually in charge of designing schools, what would be the very first thing that would appear in every building in your mind?

00:19:47.688 –> 00:19:48.328
Katie Hylton: Oh my gosh.

00:19:49.218 –> 00:19:50.878
Maybe better food in the cafeteria.

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Not that our nutrition services aren’t doing the best they can, but, you’re gonna see a lot… You know, students wanna feel comfortable.

00:20:01.421 –> 00:20:03.431
Again, they want those flex spaces.

00:20:03.841 –> 00:20:05.691
Um, they want natural light.

00:20:05.961 –> 00:20:11.901
I think they want places where they can collaborate and, um, places where they can decompress.

00:20:11.931 –> 00:20:30.181
You know, I was at a, at a school site recently and they, they’re, um, they got a grant and they’re putting in wellness centers, and it was a beautiful space, and they had like
a water feature, so if a kid just needed to kind of calm down and listen to the water flow, or if they needed snacks because they were hungry ’cause they didn’t get fed at home.

00:20:30.840 –> 00:20:35.660
you know, the more I think we’re gonna… The students would love to see more flexibility.

00:20:35.839 –> 00:20:38.449
and, and we see a lot of that now in the furniture, right?

00:20:38.449 –> 00:20:45.819
We see the height adjustable, we see the, the desks on casters so they can move around into different learning groups.

00:20:46.329 –> 00:20:56.114
And, um, you know, the innovations in school furniture really have been, I think, game-changing, as long as you can figure out how to find and get those in your classrooms.

00:20:56.399 –> 00:20:58.319
you know, again, lighting and air quality.

00:20:58.319 –> 00:21:01.412
A l- a lot of natural light, I think students, prefer.

00:21:01.442 –> 00:21:21.456
You know, when you go and see to, to some of these new modernized schools and you see the kids sitting in these soft seating groupings talking and relaxing and, I think that’s important,
but I also think it, that it’s important that we, we ask our kids what they want because a lot of times we plan it from an adult, mindset or maybe the mindset of how we’ve always done it.

00:21:21.769 –> 00:21:35.561
I know that I’ve learned this over the years, that I need to ask my stakeholders and the end users, “How are you gonna use th- that space?” and,
and try to meet their needs instead of just trying to build the box the way you always built, always built and then see if they can fit into it.

00:21:36.105 –> 00:21:36.445
Jeff Kubiak: Right.

00:21:36.445 –> 00:21:43.588
So why, what’s the importance then of, of getting that student voice or, empowering student agency?

00:21:44.186 –> 00:21:48.956
Katie Hylton: You know, I think the students bring a lot of perspective that we miss as adults, right?

00:21:49.296 –> 00:21:52.926
There’s different cultural experiences, there’s different needs.

00:21:53.526 –> 00:21:55.226
I didn’t grow up it… with social media.

00:21:55.266 –> 00:22:01.716
I don’t know if you did, but you know, it’s, all of the different external pressures that they have.

00:22:01.966 –> 00:22:07.396
I think we need to listen to students because one, they bring value, but also they feel heard.

00:22:07.866 –> 00:22:12.456
And I think it sometimes in that, at that age level, they, they don’t always feel heard.

00:22:12.516 –> 00:22:26.562
And so I think it’s important from an equity aspect, from a, you know, a value per- perspective of let’s, let’s feel, let’s find out what value they can bring to the project, and then they have pride in it as well.

00:22:26.632 –> 00:22:27.882
So I think that’s important.

00:22:28.226 –> 00:22:29.996
Jeff Kubiak: Oh, that’s a perfect, perfect way to end.

00:22:29.996 –> 00:22:36.701
And I, I… You know, it’s funny, like, being Director of Business Support Services seems to undersell really what you do.

00:22:36.701 –> 00:22:47.891
I mean, it’s business, it’s community, um, it’s school, and, you know, it’s, like, all-encumbering, and I, uh, I can’t help but to be blessed and grateful for the great work you’re doing.

00:22:48.621 –> 00:22:49.501
Katie Hylton: Well, thank you so much.

00:22:49.501 –> 00:22:53.031
It’s been very kind of you to have me, and, uh, I appreciate the time.

00:22:53.571 –> 00:22:53.871
Jeff Kubiak: Yeah.

00:22:53.871 –> 00:23:07.851
So, uh, any listeners out there that, um, would like to engage or reflect on the Better Learning Podcast, feel free to, um, write up something, and you can apply to be a guest speaker on this amazing podcast.

00:23:07.851 –> 00:23:09.611
We wanna thank Katie Hilton.

00:23:10.101 –> 00:23:16.551
And if you do like this podcast, please feel free to share it with your friends and neighbors or review and subscribe.

00:23:16.881 –> 00:23:29.941
But once again, Katie Hilton, the Director of, uh, Business Support Services, San Bernardino Superintendent of Schools, our newly crowned president of CASBO, and connect with her everywhere because she’s an amazing leader.

00:23:29.941 –> 00:23:33.931
And Katie, I wanna thank you so much for spending time with us today.

00:23:34.321 –> 00:23:34.911
Katie Hylton: Thank you, Jeff.

00:23:34.911 –> 00:23:35.621
I appreciate

00:23:38.549 –> 00:23:42.969
The Better Learning Podcast is produced by Matt Rogers and edited by Kelly Jones.

00:23:43.679 –> 00:23:53.079
The views and opinions shared on this podcast are those of the individuals speaking and do not necessarily represent the perspectives of their affiliated companies, organizations, or associations