One of the three finalists to become Aurora Public Schools next superintendent says he is the right leader to bring cultural change to the community and make APS a destination district.

The school board is expected to make its decision in late April or early May after conducting public interviews with the candidates on April 17. Superintendent Rico Munn is resigning at the end of this year. The three finalists to succeed him are Nia Campbell, APS chief academic officer; Andrew Wright, who runs a consulting agency and previously worked for APS; and Michael Giles.

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Giles could not be reached for comment. But as he underwent school board interviews last week, he laid out a vision for APS that calls for prioritizing equity, leadership and culture, and safety and well-being.

Whoever takes the helm will oversee a district filled with diversity and talented and brilliant people, he said. He also heard loud and clear during community engagement sessions that community members are calling for a culture change in APS.

“I believe that I have the skillset, the aptitude to bring that to this district,” he said.

Giles was born in New York City and went on to live in multiple states as the son of a military father. He has lived in Aurora since 1999 and is the assistant superintendent of equity, culture and community engagement for the Cherry Creek School District.

Giles is the type of leader who is always authentically himself, he said. That’s one way he would strive to build relationships in APS, he said, although he would also seek to be engaged in the district in day-to-day activity.

If selected, Giles would take over a district with students from 130 countries who speak more than 160 languages.

Giles told board members he spent more than a year with his current superintendent holding monthly meetings with parent groups of numerous nationalities to foster more community relationships, he said.

Those efforts revealed parents needed better communication from the district and more timely translations, he said, leading Giles to work with district leadership and the communications team to provide prompt communications to families in whatever translations were needed, he said.

Giles would tackle declining enrollment and revenue in APS by prioritizing the district’s work in ways that avoid unnecessary spending, he said, emphasizing that school district funding is not a unique challenge to APS and that “in this state, we are grossly underfunded, period.”

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He would also explore other revenue streams, such as grant funding or community partnerships, Giles said.

Giles would assess if classroom instruction is being culturally responsive as APS tries to help students meet grade-level standards, he said.

He would look into how professional learning communities are or are not helping teachers analyze students’ performance in real time, rather than waiting for end-of-year data. Giles would also ask if students are being taught the same standards consistently across the district, he said.

Regarding school resource officers, Giles said they are an important part of school security but stressed they are only one component to safety measures.

School districts need to understand an SRO’s role is not as a disciplinarian, he said. A successful SRO will have close relationships with leaders and educators and build relationships with students outside of the context of a student being in trouble.

Giles said having trained officers at schools is important to quicken response times in case of a serious incident.

“We are talking about lives. Every second that ticks, we are talking about lives,” he said.

As superintendent, Giles said he would turn APS into a destination district that is attracting families, recruiting and retaining top educators – particularly educators of color, and a district where students feel valued, represented, and are thriving academically.

The physical and psychological safety of district community members is important to him, too, he said.

“I heard very clearly from staff, students and community members that they want their next superintendent to be fully present, to be fully engaged,” he said.