Stanley Ellis will be leaving his position as superintendent of Columbus Municipal School District at the end of this school year.
During a roughly 90-minute executive session on Monday, Ellis told the board of trustees he would be resigning to take a new position as interim superintendent for the Humphreys County School District.
The State Board of Education on Thursday approved Ellis’ new contract with HCSD, clearing the way for him to begin the new role in July. Soon after, Ellis sent trustees his official resignation.
Looking back on his nearly two-year tenure, Ellis feels confident he is leaving the district in a better place than he found it.
“I’ve been working with a good group of people around me, and we’ve been able to put the district in a place where it’s never been,” he told The Dispatch on Thursday.
Ellis was hired by the board in May 2023 on a three-year contract with a $160,000 salary. The board voted in February to extend his contract by one year with the same salary, setting it to expire in June 2027.
The main motivator in his decision to leave, Ellis said, is a desire to live closer to family, something he said has been weighing on him since the start of the year.
“My primary reason for an early departure, so to speak, is because my mother is 85, and I want to make sure that I’m in close proximity to her,” he said. “I’ve been going back and forth to the Delta sometimes during the week, and she’s doing well, but she’s not moving like she once did.”
Board President Robert Smith said the board has scheduled a special-call meeting for 5:30 p.m. Monday to consider Ellis’ official resignation. Ellis will remain with the district until June 30, Smith said, giving trustees plenty of time to find an interim superintendent.
Smith said he will be sad to see Ellis go, telling The Dispatch he’s done an “excellent job” in the district.
“We really enjoyed working with him as a board,” he said. “We didn’t always agree, but we could agree to disagree and move on about the business of the district because it’s about the students here. … (Ellis resigning) wasn’t anything dealing with the board or he was forced out or anything of that magnitude.”
As superintendent, Ellis has seen the district through the beginning stages of multiple major initiatives, specifically the district’s successful campaign to pass a $36 million bond issue for facility upgrades and the ongoing shift to grade span learning with the subsequent closure of two elementary schools.
The district in 2024 also jumped from a C to a B accountability rating from the state during Ellis’ tenure. He believes the district is in a good position to sustain that success.
“The district is moving in the right direction,” Ellis said. “Based on the data point that we had at the third nine weeks – if it all plays out on the state test – the district still should be a B. We’re in a really good place.”
Smith said the board will focus on maintaining that momentum as they begin the search for an interim superintendent.
“Our focus now is on ensuring a smooth transition and maintaining the stability of the district,” Smith wrote in a statement to The Dispatch. “We are confident in the strength and resilience of our staff, who remain dedicated to the success and well-being of every student. The trustees are committed to continuing our work with transparency, purpose and unity as we move forward.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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