February 2025, Part Two

Excerpt from Chapter 3

Photo Description: This is ChatGPT’s graphic representing, “Midwest USA.” It seems like there needs to be some catching-up to what Midwest USA actually looks like these days….

February 2025, Part Two

Below is an excerpt from Chapter 3. It’s two parts of the beginning combined together…I would love to hear your thoughts or feedback in the comments!

Tulla Unified School District is one of 16 public school districts located in Bogan County in the Midwest, USA. There are a total of 21,000 students in 27 schools from PreK-12^th grade. It serves a 36-square-mile area of suburban and rural communities about 15 miles north and west of the downtown.

Bogan County's fast growth rate is due in large part to its location immediately north of downtown, coupled with the city's rapid expansion northward. Most of the growth has been residential, but large employers have also changed Bogan County from a bedroom community into a community where citizens can live and work in the same general vicinity. This has transformed the county over recent years into a dynamic, self-sustaining community with less dependency on its large city neighbor. Major retail and commercial developments began appearing from 1999 to present. Two new colleges and two new hospitals have opened since 2015. Another significant factor has been the opening of toll roads, which have made the County more accessible to its major city neighbor.

In the last census, there were 599,600 people residing in the county. The racial makeup of the county was 55% White, 6.3% African American, .30% Native American, 8.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, .50% from other races, and 5.5% from two or more races. About 24.2% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. In the county, the age distribution was 28.7% under 18, 11.9% from 15 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.9% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years.

Bogan County has been a swing county since the late 2010s. It was once a solidly Democratic county. In the 1976 election, it voted for President Jimmy Carter. In subsequent years, the county became increasingly Republican, following a pattern like those of other suburban counties in the state. However, the county narrowly swung Democratic in 2020 and then narrowly swung back into the Republican column for the 2024 election.

The Four Frames

Bolman and Deal’s (2017) Four-Frame Model is used in organizational leadership to help leaders analyze and approach complex situations from multiple perspectives. The four frames—structural, human resource, political, and symbolic—offer distinct ways of understanding organizations and guiding leadership decisions. Using Bolman and Deal’s Four-Frame Model, here’s how each frame can help understand Tulla Unified School District (TUSD) within the broader context of Bogan County.

The political frame highlights competition for resources, funding, and influence. Given Bogan County's swing political status, there may be shifting priorities in education policy, funding allocations, and curriculum debates based on changing leadership.