Veteran PUSD Education Foundation Board Member Tapped as New Leader

Dave Klever talks about new role as president of the Prescott Unified School District Education Foundation Board of Directors over lunch at El Gato Azul Restaurant. (Nanci Hutson/Courier) Dave Klever talks about new role as president of the Prescott Unified School District Education Foundation Board of Directors over lunch at El Gato Azul Restaurant. (Nanci Hutson/Courier)

By Nanci Hutson
Originally Published: August 20th, 2024
The Daily Courier

Veteran PUSD Education Foundation Board Member Tapped as New Leader

If Dave Klever of Prescott has a passion, one fueled by a belief rooted in personal experience, it is all about promoting the value of public education for the benefit of the children residing in the community.

At a time when public education has become something of a lightning rod given divergent political ideologies, Klever said he is all about celebrating the essence of strong public schools: open doors and open-ended opportunities for all children. He is an equal advocate for students focused on attaining academic rigor as preparation for college; for those who wish to engage in career and technical education courses that make them employable upon high school graduation; for those who wish to pursue the military or the few who might decide they wish to become a professional athlete, musician or performing artist.

A parent of two adult sons, Jacob and Brandon, loyal Prescott High Badger graduates, Klever and his wife, Anne, are proud cheerleaders for the Prescott Unified School District. From what they witnessed with their sons, one interested in the arts and music and the other in the Air Force JROTC and engineering type courses, the Klevers witnessed what PUSD offers students despite the limited amount of operational dollars the district receives from state tax dollars.

A software engineer with experience as an adjunct community college professor who since 2008 is the owner/operator of Granite Mountain Computer Services LLC that provides quality testing for products used in higher education, Klever is a long-time community volunteer for organizations that support youth and education. He just completed his first, elected four-year term as Prescottʼs representative to the Mountain Institute Career and Technical Education District and is unopposed for a second term.

And heʼs ready for more.

His latest leadership endeavor is as the board president for the PUSD Education Foundation, an organization for which he has been active with since 2017. He will be filling the role held for the last five years by Jenna James who will continue to serve the board as the immediate past president.

An original volunteer for the foundation started a decade ago, James said she felt the foundation was poised for new leadership as she prepares to lend her leadership expertise to the Arizona Community Foundation of Yavapai County and Dignity Health Yavapai Regional Medical Center.

“Dave has all the right qualities to lead the foundation into the future,” James said, citing his various volunteer board experiences and elected role with the Mountain Institute CTED.
She said he has a keen understanding of the education the youth of this community deserve.
James declares that Klever is the “perfect leader to take the foundation forward as it comes up with its next set of priorities.”

Klever is humbled by Jamesʼ confidence given the enormous role she has played in bringing the foundation to where it is today: a contributor of more than $1 million to the school district since it started before his involvement as an all-volunteer organization.

Praising James for her steadfast commitment to raising the dollars each year needed to provide impact grants to the schools and offer incentive programs for students, faculty and staff, foundation Executive Director Paul Kirchgraber said Klever is viewed as someone board members are confident will be able to follow in her footsteps.

“Dave brings great business skills, community networking and a love for the school district to the role,” Kirchgraber said. “And those are things that you look for in a leader.”

As a mature, thriving foundation, Klever said his role is easy because it is just about building on its successes. He is eager to work with his fellow 15-member board to continue brainstorming how best to make the most impact for the entire PUSD educational community. He, too, is eager to tell PUSDʼs story to those who many not have children in school but benefit because strong schools mean strong communities. Klever said he wants to reach out to PUSD alumni to share their stories about how this district preferred them for the lives they enjoy today.
“The community needs to know what we do,” Klever said.

District Superintendent Clark Tenney regularly thanks the foundation and other loyal donors for not just the money to buy new desks, band instruments, playground equipment, or classroom supplies for teachers, but for their unrelenting appreciation and support for the work PUSD does every day.

Tenney said he is regularly asked how PUSD continues to be a top performing district given its limited resources. The answer is the people of this community who willingly invest their time, talent and treasure into giving that extras support, with the foundation the largest funnel for those additional dollars and programs intended to elevate students and their educators.

“To know we have a group that has our back all the time means a lot,” Tenney said.
Tenney, too, said he is confident the foundationʼs legacy will continue and strengthen under Kleverʼs leadership.

“I donʼt know a finer person,” said Tenney who taught both of the Klever sons and led an 11-day international excursion to Japan that the boys and their parents attended before they graduated. “He is so positive, capable and successful in his business and supporter of our schools.

“What a great family, and a great man. Iʼm happy to work with him as we move forward with the foundation.”

By Nanci Hutson – The Daily Courier
Originally Published: August 20th, 2024