Departing Hoover schools superintendent described as dedicated leader who was perfect fit for past 5 years

Kathy Murphy described herself as a workaholic when she interviewed to be the superintendent for Hoover City Schools in 2015.

Now, 5 ^1/2 years later, as Murphy is leaving to become president for Gadsden State Community College at the end of 2020, Hoover school board President Deanna Bamman said that’s definitely an understatement.

Murphy has had quite a busy 5 ^1/2 years. She came into the job with a full plate right out of the chute.

The school district was in the middle of a debate over charging students a fee to ride school buses after a hotly contested effort to eliminate bus service altogether. The community also was in a state of uncertainty over a proposal to redraw school attendance zones that was being reviewed by the federal court.

At the same time, school officials werebeing criticized for budget deficits and were defending a federal gender discrimination lawsuit filed by a former principal.

SCHOOL BUSES AND REZONING

One of Murphy’s first acts was to ask the school board to rescind the school bus fee plan, which would have charged students $40.75 a month to ride the bus. Looking back, Murphy said that was an easy decision for her to recommend.

“If this is a free public education, how do we charge people to get on a bus to get here?” she said. “There are children who cannot get to school without support systems to do that.... We took that one off the table pretty soon. Of course, we continue to be haunted by the experience of the school bus debacle.”

Murphy then scrapped a rezoning plan put together by former Superintendent Andy Craig and went back to the community to develop a new plan. She held 13 community meetings to listen to residents’ concerns and explain the need for rezoning.

Murphy said the rezoning process was difficult because she always tries to put herself in the shoes of people impacted by her decisions, and many parents clearly had bought homes in certain places with the expectation their children would go to certain schools.

“I took it personally,” Murphy said.“Rezoning was painful to me because I knew I was making decisions that clearly were impacting our community.”

Nevertheless, she also had a responsibility to redraw school zone lines to address school capacity issues and expectations of the federal court overseeing a decades-old desegregation case, she said.

Her selling point was that all Hoover schools are terrific, she said. “There isn’t a single school in Hoover I wouldn’t put my child in,” she said.

Many parents later told her that while they were upset at the time of rezoning, their children ended up having a good experience at their new school, she said.

Bamman said Murphy’s commitment to listen to the community and clearly communicate the school system’s needs was a big improvement over the several years prior. Above all, Murphy has demonstrated “a desire to always get it right for kids,” Bamman said.

BUDGET DEFICITS

Murphy and her staff also tackled the operating budget deficits, cutting costs by eliminating jobs, reducing contract pay periods, cutting discretionary spending, holding off on some capital projects and working creatively to trim costs in other ways.

The school system started fiscal 2016 expecting a $10.4 million budget deficit but ended 2016 about $500,000 in the black. The district had a $27 million surplus in fiscal 2017, mostly due to one-time revenue increases but also attributed to cuts in expenses and a boost in revenues coming from newly elected officials with the city of Hoover.

The Hoover school board for fiscal 2018 passed its first original budget without deficit spending in 13 years.

“It’s been a long time coming and much needed,” Murphy said at the time. “It was kind of like a hemorrhage that needed to stop.”

The 2021 budget recommended by Murphy and approved by the school board in September included a $16.8 million deficit, but the school district is facing $18.3 million in capital projects. The general fund was balanced.

Murphy said she and her staff were committed to cut costs but repeatedly has noted that cutting costs eventually can impact the district’s ability to meet community expectations for class sizes and certain amenities that set Hoover apart.

RESIDENTIAL GROWTH

The city’s residential growth also affects the school system, she said.

The rezoning plan approved by a federal judge in December 2017 gave the school district capacity to absorb growth in western Hoover, but that plan will need adjusting as the city continues to grow, Murphy said.

“I have no particular concerns about growth at all,” she said. “I have literally said to our mayor and to some of our city councilmen, ‘Build it as big as you want, but don’t forget you have to educate the children who come in those houses.’”

The new Riverchase Career Connection Center, which opened in fall 2019, also provided relief to Hoover and Spain Park high schools, but eventually a third high school and other schools will be needed, Murphy said. Those come not only with land and construction costs, but more personnel costs as well, she said.

Paying for all that likely will mean a need for more resources, Murphy said.

City and school officials soon will need to have conversations about what form that takes, whether an increased contribution from the city’s general fund, dedicated money from front-door fees from builders, an increase in property taxes, dedicated money from internet sales taxes or some combination of those revenue streams, Murphy said.

The school system has about $114 million in its fund balance right now, but that’s expected to fall to $97 million by the end of September 2021. And with monthly obligations of $12 million to $13 million, that reserve fund could be eaten up quickly in an economic downturn or proration situation, Murphy said.

BIGGEST CHALLENGES

As important as all those issues are, Murphy said without a doubt the biggest challenges she has faced in her career have come in the last several months, dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision to close schools for in-person instruction in March was made at the state level, but local school officials still had to figure out how to serve children through the end of the school year, Murphy said.

Then, they faced the decision of how to honor and celebrate the graduating classes of 2020 in the spring and how to reopen school in the fall.

Murphy said she definitely felt the weight of knowing that the health and safety of children were in her hands, as well as understanding that the mission of Hoover City Schools is to provide a free and appropriate public education every day the district can.

It was difficult to track all the data related to COVID-19 and have critical conversations with health officials, state education officials, fellow over-the-mountain superintendents, the school board, teachers and the public at large, she said.

Education officials had no template for how to handle a health crisis like that, she said. It sometimes felt like they were making decisions “by the seat of the pants,” but they haven’t been flipping a coin at the central office to decide what to do, Murphy said.

“There was never a time we’ve made a decision in Hoover with anything less than the very best data we could have,” she said.

Murphy said she believes the gradual changes to in-person instruction were the right series of moves.

“All of those have been tough calls,” she said. “None of them have been made without a lot of desperation and thought and interactions and prayer for the safety and well-being of our children while we educate them.”

It has been a tremendous investment of time and energy, Murphy said. “This has clearly been the greatest challenge of my career.”

Moving forward, the biggest challenge for every school district in the nation right now is figuring out how far behind students are because of COVID-19 and helping them catch up, Murphy said.

Hoover teachers did the best job they could with virtual instruction, but “we are fooling ourselves if we believe any virtual or remote opportunity had the capacity to replace a caring, competent teacher,” she said. “It just doesn’t happen.”

Hoover students who had Chromebooks were blessed to have them, but “the Chromebook didn’t take the place of that caring, competent teacher,” Murphy said. “There was some loss of learning that happened.”

REGRETS

When asked if she would change anything she had done in the past 5 ^1/2 years, Murphy said there are two things in particular she wishes she had done better.

First, she and her staff poured an incredible amount of time and resources into trying to help the school district get released from a decades-old Jefferson County desegregation federal court case.

To do that, the Hoover school district needs to show evidence that it has fulfilled the goals of providing an equitable education to all students, particularly Black students.

Murphy, noting that she spent most of her career in school districts that were predominantly Black, said she has been an advocate for all children for all of her career and is driven by that idea more than any court order.

“I never want to think that somebody has to order me to do the right thing for children,” she said. “That’s my heart’s desire, and I believe I’ve lived my career and my life in such a way to demonstrate that.”

However, she still had hoped to complete the task of getting Hoover where it needs to be to be released from the court case during her tenure in Hoover, she said. She feels she and other school officials have made that a priority but is sad they are not further along in the process, she said.

The Hoover school district has done a lotto train its faculty about unity and diversity and still is working to diversify its personnel and ensure equal opportunities for all students regarding gifted and advanced programs and courses, she said.

There are a lot of entities involved, from the U.S. Department of Justice to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the federal court, school officials and the Hoover community at large, and “it is a very slow process.”

Murphy said she also regrets she didn’t design her schedule better so she could be in the schools, interacting with students and teachers more frequently and being a better mentor to other school leaders. She wishes she had worked more closely with other leaders and gotten to know them and their aspirations better so she could support them better.

However, there have been a plethora of issues (mentioned above) demanding her attention at the central office, she said.

MAKING A MARK

Murphy did indeed do much to shape the district’s leadership team. At her recommendation, the school board hired 10 of the 18 current principals, including the leaders of the Riverchase Career Connection Center and Crossroads School program.

During her tenure, the board also hired a new assistant superintendent, two chief financial officers, a new director of equity and educational initiatives, director of instructional support, payroll director, assistant payroll director, transportation coordinator and operations coordinator.

Murphy said she is proud of the progress made regarding facilities during her tenure. The district sold the former Berry High School property and used those proceeds to buy Riverchase Middle School from the Pelham Board of Education and convert it into a career tech center.

School officials are tearing down parts of the old Bluff Park School while maintaining and restoring the most historic part of the campus, and have updated the tracks and football fields at the two high schools.

During her tenure, the district created a new strategic plan, adjusted salaries and pay supplements, passed on creating a charter school, hired a mental health student services specialist and therapeutic counselor, shifted the New Beginnings program back into individual schools, provided Chromebooks for all K-12 students, started six prekindergarten classes and started a new partnership with consultants to address equity issues regarding discipline and positive intervention tactics.

‘TOUGH AS NAILS’

Bamman said Murphy was the perfect fit for Hoover City Schools for the past five years.

“We needed someone tough as nails, and we got tough as nails,” she said. “She doesn’t run from adversity or challenges. She will face them head on. … The board has a respect for Dr. Murphy and her decision making, her wisdom in running a school district and her open door always.”

Even though there were differences of opinion at times, Murphy was always able to do the needed research, sit down with the board, discuss things and find common ground, Bamman said. Having a good relationship between the board and superintendent is important because if it’s not there, it can cause trouble all the way through the district, she said.

“We’re losing a great leader. Gadsden State is gaining,” Bamman said. “We hate to see her go. … We’ve got big shoes to fill, but we are up to the task, and we will push on fast forward … and find us a strong leader.”

Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato called Murphy’s departure a tremendous loss for Hoover City Schools and the city of Hoover. She has helped build a lot of solidarity between city officials and the school system, he said.

“We had a tremendous working relationship for the past four years, and we wish her all the best,” Brocato said. “We hope to have the same type relationship with the new superintendent.”

‘HIGHLIGHT OF MY CAREER’

Murphy said she wasn’t running away from anything in Hoover by taking the job at Gadsden State. It was more a matter of an opportunity presenting itself and her skill sets aligning with what the college needs.

She considers it a privilege to become a college president and to be able to make critical decisions to help people as they seek to improve their lives through education beyond high school, she said.

Murphy, who was the school superintendent in Monroe County before coming to Hoover, said she hadn’t really sought Hoover out in the beginning. Initially, she was contacted by the Alabama Association of School Boards and asked to consider jobs in Hoover or Dothan. She applied for both and couldn’t have been more blessed to be received by Hoover, she said.

She is grateful for all the different groups that have partnered with Hoover City Schools to make a difference in the lives of children, she said. That includes the city’s elected officials and groups such as the Hoover City Schools Foundation, Finley Committee, Hoover Parent Teacher Council, Hoover Helps, Neighborhood Bridges and the Hoover Rise mentoring program, she said.

When asked how she would describe Hoover to someone from outside the state, Murphy said the Hoover community is passionate and involved in education.

“They certainly share their thoughts, and that’s not a negative thing,” she said. “This school district communicates between and among itself. It is a very interactive community.”

Most importantly, the parents have high expectations for their children and, thus, high expectations for the school district, and students, for the most part, are passionate about the experiences they get, she said.

“They have become accustomed to an exceptional educational experience,” Murphy said. “Our community holds our feet to the fire to deliver that, and they should.”

The Hoover community puts its money behind education and, sometimes, may not realize how blessed it is, Murphy said.

“I think maybe sometimes in Hoover a field trip outside of Hoover might be very telling for us — to realize that education across the state does not mirror the terrific experience our children get to have,” she said.

Murphy said her experience in Hoover has truly been a blessing.

“It’s been everything I hoped it to be and prayed for it to be. It is certainly the most positive experience in my professional life,” she said. “It’s been the highlight of my career without any doubt in my mind. It has presented me the greatest joy. It’s also presented me some of my greatest challenges.”