Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees from left, Betty Tolliver, Jan Daigre, Zelmarine Murphy, Chad Barrett and President Kay Aasand listen as Vicksburg and Warren County residents voice their opinions about the future school superintendent Tuesday night.(Melanie Duncan Thortis The Vicksburg Post)

[3/12/03]Some attending a forum on hiring a new superintendent for the Vicksburg Warren School District said they wanted a motivational leader.

Others said they’d like to see the district adhere more closely to its own strategic plan.

For their part, trustees said the session was helpful and, said Kay Aasand, District 5 trustee and school board president, seeking public comment is part of the strategic plan.

About 20 people attended the meeting on the process to replace three-year Superintendent Donald Oakes, who is paid $104,000 and retiring June 30.

Leandrew Drake and his wife, Jenny, a ninth-grade English teacher at Vicksburg High School, have two children who have graduated from VHS and another who is a sophomore. Drake said he would like to see the board select a person with hands-on experience with children and with the Vicksburg and Warren County community.

“My purpose for being here is to try and be a part of the selection of the superintendent,” Drake said. “We don’t have to spend a lot of time and money looking for someone. Let’s choose someone and move on with business.”

Trustees have hired two retired educators, Sherry Fisher and Ted Long, who are being paid $2,500 each to coordinate a superintendent search. Board members opted against a more expensive plan to hire a consulting firm.

South Park Elementary School kindergarten teacher Mary Ellen Szuwalski said she was at the meeting to hear what people expect from a superintendent.

“I think it’s important to know what the community is looking for as a teacher and a parent,” she said.

State Sen. Mike Chaney, R-Vicksburg, said he is hoping for a superintendent who puts children first, is concerned with the well-being of staff and understands the district’s $63 million budget. Chaney said he attended the meeting as a citizen of Vicksburg and Warren County. He is vice chairman of the Senate Education Committee and was active five years ago with a group seeking to create charter schools here to operate without direct school board oversight.

Chaney, however, said at the meeting held at Vicksburg High he has total confidence in the board of trustees to choose a qualified applicant.

“I’m respectful of the board, and I have faith in them,” he said.

Ronnie Heath, who has two children in the schools in the district, said he’d like for the next superintendent to push the strategic plan districtwide. The plan, a set of recommendations for school improvement, was put together by a group of parents, teachers and administrators. It was approved by the board in June 1999 and called for the community’s involvement in the school district.

“This is one way to involve the community in the search,” Aasand said, noting that what she learned from the meeting that people want a motivated leader and a progressive thinker.

“I appreciate those who came, and we certainly listened to what they had to say,” Aasand said.

She said some have phoned and said they could not attend the meeting but would write the school district with suggestions.

District 4 Trustee Jan Daigre said the meeting was a good start for the community’s involvement in the search. The board will discuss other ways to incorporate the public’s help in the search, she said.

The consolidated school district here was created by blending formerly separate city and county districts in 1986. School board members are elected from five county districts and, in turn, hire a superintendent. In many Mississippi districts, superintendents are elected.