Interim Superintendent James Johnson-Waldington says the Leflore County School District is better prepared to enter the process of consolidation than any of the previous Mississippi districts where he has served.
“I’ve been superintendent in Hollandale, in West Bolivar County and Montgomery County, and Leflore County is the best situation I’ve been in to make things happen,” he told a small crowd Wednesday at the Greenwood Voters League.
That opinion sometimes raises eyebrows from people, including visitors from the Mississippi Department of Education, who ask Johnson-Waldington how things are going at Leflore — a district that has suffered from failing accountability ratings both before the 2013 state takeover and since.
Johnson-Waldington, the third state-appointed administrator since the takeover, said he’d been told what the problems in Leflore County schools were before he arrived last November, but he said he wanted to see the proof for himself.
“What I found when I got in there was people at every level who were adamant about those kids succeeding,” he said.
“I’m going to put myself on the line and say that we’re going to have successful schools in terms of data over the next year.”
The evening’s discussion centered heavily on the 2019 consolidation of the Leflore County and Greenwood districts, the planning of which is scheduled to begin later this year.
“From my experience with consolidating school districts,” Johnson-Waldington said, “the only way we’re going to be successful is if leadership and the community are all on board.”
Resistance to consolidation has marred the process in some places, he said, emphasizing instead that the community needs to come together to seize the opportunity to improve the schools for all Leflore County children.
“On July 1, the Mississippi Department of Education is going to start handing down mandates,” he said. “We’re going to have to meet those requirements and continue educating our kids at the same time.
“It’s not going to be easy, and if we have fighting and grumbling, it’s not going to work.”
Sen. David Jordan, who vocally opposed consolidation and has only recently acknowledged it is inevitable, offered qualified support for a process he repeatedly characterized as something “forced upon us,” emphasizing that the new unified district will have to fight for adequate resources to avoid failure.
The Greenwood Democrat, who is also the president of the Voters League, said no school buildings will be closed in the consolidation process, although that decision will actually be made by a newly formed consolidated school board, which will take office in January 2019, and the superintendent it hires.
Discussions arose about maintaining optimal classroom sizes, teacher recruitment and retention and discipline problems in the schools, with a roundtable discussion between audience members, many of them educators, the superintendent and Jordan.
Also raised was the need for qualified candidates in county Districts 2 and 3 for the fall election of two school board members. Those newly elected members will join three appointed members of the Greenwood School Board on the new consolidated district board.
Johnson-Waldington offered several morsels of advice as the consolidation process moves forward.
“Grow your own as far as administration is concerned,” he said, indicating that administrators and principals at both the county and city school districts should have their eye on outstanding employees who are ready to move into positions of leadership, rather than hire for those positions from the outside.
Regarding discipline problems, Johnson-Waldington said effective teachers must plan for each individual child’s particular needs.
“Sometimes you start working with that kid who’s causing trouble, and you often find out that kid’s basic needs are not being met,” he said. “We have to be able to deal with those problems on an individual basis.”
Johnson-Waldington offered his idea about what to look for in new school board members as well.
“Choose someone who has a heart for children,” he said, “someone who’s not going to get embroiled in the politics of running the schools.
“You need someone who’s always going to ask, ‘What’s in the best interest of the children?’”
•Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
