Newton School Superintendent Nola Bryant will be retiring from education at the end of the year.
Bryant formally submitted her notice of retirement during the Newton Municipal School Board’s March meeting, and the minutes of which were approved on April 10.
Bryant said she didn’t want to leave the school district after only two years, but she said it was a personal decision.
“At this time, the right thing for me to do is to step aside,” Bryant said. “On July 1, 2017, one of my lifetime dreams became a reality. I became superintendent of the Newton Municipal School District. It was apparent to me that it was now time for me to live my dream.
“I have decided to retire and follow the next phase of my dreams, for which I do not know where that path will lead. This decision is definitely bitter-sweet. Yes, bitter because I desired to see all of the goals that I had set for the district be achieved before I left. Yes, sweet because God has manifested one of my dreams, and I was able to experience it with you—the community of Newton. I hope that I have left a legacy of hard work, perseverance, and integrity with you.”
Bryant thanks the Board of Trustees and the staff of the schools for their hard work over the last two years.
“One thing that I have tried to instill in our teachers is to see the champion in each of our students,” Bryant said. “If you don’t see the champion in your students, they will never believe that they can be a champion. I think that our students and teachers believe in that, and it is showing in their achievement.”
In related action, the school board has accepted a proposal from the Mississippi Association of School Boards to conduct a search for a new superintendent. No timetable was available at this time for when a new superintendent could be hired.
The school board approved all of the consent agenda except for several policy revisions for adoption. The board tabled the action so that board attorney Brian Mayo can review the policies.
Board member Alice Dawkins-Hopson expressed deep concern for policies regarding selection of the selection of the senior class valedictorian and salutatorian.
Bryant said the policy was based the handbook, discussions she had with Newton High School Principal Shernice Wilson and reviewing policies from other districts. Bryant said the selection of the valedictorian and salutatorian are in the handbook, but there was no policy reflecting that procedure. Any changes to the selection process wouldn’t change until the 2019-2020 school year if it was adopted.
Dawkins-Hopson also had an issue with another policy being presented that applied to employees. She felt that the policy, if it was passed before being reviewed by Mayo, would potentially the district liability.
“Policies can cause the school district to be sued,” Dawkins-Hopson said. “In my opinion, we don’t need to decide on any new policies until they have been first reviewed by our board attorney. And that needs to happen prior to it coming to us.”
Board member Lavera Chapman also said the issue of not submitting policies to Mayo prior to it coming to the school board is something they have had issues with during Bryant’s tenure.
“I believe we noted that in your evaluation,” Chapman said.
Also, Dawkins-Hopson took exception to an $850 attorney bill in the claims docket that came from someone other than Mayo. She said Bryant shouldn’t have sought another attorney and was the lone vote against approving the claims docket.
“You don’t need to be using another attorney when we already have an attorney for the school district,” Dawkins-Hopson said.
The district also accepted a big from Victor Bugg to use 159 acres of hunting and fishing land for $1,200 a year for the next five years. They also tabled a land lease transfer until they could make sure all of the potential owners were contacted.
School board members also questioned the revised graduation date of May 24 instead of May 17. Bryant said the calendar had to be revised because they didn’t allow enough days of instruction for the school year. She said the calendar was revised in July 2018 and was supposed to be distributed to the public. She said it was correct on the website
School board members, however, were unaware of the change until it showed up in their packed a couple of months ago.
“Some parents have even ordered their invitations with the wrong date on it,” Chapman said. “Why wasn’t this communicated to us and the parents?”
The board also had three executive sessions to discuss matters.
