Superintendent Grenita Lathan credits communication, accountability for 'great' first year

As soon as Grenita Lathan was hired as Springfield's superintendent, a job she has now held for one year, the messages started pouring in.

Parents, taxpayers and school employees plied her with questions. They told her what they loved about the state's largest district and what changes they wanted to see.

"Some things I could answer immediately," Lathan recalled. "Others I had to research."

Lathan kept all the correspondence and the responses she initially provided. During her first year, she has referred back to the messages to "see if I kept my word."

"Even if people don't remember, it's important to me for me to remember if a compliment has been provided or a concern or a question," she said.

Those early exchanges — and a commitment to accountability and personal interaction — set the tone for how Lathan planned to lead.

"She is brutally honest, down-to-earth. There is no guile. What you see is what you get," said Hal Higdon, chancellor of Ozarks Technical Community College. "Her take on the way to lead a school district is so refreshing."

Lathan, an educator for three decades, moved to the Ozarks after a three-year stint as the interim superintendent of the Houston Independent School District. She previously worked in Illinois and California.

New superintendents inherit districts shaped by the priorities and funding and staffing decisions of their predecessors — both good and bad — and that was certainly true for Lathan.

More: Springfield Public Schools will scale back technology use, home access in early grades

She took the reins as the district was setting new graduation rate records, expanding its "choice" or magnet programs, improving mental health resources, adding services to its Launch virtual learning platform and wrapping up building projects funded by the $168 million bond issue approved in 2019.

Lathan arrived in mid-2021 and also immediately faced difficult decisions about school start times, busing eligibility, diversity training and student reading and math scores that hovered at or below the state average.

In her first year, the district — like many in Missouri and beyond — experienced soaring inflation, supply chain issues, and severe staff shortages.

There have been significant changes in central office and school leadership, prompted largely by retirements, and an internal audit that exposed systemic deficiencies.

First challenge was COVID surge

Lathan stepped into the new role just as the Springfield community experienced another surge in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last fall, students and staff were required to mask in school buildings and vaccinations were strongly encouraged.

In a recent interview, Lathan described "everything as it relates to COVID" — including the heated debate over masking — as the biggest test of the past year, noting there was little relief until February.

"It was a challenge not only as a new superintendent coming into a new community, and a new state, but it was just a lot socially and mentally and physically on our staff, our parents and our students," she said.

Clif Smart, president of Missouri State University, said he was impressed with how she navigated the situation.

"Dr. Lathan began her tenure just as the Delta variant arrived in Springfield, just when we thought we were beginning to return to normal," Smart said. "She jumped in, addressed COVID as part of the community leadership team and worked with the community to create new partnerships and programs."

Smart noted Lathan's willingness to collaborate on a program aimed at exposing more high school students to teaching as a career option.

"We appreciate the partnerships we’ve developed over the last year, including our 'Grow Your Own' program, a district-wide initiative that identifies high school and college students who want to become educators," he said.

He also appreciated her commitment to the new AgAcademy, a collaboration between the district and MSU made possible by a donation from William H. and Virginia Darr and the Darr Family Foundation.

"We are also very excited about the upcoming opening of the agriculture education magnet school for Springfield students at the William H. Darr Agricultural Center," he said.

Higdon said he and Lathan hit it off right away and the relationship between the college and the district "strengthened the day she got here."

"Our first meeting was 'What can I do to help you?'" he recalled.

After that meeting, OTC agreed to pay for a career navigator that is placed full-time at Hillcrest High School.

"She needed help with Hillcrest and we wanted to be helpful," he said. "OTC has a full-time employee at Hillcrest who does nothing but help students with their career plans whether they're going to MSU, Drury, Evangel or wherever. And that never would have happened before."

Higdon said Lathan is one of his favorite educators and he hopes she stays in the job for many years. He said: "I already consider her a personal friend and I think Springfield is darn lucky to have her."

Lathan, one of 40 applicants, was the unanimous choice for the job. She was given a starting salary $300,000.

Lathan: Politics 'comes with the job'

Springfield, like many U.S. districts, has been caught up in highly politicized debates on a range of topics from masking to critical race theory.

The district is facing two lawsuits: In August 2021, two employees filed a federal lawsuit alleging mandatory staff training on diversity violated their rights. In November, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit alleging the district had violated the Sunshine Law in responding to his office's request for "records relating to critical race theory and anti-racist teaching."

Schmitt, who is running for the U.S. Senate, has also demanded the district provide his office information on elementary textbook purchases, COVID-19 cases during the past school year, and surveys sent to students.

Asked what it has been like to operate in a highly politicized environment, Lathan said "it comes with the job."

"Everyone in this community, everyone in the school district, should be focused on student outcomes and ... ensuring that every child receives a quality education," she said. "I believe in my heart of hearts everyone is committed to that. Now how we get there is what we're working through right now."

More: In emails, three SPS board members criticized district's 'defiant' response to Missouri AG

Politics also seeped into the recent school board campaigns. Two hotly contested races, in 2021 and 2022, resulted in the rare ouster of an incumbent and the nearly complete turnover of the seven-member governing body.

Only two members of the current board — Denise Fredrick and Shurita Thomas-Tate — were involved in Lathan's hiring.

Lathan received high marks and a contract extension at her first evaluation in January.

"It has been a pleasure to observe Dr. Lathan in her work over the past year. I have personally found her to be approachable, kind and responsive and I have heard similar feedback from many others," said Fredrick, board president.

"She values listening and has welcomed questions in a variety of in-person and virtual settings, also taking the time to follow up with answers and possible solutions to the challenges presented."

At the board table and in recent board emails obtained by the News-Leader, questions have been raised about how the board oversees its one employee.

"When you receive additional or new board members, you've got to go through the whole process of a team coming together. It took us a year to come together ... as my central office team, and we'll do that," she said.

"All board members have tried, or are trying, to find out where they fit in and we're working through understanding the role of the superintendent, the role of the school board and it's an ongoing process of understanding how to balance the roles."

Lathan spent much of her first year listening to different stakeholders and learning about the district and the community it serves.

Fredrick said the entry plan that resulted — presented publicly in December — was the result of a "thorough assessment of SPS."

"I believe in her vision for the future," Fredrick said. "And I look forward to continuing to support Dr. Lathan's leadership as we work together to maximize the learning experience and academic achievements of every student."

'She values relationships with all staff'

Asked about wins during the first year, Lathan touted the efforts she's made to connect with others face-to-face.

She is proud of creating the SPS University, an idea she brought in from a prior district, an event where families can talk to school officials, including Lathan, and access school and community resources.

"I've modeled for our staff and our parents and community that I'm accessible," she said, "I believe in hearing from not only our staff but hearing from our parents and community and trying to address those concerns."

This year, Lathan visited the district's different office buildings to meet with staff and go over the entry plan, the budget and other aspects. It is a process she plans to continue at least quarterly.

"It's important that they hear from me as the leader and they have an opportunity to ask me questions, give me wonderings or give me ideas," she said.

Lathan said issues raised in those meetings are tracked and specific items are assigned to her staff for follow-up. She expects a report back on what happened.

Laura Mullins, president of the Springfield National Education Association, said there have been "positive changes" as a result of Lathan's leadership.

"It is clear she values relationships with all staff and makes an effort to build them. She has done an amazing job in very quickly getting to know every aspect of the district, identifying areas of concern, and acting on them," Mullins said.

"She is a confident leader and I believe every decision she makes moves her closer to meet the goals she has set for herself and SPS."

Mullins said Lathan, like any leader, has room for improvement.

"One of the downsides to making quick decisions can be an inability to consider all input from stakeholders," Mullins said. "We are hopeful that continued regular meetings with SNEA leadership will provide opportunities for feedback before the changes are made."

Springfield NEA expressed concern about Lathan's decision to add to the "administrative infrastructure" while there are "numerous unfilled positions that directly impact student learning."

It was feedback from employees that prompted her to successfully push for setting $14 as a new minimum hourly wage in the district. Most employees now make $15 an hour or more.

Springfield NEA, which represents multiple employee groups including teachers in the collective bargaining process, secured an average pay bump of 5 percent for the 2022-23 year, with some groups seeing double-digit increases.

Lathan said improving pay for staff was a highlight of the past year along with the board approving a new universal screener, which will allow teachers to assess students at the beginning, middle and end of each year.

The board approved new rules for busing eligibility that maintained most but not all of the momentum gained during an expansion a year ago. With that, after gathering input from staff and families, the district also retooled start times for the upcoming year.

She scaled back the district's reliance on technology for elementary, starting this fall.

The district also provided free books to its youngest students in May and pushed literacy, including visits by Clifford the Big Red Dog, during its summer program, Explore.

She hired a new chief human resources director, who joined the district this month, and pushed for systemic changes that will improve HR record-keeping.

Lathan, who is married and has a daughter in college, said she has found ways to plug into the community.

She is involved with Community Partnership of the Ozarks, United Way of the Ozarks, Downtown Council of Champions, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She is also active in the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

Lathan said she has long been a supporter of Girl Scouts and hopes she will be invited to help out locally.

She said the first year has been busy but productive. She acknowledged the role can be exhausting at times.

"Some Saturdays I do zonk out for a while, I'll be honest with you, where I'm just on the couch, resting and reading my books," she said.

Lathan said she is happy to be in Springfield and is looking forward to her second year.

"Thank you not only to our school board for their support this past year, through my first year, but also to staff and the community. It was a great year," she said. "This is truly a collaborative community. People who have lived here who have not lived other places, they take that for granted."

Claudette Riley is the education reporter for the News-Leader. Email news tips to criley@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: SPS superintendent Grenita Lathan looks back at 'great' first year