Parents and guardians of Columbus Municipal School District students want a superintendent who is open to new ideas, listens to concerns and responds in a timely manner.
That was the upshot Thursday night in the Joe Cook Elementary auditorium, where 40 attended a meeting specifically for parents, grandparents and guardians as part of the search process. Tommye Henderson, superintendent search manager with Mississippi School Boards Association, led the discussion, following a day of meetings with separate departments in the school district.
“The school board wanted input from as many stakeholder groups as possible, and in the past, sometimes the parents have been meeting with community and business,” Henderson told The Dispatch. “… When you meet sometimes with the community and the business, (the parents’) view gets overshadowed, so the board is valuing the parents’ input greatly. … In all of the searches I’ve done, and I’ve done over 55 searches in seven years, I’ve never met with the transportation department, with the (information technology) department, then we had the food service group individually. So, I’ve never had the opportunity to hear their voices.”
MSBA was chosen by the district board of trustees in January to lead the search for the next superintendent after the abrupt departure of former-Superintendent Cherie Labat in August.
Since September, Dennis Dupree has served as interim superintendent and will be replaced by current Assistant Superintendent Craig Chapman, who will serve in that role until June 30 or until a new full-time superintendent is hired.
Henderson asked those in attendance strengths of the district, areas of growth, important characteristics in a superintendent and more. She said the questions are the same for the various groups, and the answers will be turned over to the board of trustees to aid them in their search.
Among the teachers, maintenance staff, I.T. and other staff she interviewed earlier in the day, openness and respect of all stakeholders were common themes.
“What I’ve heard from each one of those groups was great pride in their work for students,” Henderson said. “I think that they’re willing to accept a new leader, but they have some ideas that, if the new leader will listen, will maybe streamline their work processes they have and also bring some recognition to the hard work that they’re doing.”
A few in the audience let Henderson know how they would define success after a year of a new superintendent being in office. The comments included improving stakeholder morale, stemming employee turnover, filling vacancies, reducing the dropout rate and boosting community and parent involvement.
Cora Williams-Moore, a mother of three CMSD students, said she tries to come to all meetings the district holds that are open to the public and believes, as a parent, it is her duty to have a say in her children’s schooling.
“(The new superintendent) is going to have to be versatile,” Moore said. “They’re going to have to come in with an open mind. They cannot come in with a closed mind. I want to see them come in and make positive changes in the school system for our kids and not just be for the numbers. … You’ve got to be about the kids, the employees, the parents. You’ve got to be about the community in general, and you can’t be about what you want. If that person doesn’t have that mentality, it’s not going to work at all. Come in with a positive attitude and an open mind.”
In 2019 MSBA recognized CMSD for its efforts to involve the community in its superintendent search that led to Labat’s hiring. Board president Telisa Young said the district is conducting this search the same way.
“I think we are doing it the same way because it is an organized and open process with input from many stakeholders,” Young told The Dispatch.
MSBA opened an anonymous public survey on Friday for anyone in the community with a vested interest in the success of CMSD to complete, and it will close March 24. The survey is available on the MSBA website, msbaonline.com, and through links posted on the CMSD Facebook and Twitter pages.
The survey has six questions, which are the same questions Henderson is asking the focus groups with one additional question.
“There’s one additional question we don’t ask in public, but it’s an opportunity for you to bring up anything that you might be concerned about,” Henderson said. “It says, ‘What issues or challenges should the search consultants be aware of?’ So there’s an opportunity to put that on the survey.”
There will be another public meeting at 6 p.m. March 27 in the Cook auditorium for community members and business owners to attend, and earlier that day private meetings among other district personnel will be conducted.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 46 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
