Gadsden City school board names Maness assistant superintendent
The leadership of Gadsden City Schools is now permanently set, as the Board of Education this week voted unanimously to name Sharon Maness as the system's assistant superintendent.
Maness had held that role on an interim basis since September.
Keith Blackwell was appointed interim superintendent at the same time, following the retirement of former Superintendent Tony Reddick. The board appointed Blackwell to the permanent position last month.
Maness is a 40-year education veteran and, like Blackwell, has held multiple positions over more than two decades in the Gadsden City system.
She's been a teacher at G.W. Floyd Elementary School, assistant principal at General Forrest and Emma Sansom middle schools and principal at Emma Sansom. She served as special education director for the system, then added elementary education director to her duties.
That varied experience, Maness said, has given her “a broader view of our system, of the needs of our teachers, our parents and our students.”
Board of Education President Allen Millican said, “Her vast knowledge and expertise is exactly what we need.”
A graduate of Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Augusta, Georgia, Maness holds a bachelor of science degree in early childhood education from Clark College in Atlanta, and a master's degree in education administration from Jacksonville State University.
Before coming to Gadsden, she taught in Georgia in the Richmond County (Augusta) and Marietta City school systems, and at Holy Family and Saint Theresa Catholic schools in Jackson, Mississippi.
“I'm excited about the new position,” Maness said, “and moving forward our goal is to serve the students within our system and make sure that we engage (them) with the tools that are needed for them to succeed.”
Echoing what Blackwell said after he was appointed superintendent, Maness said her priorities include the system's reading initiative in response to the Alabama Literacy Act of 2019 that mandates that students read at grade level for promotion from the third grade, and community involvement.
“We want to build community relations with our parents, our teachers and our school system,” she said. “We want to let people know that we want to have an open-door policy, we want them to feel welcome in our system. We want them to be a part of their kids' education, the educational process, as well.”
Maness called it “a privilege” to work with a central office staff that she compared to a family. She cited Donna Smoots, director of student services; Johnnie Parker, testing and child nutrition coordinator; Marcia Farabee, director of curriculum and instruction; David Asbury, director of technology and human resources; and Hector Baeza, federal programs director.
“We're a team,” she said. “It's a team effort we're putting in to improve Gadsden City (Schools). It gives me a great advantage in the position I'm in now to have their support and to work as a team to move our system forward.”
And Maness has a strong working relationship with Blackwell, who she called “a great person,” that dates back to their days as principals in the system.
“We would communicate with each other back then,” she said. “We'd network and share ideas, concerns and strategies. It's a privilege to do that with him now.”
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Gadsden City school board names Sharon Maness assistant superintendent
