Dr. Leslie L. Daniels is being remembered as a knowledgeable administrator who empowered his staff during his dozen years as superintendent of the Greenwood School District.
“He was a great superintendent to work with,” said John Johnson, the former president of the district’s school board who worked with Dr. Daniels throughout the superintendent’s tenure.
Dr. Daniels, 78, died suddenly at his Summit home Thursday.
Funeral services will be at 12 noon Saturday in the New Zion Baptist Church gymnasium in Magnolia. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at Young’s Funeral Home in Summit and from 10 a.m. until service time Saturday at the church gymnasium.
“We are really going to miss him. We already are,” said Chiqueta Daniels, Dr. Daniels’ daughter-in-law and the interim principal at Bankston Elementary School.
During his almost 48 years as a Mississippi educator, Dr. Daniels served as a teacher, coach, assistant principal, assistant superintendent and superintendent. He was the first African-American to serve as the principal of McComb High School, as superintendent of the McComb School District and as superintendent of the Greenwood School District.
He came to Greenwood in 1996. Johnson said that prior to Dr. Daniels’ hiring, the school board did “all the research” to be certain they were hiring a competent and skilled school leader. Johnson said Dr. Daniels’ truly fit the bill.
Dr. Margie Pulley, who would succeed Dr. Daniels as superintendent and observed him for seven years as an assistant superintendent, said he was a fair, hard-working man with an abundance of knowledge and wisdom.
“He was a mastermind of school law and expected everyone to do their jobs, and do them well,” said Pulley, now working for the state as interim superintendent of the Tunica County School District.
Dr. Daniels’ most notable accomplishment during his time in Greenwood was the construction of a new middle school.
In 1998, the school district had tried to get a bond issue passed to fund new school construction. When voters rejected the appeal, Dr. Daniels was not deterred, utilizing a newly created state program that allowed the district in 2001 to build an $8 million Greenwood Middle School without a bond issue.
“It was a state-of-the-art school that was designed so that students who walked the halls were in a position to learn,” Johnson said.
Johnson said Dr. Daniels looked for innovative ways to improve the district and surrounded himself with people who could help him carry out these plans. He was always open with his staff and stayed in contact with the school board, Johnson said.
“We used to meet every Thursday morning, and we would talk about various things to stay abreast of new ideas.”
During Dr. Daniels’ tenure, he also established a pre-kindergarten program, began a polymer science program at Greenwood High’s Career and Technical Center, developed a personnel department, made several improvements to the Greenwood High football stadium and raised the district’s academic standing.
At his retirement ceremony in 2008, he said he was most proud of moving the district from a state accountability rating of “underperforming” to one of “successful,” something that was accomplished during his first year on the job.
Dr. Daniels was born in Magnolia on July 9, 1939, and graduated from Pike County Agricultural High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history and political science with a minor in education from Tougaloo College. He later served in the U.S. Army for two years, after which he went to graduate school. He earned master’s and specialist degrees in educational administration from Southeastern Louisiana University. He also earned a doctorate from the University of Southern Mississippi.
He was a member of New Zion Baptist Church and several organizations, including the Mississippi Association of School Administrators, the Southwest Mississippi Regional Hospital Board of Trustees and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.
In his spare time Dr. Daniels enjoyed fishing, deer hunting and spending time with his family.
He is survived by his wife, Bernice, two children and two grandchildren.
• Contact Lauren Randall at 581-7239 or lrandall@gwcommonwealth.com.
