The new assistant superintendent of the Greenwood School District is bringing a mixed track record to the job.
Chester Leigh, who was hired in a specially called meeting earlier this month, was once named Mississippi’s top school administrator, only to be fired less than two years ago as superintendent in Aberdeen over a purchasing dispute.
Leigh was introduced at the Greenwood School Board’s monthly meeting Tuesday. He is replacing James Mattox, a longtime Greenwood administrator who retired last month. Leigh will be paid $105,000 a year, $12,000 less than his predecessor.
The Aberdeen School Board fired Leigh in December 2011 after accusing him of buying two vehicles for a new district-run security force without board approval. Leigh had been in the post for three years prior to his dismissal.
Shortly thereafter, state authorities launched an investigation that found Aberdeen was violating 31 of 37 state accreditation standards. The state took over the district in April 2012, sweeping aside its leadership and hiring a conservator in place of a local superintendent.
The state found that school board members in Aberdeen were interfering in the affairs of the low-performing district. According to the state review, the district was paying for home Internet service for school board members, a possible ethics violation. The inquiry also found that the board’s hiring, firing and promotion decisions were influenced by a “system of favoritism and retaliation.”
In addition to inconsistent reports regarding its graduation rates, the state also found that one elementary school in the district lacked a librarian and that high school students were getting no career and college counseling. High school science labs were closed mid-year.
Greenwood Superintendent Montrell Greene as well as school board President George Ellis have been effusive in their praise of Leigh.
“He has been effective as a teacher and as principal of Aberdeen Middle School, (where he) produced the equivalent of a ‘B’ school,” Greene said in a statement last week. “He has functioned as superintendent in the Aberdeen School District and has approximately 30 years of experience as an educator, with 15 of those years in administration.”
“He’s a people person,” Greene added.
Greene reiterated that praise in his introduction of Leigh Tuesday.
Ellis said of the hiring, “This is yet another step in moving the district in a positive direction.”
Neither mentioned Leigh’s past troubles in Aberdeen. However, when asked about them this morning, Greene said that both he and the board were aware of the issues when they decided to hire Leigh.
“The board was made aware of his entire background,” said Greene. “That includes his success as a principal and superintendent. It also includes his termination with the district. They were aware that the state had taken over the district, and they were also aware of the violations that had been assessed by the state.”
Greene said that after investigating the matter himself, he and the board understood that Leigh’s firing was based on a disagreement between Leigh and the Aberdeen School Board, something Greene said is not uncommon within school districts.
Leigh, who was on speakerphone with Greene this morning, denied the Aberdeen board’s allegation that he had purchased the vehicles without approval. Leigh said that the firing “is still in litigation.”
Greene and Leigh both asserted that because Leigh had already left Aberdeen at the time the state took over the district, he was not given the opportunity to respond to the allegations regulators made regarding the district’s accreditation.
“When the Mississippi Department of Education comes in, if it finds that there is a challenge, it gives the district a chance to respond,” said Greene. “In all fairness to Mr. Leigh, he was not present to be able to actually address those issues.”
Leigh said that to his knowledge none of the accreditation standards were broken.
Before serving as superintendent in Aberdeen, Leigh, a native of Columbus, was principal of Aberdeen Middle School. Under his leadership, the school received a Level 4, or high-performing, accreditation rating. That is the equivalent of a “B” in the state’s new A-to-F accountability module.
Leigh said Tuesday that he is excited to be a part of a district that shares so many of his own professional tenets. “We want every student to be the very best that he or she can be,” he explained. “I believe in that. It was a good feeling to be able to come to a district that’s trying to do the kinds of things I’ve always wanted to do.”
According to district spokeswoman Margaret Dean, Leigh was previously named the state’s Administrator of the Year and received the the Governor’s Award for School-Business Partnerships. He also served as the director of the Aberdeen Learning Center and was a teacher in Columbus and Morgan City, La.
Leigh said he coached Aberdeen Middle School to become a Business Leader Master School, a designation that only a few schools in the state receive. He said the school was also designated a NASA “Explorer School” because of its dedication to math and science.
Leigh attributed his success at Aberdeen Middle to good parental and community support. He said that he also had a successful team behind him.
The most significant obstacle facing Greenwood is financial, he said.
“With all districts, you have the challenge with money — having enough money to do the things you want to do. You always have these things that you want but you can’t afford these things. It’s always a challenge.”
• Contact Jeanie Riess at 581-7235 or jriess@gwcommonwealth.com.
