Lisa Ventura named superintendent of Maury County Public Schools
In an unprecedented move, the Maury County Board of Education unanimously voted to cease its search for a new superintendent, divert from board policy and name its current interim chief as the school districts next cheif administrator.
Lisa Ventura, Ed.D., will now serve as the school district’s next superintendent after taking on the role of interim in March.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Ventura told the board following its unanimous vote.
The board and Ventura will negotiate the details of her contract during a special-called meeting on May 18.
More: Meet the people who have applied to become Maury County's next school superintendent
To appoint Ventura to the position, the board will have to diverge from its policy which states that an acting interim superintendent cannot apply for the open position.
Unaware of the promotion
Ventura, who accepted the board’s proposal, told The Daily Herald she was unaware that the board would ask her to take the job before Tuesday night’s meeting.
“I cannot say enough about how much hard work and effort is put in every single day,” Ventura said following the meeting. “I promise I am going to double that. I have been working hard for eight weeks. I have been working hard for nine years in this district, but we are going to double that energy because we have 13,000 kids depending on us.”
Ventura takes on the role of superintendent as the school district navigates a national shortage of educators and a growing need for more facilities to accommodate the district’s growing population and students struggling to keep up with their peers across the state.
Before being named superintendent, Ventura served as the district’s director of special populations. She was the chief advisor to the county’s more than 400 special needs students.
Last year, she spearheaded an initiative to offer signing bonuses to attract more certified educators to provide care to those students amid an ongoing district-wide shortage of educators. Her plan led to five more special education instructors joining the school district and a 25% increase in the total number of special education assistants.
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“Staffing our school with qualified and certified teachers is a huge rock,” Ventura said. “We have an incredible amount of growth in this county, which is a beautiful thing, and an increasing amount of diversity in this county that just really needs to be addressed in providing academic opportunities for kids.”
Ventura said that she aims to “move the rocks” to ensure “that kids have a fair shake.”
The decision came during the board’s monthly meeting Tuesday evening, as the board was scheduled to review its top candidates for the position.
A total of 15 people applied for the role. The list of candidates included Randolph Howell Elementary School Principal Michael M. Ford, MCPS Federal Program Supervisor Renee A. Palakovic, and former Superintendent of Schools Eddie Hickman among others from outside the district.
“Throughout the past couple of weeks, it has become clear to me that perhaps the best person for the job was right under our noses the whole time,” said Wayne Lindsey, who represents District 10 on the board.
Confidence in Ventura's leadership, accomplishments
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Lindsey said it is clear that both the board and the school district’s staff have confidence in Ventura’s ability to lead the district.
Following the termination of former superintendent Michael Hickman’s contact during a special-called meeting in late February, Ventura was unanimously appointed to the role of interim superintendent by the board at the beginning of March.
Later that month, the board approved an estimated $6.5 million increase in pay for the school district’s teachers and classified staff as it prepares to begin planning its budget for the coming year.
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The increase will raise the pay of each MCPS educator and classified staff member by about $3,000 annually. In addition, each educator was also guaranteed a 1.6% raise each year under the newly-approved pay scale for 24 years.
More: Why did it take so long for Maury school board to approve teacher raises?
First time in long time board agrees
At the time, Ventura said the board’s decision showed that it was dedicated to its teachers and staff.
“From day one, I watched and saw the amount of work she put in and what she was able to accomplish,” said Chad Howell, who represents District 9 on the board. “She handled everything that we threw at her very gracefully. Why are we searching for somebody when we have somebody who is confident and capable of the job?”
Marlina Ervin represents District 6 on the board. She said constituents alongside educators and staff expressed overwhelming support for Ventura’s work.
“I believe she is a great leader who leads from the ground up,” Ervin said.
Board Chair Michael Fulbright said that that vote marks the first time in a long time that the board could all agree on a decision.
He emphasized that it was the feedback provided by members of the community and staff that compelled the board to move forward with the decision and shift from its policy.
“This is not a change that we would have initiated, but we have taken into consideration public input,” Fulbright said.
“Everybody is all over the map with their results, but there is no clear consensus on where we go from here,” Fulbright said.
Reach Mike Christen at mchristen@c-dh.net. Follow him on Twitter at @MikeChristenCDH and Instagram at @michaelmarco. Please consider supporting his work and that of other Daily Herald journalists by subscribing to the publication.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Lisa Ventura named superintendent of Maury County Public Schools
