School may be out for summer, but the wheels of education keep turning, and for five school districts in southwestern Colorado, things are going to look different come Tuesday morning.
After 32 years in education, Tammy Johnson, the executive director of the Uncompahgre Board of Cooperative Educational Services (UnBOCES), is retiring. Her last day on the job will be Monday, June 30, though Johnson will step back into the role to cover for her successor, former Telluride teacher Brittany Picard, who will be on maternity leave through September.
“I’ve been in education 30-plus years, and she’s one of the most dedicated and knowledgeable individuals that I’ve ever worked with,” Telluride R-1 School District Superintendent John Pandolfo told the Daily Planet of Johnson. “She cares so much. She is absolutely no-nonsense in terms of making sure kids come first. “It’s going to be a huge loss,” Pandolfo added. “Some people are not replaceable.”
Johnson first got into education by earning a degree in music education from Western State College and beginning a classroom teaching career. Her initial experience of working with a student with cerebral palsy in her classroom, along with a lifetime of advocating for disability rights along with her older brother, Michael, who also had cerebral palsy and championed disability rights and accessibility throughout his too-short life, led her to special education, and she got a second degree for that field and ultimately a third in administration, hoping to make an even bigger impact.
Johnson’s advocacy work was essentially a part of her everyday family life growing up.
“When we were in elementary school, Michael couldn’t come to elementary school with us because they didn’t ‘have a program’ for him,” Johnson told the Daily Planet. “That was at the very beginning of special ed law, and schools having to accommodate students with disabilities. In high school, I rode the bus with him every day and helped him with his homework, and I drove him to his therapy appointments as soon as I got my driver’s license. I just really loved that work, loved being with him.”
Tragedy struck during her first year as a music teacher.
“My brother was killed in an accident in Colorado Springs,” Johnson said. “He was crossing the highway where he lived down by Old Colorado City, and he was killed by a bus full of tourists from the Broadmoor. My parents found out by watching the news, because they showed his wheelchair in front of the bus, and his glasses in the gutter, and they knew the intersection, because he had complained to the city multiple times about not having enough time to cross, not having a curb cut, and he protested his whole adult life for access on public transportation. Now there are curb cuts in Colorado Springs, but my brother had to die for that to happen.”
After a stint as the special education director in Fort Morgan, she got the job with UnBOCES and is completing her 12th year serving school districts in Telluride, Norwood, Ridgway, Ouray, and the West End.
“She’s provided stellar guidance for us and the districts in terms of special education,” Pandolfo said. “When I reach out to her, I always get a response, and she always has the answer. She’s an incredible support to superintendents as well as principals as well as special education staff.”
Telluride has 71 special education students, according to Pandolfo, who says all five districts in the UnBOCES would probably come to twice that number of students.
“When I call her (about) a student, she knows who the student is,” Pandolfo said. “She knows the students’ history, and she is coaching and mentoring our special education staff on every single one of them. She has that expertise, and she can be extremely tough when she needs to be tough, but everything she does, she does with love.”
When she thinks of her accomplishments over the past dozen years, the ability of her staff to overachieve and deliver for students is top of mind.
“I’m proud of our team,” Johnson said. “I don’t do anything without my team. They’re the hardest working individuals ever. They’re zealous and they’re driven, and they’re dedicated. And in our small, rural, remote districts, salary is not great, and the hours are long, and you wear multiple hats.”
The ability to wear multiple hats comes from that love of her work that first brought her to education. She has often jumped in to fill teaching needs throughout the five districts, including covering Norwood preschool special ed and West End School District high school and middle school special ed when they didn’t have teachers for any of those posts. Though most of her fellow administrators have classroom experience in their backgrounds, few seem as ready as her to jump back in.
“My colleagues think I’m insane,” Johnson laughs. “We have a lot on our plate (in addition to special education). I also oversee the gifted and talented program, and I run an alternative licensure program that’s not just our five districts, but it includes Montrose and Delta school districts.”
With retirement in sight, she’s ready to trade in boards of education for a paddle board, tooling around Ridgway Reservoir with a fishing pole and a favorite book in tow.
In many ways, her career’s work is a testament to what she learned from her brother and his inspiration in advocating for disability rights and access. She has gone well beyond the district, testifying at the state and federal level about legislation and funding for special needs students.
“The legacy I wanted to leave for my brother is to make things better for other kids so that they didn’t have to face some of the things that he faced,” Johnson summed up. “The key to my success is that I love people. I like to meet people where they are and help them get to where I think they need to be. The bottom line is the kids need to get what the kids need to get.
“That’s what I think I have brought as my brother’s legacy – meet every kid, every family, and every school district where they are, and try to make all of that come together. That’s what I do every day – kicking and screaming!”