His job is helping small California school districts with their unique needs

Tim Taylor, executive director of the Small School Districts Association.

Credit: Jay-Ar Ignacio

The Covid-19 pandemic, wildfires, floods — California’s schools have faced it all over the past few years, with rural communities, due to their remote locations, higher rates of poverty and limited access to resources, often facing the brunt of it.

Tim Taylor’s role as the executive director of the Small School Districts’ Association has been largely defined by these events. The SSDA works to address the unique needs of small school districts, most in rural areas, with an average daily attendance of 2,500. Formed in 1983, the SSDA began with 23 districts and now represents 538 — two-thirds of the state’s small districts and more than half of all districts. It also counts as members 38 of the 58 county offices of education.

Prior to taking on the position in 2019, Taylor served as superintendent of Butte County Schools. He remembers sitting in his home during the 2018 Camp fire — the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in the state’s history — and feeling helpless to assist his community.

Rural communities have continued to face wildfires and other natural disasters, like floods, since then, like the August Complex and Dixie fires in 2020 and 2021, respectively. But Taylor said he’s proud of how the SSDA has been able to improve the network of small schools over the years by connecting them to share plans and ideas, so that when disaster strikes, there’s a sense of unity.

“During every crisis, people rise up, and we became a much better interactive leadership group,” Taylor said.

Though the pandemic brought unique struggles to smaller school districts, Taylor recognized the benefits, too, citing it as the reason more small school districts are now connected, despite the distance.

“Zoom was like this magical thing that said, ‘It doesn’t matter if you live in Imperial County or San Diego, or Humboldt,’” Taylor said. “’We are one, and we are going to be family — we’re going to get through this together.’”

Taylor himself didn’t grow up in a small, rural area. Rather, the son of two teachers, he grew up in Santa Clara County as part of a blue-collar community. His childhood was defined by watching his parents and grandparents. He vividly remembers sitting on the back of a 1955 Chevy watching his grandfather working in his shop as sweat beaded on his brow as he reupholstered classic cars. 

He said his community and family planted the roots for his interest in smaller, rural communities.

“I always had this affinity to help out people that needed it,” he said.

After high school, Taylor attended Chico State, where he played basketball, and through traveling to games across the northern part of the state, began to see the smaller, rural communities outside the Bay Area.

Post-college, he began working in alternative education and spent time educating in a maximum security juvenile hall. From there, he taught in the Elk Grove Unified School District, before moving on to become assistant superintendent at the Sacramento County Office of Education, focusing on juvenile court school and assistance for homeless and foster youth.

“That’s where I really caught on with the rural and frontier world and saw these huge equity gaps. And I go, ‘I’m going to fight for these people until I retire,’” Taylor said.

Taylor was superintendent of Butte County Schools from 2012 to 2019, and while there, was a member of the SSDA board from 2014 to 2018. When the former executive director retired and the position opened, Taylor saw it as a natural fit.

Besides supporting superintendents in their work, Taylor said his favorite part of his job is visiting small school districts across the state. 

“They’re so proud of their school,” he said. “The kids love it. Everyone knows everyone.”

Taylor’s education career has been characterized by trying to close equity gaps, and he’s sought to continue that work at SSDA. He said the focus for small schools in California should especially be transportation and facilities. Districts compete for state funding to improve their facilities, a model that has hurt smaller districts that can’t keep up with the size and resources of bigger districts.

Another focal point for Taylor is including more youth decision-making in California’s network of smaller schools.

“We usually don’t use youth voices very well, especially in rural frontier [areas], and when they do it’s very, very localized. … I think bringing in children who really want to make a difference is powerful,” he said. 

Taylor said one of his major concerns still relates to the effects of the pandemic and natural disasters that have defined the past few years for many small school districts. 

Though some small school districts thrived in the pandemic, others experienced declining enrollment and extreme understaffing, and rural districts have had to evacuate or delay the beginning of the school year due to natural disasters in recent years. Some districts have also seen enrollment drop due to natural disasters. 

“That’s probably my No. 1 issue: How do we still heal?” Taylor said.

Chronic absenteeism has also continued to be a problem for small school districts since the pandemic. According to Taylor, it’s been difficult for kids to bounce back from a more flexible, online schedule to the traditional in-person model. He said this is why education leaders need to be more innovative and consider the “why” behind students missing school. When students have options, like hybrid models, and believe the education they’re receiving is relevant to them, Taylor said, they are often more likely to attend school more regularly.

Despite the issues being faced by small school districts across the state, Taylor said he finds solace in the unity among education leaders.

“When it gets down to pure humanity, we unite greatly,” Taylor said. “We throw everything out the window and go, ‘How are we going to help this little community get through that?’ That’s why I’m very confident.”