KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Community members and fellow educators got another opportunity Thursday to hear from the candidates for superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools.
Thursday’s interviews include Johnny Edwards, along with Drs. Stephanie Jones and Darrin Slade.
Johnny Edwards
Edwards is currently the assistant superintendent of operations for Portage Public Schools.
He has more than 20 years of experience in K-12 schools in Michigan.
Dr. Stephanie Jones
Dr. Jones is the chief officer for the Office of Diverse Learner Supports and Services for Chicago Public Schools— where she gives district leaders, administrators and staff strategic direction to ensure students have high-quality, grade-level instruction and equitable services.
She started her career as a special education teacher with CPS.
Dr. Darrin Slade
Dr. Slade currently works as the deputy superintendent of Hazelwood School District in Missouri.
He has 16 years of experience as an elementary, middle and high school principal and previously served as the assistant superintendent of Instructional Leadership for Kansas City Public Schools.
The first round of candidate interviews happened Monday evening when we heard from Drs. Thomas D. Rogers, Marcey Sorenson and Ty Weeks.
READ MORE: Board of Education begins interviewing candidates for next KPS superintendent
Back in March, community members had the opportunity to share some of their concerns and ideal qualities they would like to see in the new KPS superintendent, including graduation rates and barriers to education— a topic all three candidates addressed Thursday.
“Really looking into what are our current practices, our curriculum, the options that have been available, that are available to our students and looking at what can we do before we reach out to students to make sure that the conditions that they might have experienced that that’s not something we’re asking them to return back to and that we have additional options for our students that will lead to their success,” Dr. Jones answered.
“But we want to invite them back into the high school with a warm welcome regardless of the fact that they may have formally dropped out. When they come back, our counselors should have a graduation audit that shows them their path to graduation," Edwards suggested. "We have to provide them with access to resources in our community that we may not necessarily provide in the school to help them with those barriers that prohibit them from obtaining a high school graduation.”
“You look at specific school data, you talk to the people who work in the school, specifically teachers, counselors, you talk about why do you think students are dropping out. You make sure you address all the academic issues that cause students to drop out. Sometimes students drop out because they don’t feel like they can do the work so you make sure that you put academic supports in place at the early stages— elementary school— so students feel confident as they matriculate through school and they don’t drop out,” Dr. Slade said.
Thursday's candidates were all asked the same series of questions that the board asked Monday's candidates, including how they plan to monitor and adjust the district improvement plan, attract and retain staff amid a nationwide shortage and handle unsafe student behaviors.
"When I came into the school, we were able to establish some schoolwide discipline practices. We were able to decrease the number of referrals, office discipline referrals, which is what leads to a consequence. We were also able to decrease the number of fights at our school as well. At the same time, we were able to increase our student achievement, which also led to higher student enrollment. The workaround having a schoolwide system, that workaround restorative practice is work that I am definitely grounded in," Edwards told the board.
"The key to reducing suspensions really is just building relationships. You have to know your students. You have to care about your students. Your students have to see you as family. It can’t just be one person. It can’t just be the superintendent. It can’t just be the director of secondary education. It has to be the whole organization. And that’s another thing—it can’t just be optional, it has to be required," Dr. Slade answered.
"It could be focused on what’s actually happening in the classroom, in our buildings and outside of our buildings. There’s a lot of research that shares that when students are engaged, you see a decrease in behaviors," Dr. Jones said. "My experience has been with launching a massive curriculum, we have seen an increase in students’ performance academically, attendance increase, graduation increase, as well as a decrease in discipline.”
Watch Thursday's full Q-and-A session with all three candidates below:
The search for a new super comes after former KPS superintendent Dr. Rita Raichoudhuri resigned in December 2022.
REFERENCE: Kalamazoo Public Schools superintendent steps down
The second round of candidate interviews is tentatively scheduled for early May.
