The Greenwood, Leflore County and Mississippi school superintendents spoke to a standing-room-only crowd Wednesday night about their efforts to improve education.
Seated at the front table at the meeting of the Greenwood Voters League were Dr. Jennifer Wilson, superintendent of the Greenwood Public School District; Dr. Ilean Richards, conservator of the Leflore County School District; and Dr. Carey Wright, superintendent for the Mississippi Department of Education.
“Amazing, isn’t it,” said state Sen. David Jordan, president of the Voters League, “that we have three lady superintendents, three women leading at all levels — city, county and state.”
The Leflore County and Greenwood school districts each received a grade of D in state accountability standards released last month. Following state legislation passed in the 2016 spring session, they are scheduled to consolidate in 2019.
Richards stood in front of the podium and addressed the crowd with humor and vigor.
“I’m a pushy old lady,” she said, “but I look good and I know it. I want the children in my schools to know that when they’re as old as me they can be smart and successful like me, and they can look good, too.”
On a more serious note, Richards outlined the values and principles she intends to impart in Leflore County Schools, which were taken over by the state in 2013. Richards took over as conservator this January.
“We must be respectful of ourselves and each other,” she said. “This week I’m saying to our teachers, ‘We’ve got to nurture the students and let them know we care.’”
Richards said imposing tough new standards at county schools hadn’t been easy, but she has no intention of letting up.
“Last year I had students crying, teachers crying and parents crying, saying, ‘My child is staying up all night doing homework.’ Do you hear that? Say it again! Up doing homework!”
Richards said she tries to assure parents it doesn’t matter if their children struggle with schoolwork, so long as they are engaged and participating fully.
She said accountability is foremost among the values she hopes to instill in teachers and staff.
“We’re not running an employment agency,” she said. “Children are failing, and we give (employees) a paycheck for it? I don’t think so.”
Wilson picked up on the accountability and participation themes, calling for parental support of students, not just at school functions but at home.
“We’re going to be knocking on their doors, because we can’t do this by ourselves,” Wilson said. “We need you involved, reading with your children at home, getting them to school every day, helping them understand the teacher is the teacher and they are the students.”
Wilson touted her district’s efforts enlisting teaching assistants to train as certified teachers and its work to have its teachers nationally certified. Under her watch, she said, the Greenwood district “will become the best option in the state.”
Wright assured the crowd that one of MDE’s goals is to help low-performing schools. She said details of those plans will be released in the coming months.
Wright said Mississippi schools have made improvements since she came on board in 2013.
“Are we where we need to be? No,” she said. “But we’re on the right path.”
Wright cited data showing improvement across several criteria, including an improved graduation rate for the state at 80.8 percent, approaching the national average of 82 percent.
Mississippi was ranked last in the nation in its offerings of Advanced Placement classes and in successful completion of those classes by students, Wright said. She is working to change that by including new data in accountability standards that measure college preparedness and offerings of accelerated courses.
An audience member asked what the superintendents were doing for students who were not on a college track, to help them train for jobs. Wright said the state’s Career Readiness Initiative offers a number of programs that will certify students in skilled trades and that school counselors should be able to direct students to those programs.
The pending 2019 consolidation did not come up until the meeting’s end. Wright said she expected to see more consolidations around the state in addition to the Greenwood-Leflore County one.
She said it was important for a community to begin preparing in plenty of time to re-order “under one umbrella” and to hear the concerns of all stakeholders so that when the time came, schools under a new consolidated district could run smoothly.
Richards and Wilson did not comment on consolidation.
Jordan said that by 2019 he expected Greenwood and Leflore County schools would be so improved that consolidation would not be necessary.
• Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
