Superintendent candidates discuss goals, future of Shelby County Schools
Ahead of the June 5 primary elections, a group of Shelby County voters gathered at Jefferson State Community College to hear from two candidates vying for the title “Superintendent.”
Lewis Brooks and Kristi Sayers each answered 12 questions regarding the future of Shelby County Schools, goals for the school system and their own qualifications to take on the position at a candidate forum that was put on by the Greater Shelby, South Shelby and Montevallo chambers of commerce.
The candidates were not provided questions beforehand, said Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Kirk Mancer, and were given two minutes to respond to each question. The forum wrapped up with a closing statement from Sayers and Brooks, also timing in at two minutes.
To lead off, both candidates talked about why they want to serve as superintendent.
“My reasons for wanting to serve as superintendent of Shelby County Board of Education and school system simply has to do with my commitment to students. I’ve spent 28 years in public education, the majority of those years have been with Shelby County Schools,” said Brooks, who has served in a variety of capacities including teacher, coach, elementary coordinator, and other roles, as well as assistant superintendent for the last six years. “When you think about our business, the thing about education is that you have an opportunity to impact so many lives.”
Sayers said that her ability to act as an academic leader and a servant leader, as well as experience working with teachers, were things that have prepared her to be a superintendent.
“There is nothing greater than leading a school system. There is nothing greater than leading students, and I have actually spent 20 of my 29 years working with students and teachers across the state,” said Sayers, who is currently the principal of Oak Mountain High School.
Priorities
The term for superintendent is four years between elections, but one question at the forum asked the candidates to set priorities for the first 18 months in office.
Brooks noted the importance of spending time in communities, looking at the school system’s budget and building relationships with principals, district leaders and board members. Sayers noted school safety, establishing quarterly town halls with communities and looking at the state of individual schools within the county.
The candidates also elaborated on those priorities in how they would approach the role of superintendent.
Sayers repeatedly mentioned a three-pronged approach to leadership — bringing educators, parents and the community into the conversation.
“What we have in Shelby County is a very diverse county, with different communities that are all great, and they all have different needs. What I will bring, what I hope to do as your leader of the system is to meet those needs of the individual communities and make sure those needs are met through parent talks, through parent forums, through community research,” Sayers said.
Brooks said being an effective superintendent comes from being an instructional leader, having skills in executive management and building a culture of trust.
“I think you have to be able to make decisions without being decisive. You have to be visible, you have to be someone who promotes and encourages others to do well,” Brooks said.
While both candidates also emphasized innovation as an important part of education, they described different approaches.
Sayers said that the school system should not treat education as a “cruise ship” that moves along slowly, but rather as a swift train with 12 stops in the educational journey. Changes and innovation, she said, could be implemented.
Brooks, however, said “you can’t make a U-turn with a cruise ship,” but instead need to make small, methodical turns. In that way, he said, the system should continue to be thoughtful about changes that are implemented.
Success for students
When asked to define what “success” looks like at different levels within the school system — for those leaving elementary school, middle school or high school — Sayers and Brooks highlighted taking on the “challenging grade span,” as Brooks referred to it, that is middle school. They also highlighted preparing students for their next phase in life after high school, whether that is college, a career or other education.
Brooks said one thing he would like to introduce “success teams,” or advisory teams for the superintendent, to the school system. These would look at SUCCESS, Brooks said, or “supporting, uniting, collaborating, communicating, engaging our stakeholders and students.”
“Those are the things that you’re doing to try and prepare our students and giving them that voice,” Brooks said.
A successful elementary student would leave completing all the standards they need, and exiting after learning through critical thinking, he said. A successful middle school student would be one that is prepared to enter high school and be involved in those courses. And for a Shelby County Schools graduate, he said, that would be a student who is prepared to take on life after high school, which Brooks said sometimes includes facing challenges and failures.
“We talk about being ‘prepared for the journey’ as the tagline for our school system, the scary part sometimes is that worry that we have parents that are trying to prepare the path for their kids, as opposed to them having the opportunity to be prepared for that path,” said Brooks, echoing a point by Sayers that sometimes that path involves learning from mistakes.
In discussing success at various levels of education, Sayers said it is important to look at how elementary school is structured to ensure kids are having enough time to grow cognitively, but also emotionally.
“What we want them to do is when they leave us at the elementary level is to have those critical thinking skills but also to be emotionally ready to go to that middle school level,” Sayers said.
In middle school, she added, students should be given the chance to find an identity in order to make them academically ready for high school, but also confident in themselves and what they can accomplish.
When graduating high school, Sayers said a key for success is for students to have a purpose.
“Success is different for each student, success is different for each parent. … That purpose may be college, that purpose may be a career, that purpose may be military, but we have sent our students out with a set of skills,” Sayers said.
Those skills include soft skills to be successful in a job and the mindset of being a lifelong learner, Sayers said.
Both candidates also highlighted providing opportunities to students within their education. Sayers noted the importance of providing career paths to students, the opportunity to experience more electives and to grow STEM programs. Brooks noted preparing students for job opportunities that might not exist now by way of innovative opportunities.
Job readiness
As the forum was hosted by three chambers of commerce, some of the questions centered on preparing students for the workforce and what the superintendent’s role, if any, is regarding attracting businesses and jobs to the county. Sayers and Brooks both highlighted that community, schools and business work together.
“People come to live in places where schools are great,” Sayers said. “… I think that it’s the superintendent job, I’ve already been a part of the workforce development committee, working with our [economic initiative] 58 Inc., working with our chambers of commerce because we have to make sure we continue to have businesses in Shelby County. We want to continue growing, we want to continue to be a successful entity.”
As superintendent, Sayers said it’s also important to have an open dialogue with businesses and the community, and to make sure needs from those areas are being met through what is taking place in schools.
Brooks also echoed that good schools attract individuals and economic opportunity attracts businesses to communities, which is why it is “critical” for the superintendent to be involved in economic development.
“When you think about Shelby County, we are such a hub for economic development just because we have this quality of life here. … A lot of people have come together to create that,” he said.
The candidates also discussed the value of career tech education and how it can interact with the community.
Sayers said it is important to change the mindset of parents who think every student needs to go to college. Looking at the state, she said, there is a need for skilled workers in several fields, and she said she aims to work with 58 Inc. to create and provide apprenticeships for students who choose to enter a career or career education path.
Brooks noted an increase within the number of students in career tech as well as an evolving program. Creating pathways, expanding some programs into schools — as opposed to focusing career education at the Career Technical Education Center — and preparing students to become entrepreneurs were all important steps, Brooks said.