Greater Ozarks Cooperating School Districts (GOCSD) recently expanded membership to Southeast Missouri. With this expansion, GOCSD will represent 100+ school districts and 9 Universities/Colleges in 47 counties representing nearly 147,600+ K-12 students. GOCSD consists of rural, suburban, and urban communities representing districts with enrollments of less than 50 and up to 24,300 students.
To support the growing organization and the 26 committed Southeast Missouri districts, the GOCSD Board recently hired Dr. Julie Flieg. Her main role will be to expand membership in the Southeast Missouri region and to create collaborative opportunities between educators in the two regions. She will create networking and expanded professional learning experiences for both regions, but will have a special focus on the needs of educators in Southeast Missouri.
Dr. Julie Flieg has served the entirety of her approximately 29-year educational career at Ste. Genevieve County R-II School District. Beginning as a student worker in the cafeteria and rounding out her five years as superintendent of schools, Dr. Flieg held a role in every corner of the district. She has served as a guidance secretary and registrar, a teacher’s aide for a special education classroom, a business teacher, class sponsor, club sponsor, assistant principal, a volleyball coach, athletic director, principal, and assistant superintendent before launching her role as superintendent in 2018. Her path through public education has given her a thorough understanding of how each person within the school system supports the success of each student. She has built relationships in all areas, in all departments, and held onto those relationships through the years. This holistic view fuels her passion for supporting faculty and staff at all levels through meaningful, accessible professional development so that they are empowered to help students learn, grow, and achieve success.
During her professional education career, Dr. Flieg served as president of the MAAA Superintendents Association. She has been a member of: the Missouri Association of School Administrators (MASA), the Missouri Association of School Business Officials (MoASBO), the School Superintendents Association (AASA), and the Southeast Missouri Superintendents Association. She also served as the Southeast Executive Board Member of the Missouri Assessment Partnership (MOAP) and on the Missouri Commissioner of Education’s Advisory Panel.
When asked about her new role Dr. Flieg shared, "The opportunity to collaborate with and expand GOCSD in the Southeast Region is exciting, and it aligns with a passion of mine— creating opportunities for educators to network, collaborate and receive high-quality professional learning. I am eager to begin fostering discussions about GOCSD with our Southeast Region’s school districts, the Regional Professional Development Center, area colleges and universities, and any other potential partner in the region. However, I am most looking forward to working with educators to ensure that all of our students in the Southeast Region receive a free, appropriate and high-quality education, and providing educators with the necessary resources, tools and skillsets to support students is paramount to that goal."
GOCSD proudly welcomes Dr. Flieg to her new role!