Jackson Jambalaya

Charlie would be a good choice, but I here she really doesn't want the job.

Bye, Felicia...

this release was a thinly-veiled slap at Kimber Halliburton. Expect more to come out regarding any misconduct on either side.

she looks like the type that pronounces it "Nash-vull"

(one of my biggest pet-peeves)

Wow. I really liked Halliburton. She just closed on a house in Madison recently so this wasn't planned. Wonder what happened?

Heard she was escorted out.
What’s the scoop Kingfish?

What’s the scoop?

So thankful Mrs. Seals is stepping up. She has always been faithful to Madison County.

Looks like Madison is have the same success with hiring someone from Tennessee as Jackson did.

What's the scoop?

They should have promoted from within in the first place.

I've met her, and talked to her about 15 minutes. She seemed very nice. I know nothing about her management ability. Seems like a very abrupt resignation. She did arrive with some controversy from a previous job.

Why wasn't anything nice said about Mrs. Halliburton?

Can't wait to hear the reasons behind this story.

And, does the search firm who recommended her have to return the retainer fee or do the search again for free? But, of course - the MCS board hired her.

Tupelo paid dearly for looking outside the state for a superintendent a few years ago and the local paper went to great lengths to paint a good picture of the disaster caused by someone trying to solve Tupelo problems with Greenville S.C. answers. Parents were protesting outside city hall when the city council met for a few weeks. I believe it cost the city $250,000 to buy out the contract.

She did buy a house in Hartford off Old Canton Road. Deed filed on March 8, 2019. It's public record on Chancery Clerk's website.

Reading around various threads on the book of faces- everything from misconduct to taking the currently open Nashville Superintendent job is being floated.

Charlotte and her husband a really great people. I hope she gets the job...IF she wants it.

Charlotte is awesome. She should've been first choice before the board even started this debacle.

Dr. Carey Wright could have stepped in. She makes enough for the State Super and Madison County Super...Plus she lives close by in Gluckstadt. She could handle Madison County on her way in to work to keep underperforming.

Great job School Board. We were told you would screw this up before the legislature gave you the authority to hire. You went out of state instead of hiring qualified people here just so you could have someone with no connection to the community and you could call all the shots. You hired someone with a checkered past and was warned, yet you did it anyway. This was Sam Kelly’s pick. He just had to have her. Now you have made us a laughing stock. Who in their right mind would want to work for a board that’s incompetent? The school
Board controls more money than the board of supervisors and have the authority to levy taxes. It’s time people to start paying attention to who you elect on this board.

How long was she superintendent?

10-months, and previous positions were for not much longer (according to her LinkedIn account). That is not a good sign.

notice a similar position is opening in the Nashville Metro School System

Google the woman and her travails in Tennessee. This all hit social media in Madison County before her plane landed. Nobody wanted the woman retained in Tennessee. When she headed to Atlanta for interviews and was rejected there, board members in Madison County snatched her up. Only a fool would think that was a good hire.

What a cluster-duck. Whomever hired this person needs to be fired along with her.

If Charlotte Seals is so good, why wasn't she picked ten months ago? She WAS a finalist.

3:25 was spot on. Little man syndrome Samuel Kelly Esq. runs the school board. He couldn’t wait to get rid of McGehee so he could rule the roost. How’s that working out for ya now?

Will the board take ownership in this "cluster duck?"

Thank God she’s gone. This woman was a powermad maniac. He would’ve thought her title was queen instead of superintendent. She had heavy-handed interactions with principles and encourage them to have heavy ended interactions with their teachers. My kids teachers have been there for years but were terrified of losing their jobs for the most minor of offenses. She wanted to put cameras in all the classrooms, ignored input from teachers and principals, and flirted with school board members shamelessly. Let’s hope whoever they get next knows how to listen to parents and teachers in our community.

Before I retired, I did recruiting for professional positions for a couple of years through my consulting business. With one glance at her LinkedIn account, I would conclude that she is a train wreck. We would have never hired her for any position.

It sounds like a few board members were suffering from confirmation bias.

639 nailed it. Not everyone is cut out to be in a position to hire people. Just because your were elected to a “board” doesn’t mean you are qualified to do anything.

@6:07 a lot of teachers need a heavy hand. My kids go to Germantown Middle and Germantown high. Many teachers show up late, openly gripe on Facebook about their salary,, etc. Some have even waited until their first period class to put on their makeup and dry their hair, in the freaking classroom! Too many field trips, too loose of a ship being run, too little structure. There has to be some accountability. And there is very little in classrooms across the country.

Notice Ronnie McGehee left a year early. Why? Dealing with this board isn’t worth it.

Madison County Journal is reporting that she wasn't certified in Mississippi. That's the cover the school board is using, at least.

Madison is officially the Bat-Shit craziest county in Mississippi. The craziest Board of Supervisors, the craziest School Board and the craziest Legislator. We’re NUMBER 1.

@7:31 There’s a difference between leadership with high expectations and accountability and principals that act like bullies and basically harass their staff. How can we expect teachers to act like highly skilled professionals when so many of the parents (and administrators) treat them like fast food workers.

@8:33 you have no idea how the real world works. None.

Madison County’s dirty little secrets:
1. pineapples
2. How their world class school system treats their teachers.

Me, too 12:14. This is a sad day for all of the students who were finally being given a opportunities.

@8:49 Lol. The refrain of those who wanna justify dehumanizing others.

GHS told Shramek he’d be fired if he didn’t have a winning season. They’re trying to force Metz to retire by writing him up for anything they can come up with. That’s this district’s MO. Threaten, cajole, gather “evidence” out of context. It’s really sad. They’re losing the moral high ground if they ever had it.

So who wants to run for the Madison School District Board? We have 5 new positions available! No experience in education or running anything necessary. Can we go back to electing our own Superintendent?

Thanks TATER and Anti-GOP Gunn for allowing our idiot school board to make serious decisions. Visionaries you are not.

Is Sam Kelly running Jill Ford campaign like he does the Schools? That’s a winner-LOL

Anytime there is an abrupt, ill-explained school leader departure, public (and especially private) boards close ranks and quickly scurry to the legal cover they have been coached to say… The following statement is from this evening’s Madison County Journal article on the Halliburton departure:

MCSD Board President Philip Huskey said he could not make any further comment regarding the sudden resignation. “I just cannot comment on personnel matters,” he said.

It is correct that personnel matters should not be discussed publicly.

However, departures are often incorrectly framed entirely in terms of the failings of the departing school leader. The truth is that the board has a little bit on them too when a school leader is unsuccessful, and the board shouldn’t be given a pass.

No. It would be best if you didn't talk about the particulars of the Superintendent’s departure. However, what would be refreshing is if the MCSB could be contacted and questioned by a legitimate press outlet (C-L, MS Today, MCJ) about the board involvement in selecting this person and what, if any, ownership that take for things not working out.

I have a few questions:

How did the board decide a search firm out of Nebraska was the best to select the new superintendent?

The lead consultants for the search firm were not from Nebraska. The firm selected former Mississippi educators to assist with the engagement. Was there sufficient depth of experience in conducting superintendent searches among these retirees? How many searches had they performed?

What kind of due diligence and background research was done on finalists?

How active was the board in helping the new leader assimilate into the new role? Can you give examples?

How attentive was the board to the care and feeding of the new leader? Can you give examples?

If the board had it to do over again, would it alter its approach to assuring a successful transition for the new leader?

Is the board planning any retreat where they can engage in some introspection, perhaps led by an outside facilitator, about the board role in this poor outcome and how they might bring about a better result in the future?

Has the interim expressed an interest in having the role permanently?

Do you think an abrupt departure by a school leader that is poorly explained will have a chilling effect on the interest of future prospective MCS superintendent candidates?

The window for hiring superintendents (Spring) is rapidly closing. Do you have plans for conducting a search with the fleeting time that is remaining and choosing from among the leftover candidates not picked in searches presently ongoing?

Alternatively, - will you keep the interim in place and relaunch a search next year when your candidate pool will be more robust?

Are you going to be honest in your public communications about the true cost to the district of unplanned leadership transition? How the ambiguity over district leadership and direction feeds poor employee morale? How district strategic focus suffers? How district momentum slows during all leadership transitions.

All of those are universal truths, no matter how capable the interim is…

Please do not employ the overused messaging points of:

“We’re not going to miss a beat.”

“The board has supreme confidence in our selected interim.”

The board has responsibility for this situation, and they need to own it. A little humility is in order here - not just by the departing superintendent, but the by the board that voted unanimously for her less than a year ago. Madison County Schools deserves better than the school board governance they are getting…

Hey - remember all of those heated conversations not so long ago about how elected superintendents are baaaaaaad and appointed superintendent are sooooo much better?

Can we revisit the legislative role call on that? Show of hands? No? Where’d they go?

How about some official legislative reaction to this premature superintendent departure? This was the first person Madison County Schools ever launched a search and hired. Way to go school board! You are 0-1!!!

Is it too late to remove her photo from the yearbooks?

Will the Canton crowd file an EEOC charge when one of their own is no hired into this vacancy?

Is Gerard a candidate?

Stay tooned.

"Me, too 12:14. This is a sad day for all of the students who were finally being given a opportunities."

What are you babbling out? Madison has had the first or second rated school system in the state since I moved here in 2000. Aggressive, hard-working kids had great opportunities.

It sounds like 8:33 might be on to something.

The number of folks who appear to believe in incest is amazing, even for Madison County. Questioning this woman's ability is fine, but demeaning her hire because 'she ain't from here' shows a mentality that explains a lot of what's wrong -,in Madison County and the state.

Hiring the best should always be the emphasis, not "promoting from within, regardless' or "making sure we don't bring xyz state values into our county".

For those that operate in that realm, please post us some pictures of your next family reunion - we could all use a little entertainment to brighten our day.

Charlotte will have to stop eating lunch in Jackson with her friends and really work now. Her teachers eat in the cafeteria everyday, she should try it. Must be nice to have two hour lunches. Mine are 22 minutes in a loud cafeteria. Maybe the board should eat in there too.

Why didn't yall say Seals was Black. That's why they went to Tenn and hired this chick who isn't and can't pass the test in Mississippi.

Bearing close attention to social status, economic status and political status at every level and spinning the plates necessary to keep the individuals of each group convinced that they are being catered to seems difficult for outsiders who are unable to recognize all the 600 pound gorillas walking the halls of the schools. I am clueless of the current specific situation in Madison County but I'll bet $10 that race and discipline vs special treatment for special people are significant fuels for the heat that blew the lid off the pot.

Madison County is in Mississippi after all.

Home School and/or Charters.

This is a big loss for Madison. Halliburton had a vision to take Madison Schools to a new level. Some didn't like that. Ive talked to two people in the know and both used the "She came in here and tried to change too much when we are already the best in the state." line. She pissed off a well liked principal because she told them there was no excuse for every school in the district to not be an A. When Madison Central had 130 students make a 30+ on the ACT, she dared to ask why not 200?

Charlotte Seals is going back to the way things were. She's a Junior Leaguer and will be well liked. Madison will continue to be better only because better parents live there, not because the school administration is doing anything spectacular.

If there is to be another Madison County Superintendent search, pretty please, please, please do not use the Mississippi School Boards Association to assist with the search. Their headquarters sits across Highland Colony from the Madison County School Board building and I am sure they are delighting in this result. They will no doubt try to fan the flames that the out of state firm should have never been used in the first place. MSBA is a fruit basket turnover, musical chairs machine. Every time a new superintendent in MS is needed they try to cash in. Every time a superintendent leaves, they see dollar signs. Superintendent search is part of their revenue model. I wouldn't say they celebrate when superintendents are unsuccessful, but there is no doubt they benefit from turnover. Look at these people for what they are - a small non-profit trying to survive and scratch out a living on something (anything) more than member dues. No one conducting searches for MSBA would be hired to conduct searches for anyone else. The people conducting searches for MSBA would be considered unemployable by reputable search firms in virtually any other part of the country. Most school boards, sadly, don't understand that and wouldn't have the perspective to know better.

Throw the bums out. Change out the entire school board.

April 11, 2019 at 4:37 AM
Ya' think she lunches at Char?

12:37 - Who cares where she's 'from'? The fact is she was a terrible hire, one that should never have occurred.

Those on the selection committee reminded me of a group of ninth graders being allowed to choose school colors and mascot.

When people are hired based on the skills of a resume writer, you are doomed to fail. every. time.

Vetting? What a joke. Google is your friend.

The Mississippi Brain Drain is real. People WITH TALENT leave this state DAILY for better options in a hungry job market place for capable humans. Whatever they are paying here in Mississippi, somewhere else is paying better for whatever they do and has better restaurants and public schools. AND, it is hard to attract people WITH TALENT to come to this backward geography. The people who make a life here seek leaders who affirm them and their world view. Kimber Halliburton is better off back in Middle Tennessee. Nashville is WINNING. People WANT to be there. It is better to be a school custodian in Nashville than a superintendent in Madison County, MS. Congratulations, girl! Collect your combat pay for enduring Mississippi and a moronic school board and move on...

There are several things that make me want to pull for Charlie. She would be the first African American to lead MCS and this is notable.

This is a 72-hour story... The Madison public school-going public has the attention span of a ferret on a cappuccino. Most will move on to other consequential items like which contestant is advancing on The Voice or American Idol. The general public in Madison County is a happy band of disengaged morons. They will not check up or look closely at this situation. Blind faith in a board of largely unaccountable people. Seriously - if the board is not performing up to par, is there a check on that? What do you do if the board missed the mark on their pick? What can people do?

Madison County Schools is not looking for a superintendent to be a change agent. They want someone to hold up a mirror to them and tell them how pretty they are...

The board should tender their resignations as well.

Nice try. Posting the addresses of the school board members will not be approved. Go hang out at CNN or DU.

Licensure in MS is a joke at every level... Superintendent. Principal. Teacher. I see some saying that Kimber didn't have a MS license or the proper credentialing. If she was ok in TN to serve as a Superintendent, I am ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that the burden of proof MORE THAN covers whatever standards exist here in our no. 50 environment.

Issuing licenses to teach and maintaining those records at the state level only serves to prop up an unnecessary state education bureaucracy. What standards are they enforcing? The standards that keep us last on every list? THANKS, MDOE! You are the arbiter of excellence!!!

Madison County School Board = JACK HOLES.

The Madison County school board gets an F on this one. How HARD did you work to identify this superintendent? How hard did you work to help make this superintendent successful? SO HARD, I'm sure... School Board Members - train them better or vote them out quicker.

8:27, both of the things you mentioned (big loss for Madison and Halliburton trying to "change to much") could be true. I personally don't believe it's a huge loss for Madison, but I'll be the first to say I've been wrong before. There was something about her that seemed ingenuous to me. Madison Central has 154 kids (in 10th-12th grades) with a 30+ on the ACT. That's 12% of the total student body, when nationally only 5% of students score a 30+. School wide, 1 in 4 students has a 25 or higher. 46% of the current senior class has a 25 or higher, with 20% of seniors having a 30+. Do we want 200+ kids to have a 30+...absolutely. But that doesn't mean the current statistics aren't amazing and laudable.

There are probably some things you CAN DO as superintendent of Madison County Schools, but there is not a lot you HAVE TO do. Here are the EXACT steps for success for the next permanent superintendent of Madison County Schools:

1. Go in your office.
2. Shut the door.
3. Sit in your chair.
4. Be quiet.
5. Take a paycheck for not advancing anything.
6. Rinse.
7. Repeat.

What do you do if the school board sucks? Is there a way to appeal that?

School Board = Two thumbs down.

Damn. 8:27 has nailed it - qualifications for the job in Madison County.

"Charlotte will make it. SHE'S A JUNIOR LEAGUER AND WELL LIKED".

What more could one want in their superintendent of schools?

I bet there is just enough heat associated with this superintendent departure to help this board of geniuses want to keep the interim in place until things quiet down, and then in the sleepy, quiet days of the coming summer or school year announce at a poorly advertised meeting that they have SO IMPRESSED with the interim that they are going to give her the permanent appointment. This brain trust of school board members are path-of-least-resistance creatures. Don't be surprised if there is no proper search for the next superintendent.

You could sit a rodeo clown in the Madison County Schools superintendent chair and the district would perform. The selection of the superintendent is unimportant.

Administrators don't really matter when it comes to school performance. School performance is a product of socio-economic status and parent involvement/engagement.You could take the building-level administrator from the highest performing MCS school and put them in a school in Lambert, MS, and the school performance would end up looking like Lambert, MS.

I know I have just committed heresy by stating this. If building-level school leaders don't matter when it comes to student achievement, how much do superintendents matter?

Q: What is a Madison County Schools Superintendent supposed to do?
A: Change nothing. Applaud teachers. Support mediocre administrators. Placate board members. Take a monthly check.

The overwhelming majority of the 155 students at Madison Central who scored 30 or above on the ACT test would have scored equally as well at most any other high school. The primary factor in their high scores is the sociology-economic background of the students. I wonder how many students at the Madison County School District’s other high schools, especially Ridgeland and Velma Jackson, scored 30 or above. Probably not that many due to those schools lower socio-economic status. Take a look at the picture in the Madison County Journal of the 155 30+ students. There is only one African-American in the picture, yet Madison Central is about 26 percent African-American. There will always be outliers and exceptions to the rule, however, that is more evidence that it is the socio-economic background of the students much more so then the high school or school district.

Obviously there are reasons that kept her from applying and getting a MS license. This is a prime example of total incompetence by our public officials (School Board). First, to hire someone with a shady background that refuses to move to the district and second to allow her to remain in this high paid position for an entire school year. Every current school board member needs to take their incompetence to the house.

Madison County Journal editor Michael reported that he contacted Kimber Halliburton by cell phone yesterday as she was walking into a bank. She to,d Mr. Simmons that she would call him back but did not do so by press time. Maybe she was at her bank to deposit a large contract settlement check from the Madison County School District. All payments by a public entity in Mississippi are open records. It will be interesting to see how many tax dollars the school board paid Mrs Halliburton to go back home to Nashville.

2:01, more likely she was checking her options on he $700,000 house she just bought in Madison less than a month ago.

Where is Madison County? Just a swingin'

It's ridiculous to suggest an employee should be advanced because she's 'a person of color'. Go to the back of the class for that suggestion.

1:31, those test scores have increased dramatically over the years, due to the implementation of an ACT/PSAT prep curriculum created by several teachers at the school. Believe what you want, but other schools with similar (or higher) socioeconomic demographics (like Ocean Springs and Oxford) do not have the same data. It is undeniable that the kids, the parents, and their economic situations play a huge part in the success of the schools. I just personally know that my own child has benefitted from the work those teachers have done. We are grateful.

Madison County School Board members are elected on SIX year terms set by the Legislature (I believe). 2 were re-elected last fall, 1 comes up for re-election in 2020 and 2 in 2022. According to the MCS website school board meetings are held the 1st Monday of the month at 6:00 at the District Office. I'd recommend attending.

Charlotte Seals = Museum Curator

She will keep everything exactly the same...

The real problem was Haliburton treated every school the same and didn't show favoritism to Madison.

Mississippi recipicates with Tennessee on licenses. All she had to do was send a copy of her Tennessee license to the state education Dept. The whole truth about this hadn’t come out yet. I think she stepped on too many sacred toes and ruffled too many feathers. She also has a history of not kidding board memets’ Rear ends.

#1 Interim Seals likes to come and go from her office at will most days. She takes her tax payer supported check and eats with her junior league friends many days.
#2 many of the citizens In Madison County notice her cajoling with her high falutin friends as they run in those circles, too, it’s not looked upon fondly to always be eating and frolicking with your friends when you are paid by the tax payers to improve their children’s education.
#3 if you are in a position to make policies for teachers who are obviously successful (see state test scores), as Mrs. Interim was as curriculum coordinator, spend less time on your volunteer service hours. Most people serve their community in their off hours. I’m sure anyone else would be reprimanded if they left their job to attend junior league meetings while on the clock. She is paid by the state, by tax payer money.
#4 will this behavior/habits change as superintendent? Will anyone have the guts to ask her to change them? It seems as though she does just what she wants to do. No one has called out these things. Wonder why?

2016 average ACT scores: Mountain Brook, AL High School 27; Houston High (Germantown, TN) 24.9; Madison Central 22.7; Germantown, MS 21.6; Ridgeland 19.5. Madison County needs a school superintendent and school board who strive to compete academically with the highest performing schools in our neighboring states instead of constantly lauding themselves for being one of the best in Mississippi.

Charlotte Seals is well liked. That doesn't mean she does a good job. Kimber Halliburton was not well liked. That doesn't mean she was doing a bad job. You have a job to do. And your job is to perform, not to be well liked. Kimber demanded performance and accountability, and many didn't like it.

"She also has a history of not kidding board memets’ Rear ends. "

Hittin' the bottle a little early tonight, aren't ya chief?

8:17 so true. Haliburton probably found a whole lot that had been swept under the rug. She was still determined to do the work to make things right. That was too much for those who had buried the bodies. She was a most capable person. A petulant segment of the district didn't like that.

11:18 4/10 Madison County School District was ranked 14th in the report released fall 2018. They were 12 points from a B rating and 82 points lower than the top school in the state. MDE publishes the information each year. There is room for improvement and the school board hired Haliburton, who was doing a great job leading the way on that. Part of the plan was to provide resources and good leadership to schools that hadn’t received such for many years. It seems parents and students who had been treated inequitably were the ones who could appreciate this. For some reason teachers were fed all kinds of incorrect rumors about “new ideas”. Cameras in the classroom is one. Those are a common technology in other states and were not “spy” cameras. The proposed cameras are teacher controlled cameras that would allow teachers to record lessons should they be absent; or if a student is sick or on a school trip,, they could keep up at home by watching a class the teacher chose to record. Or if your school didn’t have a French teacher, this could bring access to students via recorded lessons by another teacher in the district. . The system also included a panic button should there be a medical emergency or an intruder. Instead of asking for more information, teachers chose to believe these rumors probably fed from within. Remarkably, having each student be given the chance to succeed won’t hurt anyone, yet caused fear among so many. http://www.tpcref.org/wp-content/uploads/2018-School-District-Ratings.pdf

The ladies that run the Hen House (county office) don’t like being told what to do. They are too busy doing aerobics and running personal errands. Ronnie let them do those things. Kimber didn’t.

"She was still determined to do the work to make things right. A petulant segment of the district didn't like that."

I've read hundreds of posts that came out of the Tennessee district from which we hired this clown. At least 90% of them were from people who had experienced her wrath or who had personal tales about their children or who knew of her incompetence.

Then there were the few who said precisely what is quoted at the top of my post. Who you gonna b'lieve, Luther?

April 11, 2019 at 8:17 PM - You're definitely onto something. Madison Central IS a great school and SHOULD be compared to it's "peers", but we've got to compare apples to apples. Houston High School (Germantown) has a 6% free & reduced lunch population, Mountain Brook High School has a 2% free & reduced lunch population and Madison Central High School has a 21% free & reduced lunch population (Madison County is 38%). Free & reduced lunch numbers are widely accepted to indicate poverty levels which, unfortunately, correlate to performance. A great example is the disaggregation of MS's recent NAEP scores based on poverty (MS free & reduced population is over 50%). Madison Central's ACT scores have improved to those just reported - the real test will be next year's results. If there is an upward trend (absolutely expected), MC is definitely moving in the right direction.

Well, well, well - there are some disgruntled district employees on here aren't there?

April 12, 2019 at 8:46 AM
April 11, 2019 at 10:21 PM
April 11, 2019 at 6:00 PM

And THAT'S why she "resigned"? Ok.

April 11, 2019 at 7:48 PM I sure hope she takes her taxpayer check and does whatever she wants since its HER check. She's been in the district for 30 years - I expect she's earned some flexibility through working her way up! Typically, non-hourly employees are paid on their expertise and job done, not hours worked - especially those who've earned the credentials and built up tenure as with this particular position and employee. However, when all is said and done, I'm quite sure she clocks 40+ hours.

$6 million rumored to be spent on these cameras when the district is already 1:1 with technology and can do those things using what is available. Why not use the $6 million for more responsible and for better purposes?

Sometimes I miss being a Madison County School bus driver, because all the gossip from the school staff.

"I've read hundreds of posts that came out of the Tennessee district from which we hired this clown. At least 90% of them were from people who had experienced her wrath or who had personal tales about their children or who knew of her incompetence. "

Writing from Tennessee, I can confirm that is an accurate description of the feelings of the locals up here who care about this (hint - they started caring again when they heard she had her eye on a vacant position here in Nashville)

@5:55 MCSD former teacher here. You're dead wrong on the issue of cameras. They are not teacher controlled, classrooms already have a button to push to contact the office in an emergency, teachers already have and use technology to record lessons and post them on Canvas. The district has said directly that these cameras are being put in place so that principals can observe teachers remotely. 1. I never had a problems with administrators, other teachers, or parents who wanted to come observe my classes. 2. I always welcomed input and accountability. The problem here is that classroom cameras open the door to school leaders collecting clips out of context to suggest a teacher isn't doing their job. I taught bell to bell, but there are times in any classroom where you need to spend a little time getting to know students and building trusting relationships. Instruction should take up most of the time, but building effective learning relationships is important, too. My concern would be leaders piecing together video to try to justify ousting a teacher for less than legitimate reasons. Here's a question: Would you support putting cameras in the offices of the principals and district leadership so that parents and citizens can observe the quality of their work.

Kimber is gone, though I would like to know how much the district spent to get rid of her. Maybe Kingfish will file an open records request for that info. As to the future, the powers that be in the Madison County School District need to quit bragging about being one of the best districts in Mississippi and strive to reach the level of our neighboring schools in Germantown, Tennessee, and Mt Brook, Alabama.

Well, image means everything. If you’re the boss, you don’t need to sit around gossiping at lunch at Bravo. Too many people see you and it just looks bad. Tenure or not, work your job during the hours given. Your teachers and others will respect you and do anything for you.

@2:22 I will say this. I wish my boss would put a camera in my office. After he watches it for a week or two, I would probably get a raise. I have nothing to hide, I'm not afraid of accountability, I show up and work, and I compete every day.

3:17, you mean if teachers put cameras in a classroom and prove they are doing their jobs, they will get a raise? 😂 Next... (stop trying to justify $6 million on cameras when districts are begging the state for more money. Put that money into textbooks and teacher salaries...)

Spot on 5:33!!!
If the board takes the interim hat off seals, it’s a step backwards for this school system.
Education Supe does not need to be a “nice person” JA Leager, rather a visionary with the ability to hold people accountable at all levels (especially principles that are getting away with treating workers, students and parents like dirt on their feet)! Yes, believe it or not this prestigious school system has a few of those and seals and others sit back and does nothing to rite the ship.
She may be a nice person but nice people don’t the job done in all situations. Note: if I didn’t think I’d lose my job, I would spill the beans in great detail believe me!!!

10:56, Like another poster said - a dirty little secret in Madison County is how teachers and parents are treated by administrators. As far as the parents - they think so little of them, my co-workers regularly joke about how a certain student's parent looks, it's disgusting. The administrators know that they can treat teachers like crap because there are people lined up to work in our "World Class School System"

"...strive to reach the level of our neighboring schools in Germantown, Tennessee, and Mt Brook, Alabama".

Neighbors? NEWSFLASH! Those schools are nowhere near Madison County. Nor do we have any need to attempt emulation of their districts. But, they might want to study ours. If you don't like it here, surely placing a travel link on your browser bar will get you to one of those places. You could even raise your hand and speak at PTA functions.

Superintendent Halliburton always greeted everyone in the School District equally, whether maintenance or directors. That was a nice difference for sure. As for not being certified in Mississippi, the Personnel Department are the ones responsible for making sure all paperwork is given to the new hire. I find it a bit odd that the Director of Personnel, who was responsible for making sure that certification forms in Mississippi were provided, is now Interium Superintendent. As for School Board members being responsible for a new hire’s acclimation, that is nuts. Most work full time jobs and this is an additional responsibility. It is the responsibility of the members of the District already there to acclimate a new hire. It is sad to me that a system designed to teach delves so much into politics and hard work a lot of times goes unnoticed. Kudos to all of those in the trenches because we know it is a difficult job.

April 15 9:16 am you just nailed it.