Three SPS board members explain their vote against longer contract for superintendent

Three Springfield school board members who voted against extending the contract of Superintendent Grenita Lathan said they still believe she has the skills, knowledge and experience to do the job.

In explaining the vote, members Maryam Mohammadkhani, Kelly Byrne and Steve Makoski said they had questions about the longstanding practice of giving superintendents a rolling, three-year contract.

They also expressed interest in having more time to evaluate her progress before extending employment beyond the 2025-26 year.

Byrne and Makoski singled out ongoing concerns about student achievement and behavior as factors in their decision. Mohammadkhani has talked about those issues in board meetings but did not explicitly identify them Thursday as reasons for her vote.

"I'd like to see some more focus on that, the discipline and the academic achievement of our students because it is our job, it is what we are supposed to be doing," Makoski said Thursday, in an interview with the News-Leader.

"The tone that I use in this case is that I fully support Dr. Lathan at this point with the exception of not extending her contract for a year. That doesn't mean that that could not change on my behalf but I'd like to see us get a little bit more on track in those areas."

Lathan was offered and accepted a one-year contract extension after the 4-3 vote Tuesday. The personnel matter was decided behind closed doors, which is permitted under the Sunshine Law.

The vote, marking the end of the annual evaluation process, was made public Thursday.

By a one-vote margin, a majority of the board voted in favor of extending Lathan's contract through June 30, 2027. Those votes were cast by Danielle Kincaid, Scott Crise, Judy Brunner and Shurita Thomas-Tate.

Hired in mid-2021, Lathan was unanimously offered contract extensions in 2022 and 2023. Mohammadkhani, Byrne and Makoski have been part of one or more of those votes.

As president, Kincaid said despite the vote, the board "unanimously supported" the district leader who has worked in several other states.

"The 4-3 vote does not indicate a lack of confidence in her leadership," she said Thursday. "The 4-3 vote represents a disagreement between board members about a rolling, three-year superintendent contract and a desire by some board members to have some additional time to evaluate Dr. Lathan before extending her contract."

Asked what message a split vote sent, Kincaid said: "The overall message was the board supports her and her work and we continue to support her as leader of the district," she said. "She will be giving us her (annual) goals in the next couple weeks so we'll have an opportunity to weigh in on the goals."

Each year, as part of the evaluation, the board reviews how much progress is made toward past goals and reviews goals for the coming year.

"Over the past year, her leadership goals have focused specifically on preparing success-ready students and achieving organizational efficiency and effectiveness." Kincaid said. "We are encouraged by the progress.”

This year, Lathan received high marks for community engagement, expanding outreach with district employees and implementing the mission, vision and goals of the district with honesty, integrity and ethic practices. The board also highlighted fiscal responsibility and accountability and the efforts to align curriculum and instructional strategies to support student learning.

“I appreciate the continued support of the Board of Education and all of Team SPS,” Lathan said Thursday, as part of a news release. Her annual salary is $335,234.

“Springfield is my home and serving all SPS stakeholders as superintendent brings me great joy and a deep sense of purpose. We will continue to dream big while delivering on our promises in the best interests of the students, staff and community we serve.”

"Creating a sense of urgency"

Mohammadkhani, Byrne and Makoski had similar reasons for voting against the contract extension.

"Dr. Lathan has shown the skills necessary to continue to lead SPS forward as well as some positive results. I have always had an issue with the standard practice of this district and others in the state of annually extending the contract out three years. Two is reasonable. Three can be too far," Byrne said, in a written statement.

Byrne continued: "SPS still has some challenges including stagnant academic progress and persisting behavior and discipline issues. At this time, it's my obligation as a board member to express a sense of urgency with our one employee to press forward in a way that will produce measurable results and I'm confident that over the next 2-1/2 years, she will do just that."

Mohammadkhani said her "full belief in Dr. Lathan's abilities remains unchanged." She said she has and will continue to support Lathan's work advancing the mission and vision of the district, which is set by the board.

"Dr. Lathan has the knowledge, the skill set, and the experience necessary to lift us up and move us forward. I have faith in the district's strategic plan and I see the essential pieces moving into place, but I also recognize the urgency that surrounds the difficult work that goes into achieving our goals," she said, in a written statement.

"Considering the progress and successes of the last 2-1/2 years, my position conveys the trust I place in Dr. Lathan's ability to right this ship in the next 2-1/2 years, while creating a sense of urgency by not voting to approve a third year extension at this early juncture as the board continues to monitor ongoing progress."

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In an interview, Makoski said his vote does not mean Lathan is "not living up" to the board's expectations. He said to address student achievement and behavior concerns, he wants to see more changes.

"As an example, removing distractions from the classrooms. That would be technology, like cell phones," he said. "To me, if an educator has full autonomy within their classrooms, there are some educators that will decide maybe they want cell phones in their classroom, maybe they don't."

Makoski said he has been an advocate for Lathan and talked to her on air as part of a KWTO radio show he hosts, as a guest, at different times.

"I've had her on the radio and I have talked and helped out as much as I could to actually be her cheerleader. I think that is evident," he said.

Crise, Kincaid and Mohammadkhani are running for re-election. They are among a slate of seven candidates on the April 2 ballot along with Landon McCarter, Susan Provance, Chad Rollins and Kyler Sherman-Wilkins. The three with the most votes with be sworn in mid-April.

Three-year superintendent contracts

Under state law, contracts for school superintendents cannot exceed three years.

"It is extremely rare not to have a multi-year contract, two or three years, and the vast majority in larger districts are three-year contracts," said Doug Hayter, executive director of Missouri Association of School Administrators. "What Springfield is doing is not unusual, for a school district their size, to recruit and retain a quality school leader who is going to stay with their district."

Hayter said there has been significant turnover of district leaders in the past five years. Since 2019, there have been 454 superintendent vacancies and 306 of those were filled by first-time superintendents.

"We have a lot of openings, a lot of transition in a difficult job," Hayter said. "There are fewer and fewer candidates applying for positions."

Asked why the rolling three-year contract, with the possibility of one-year extensions, became standard, Hayter said it was to attract top candidates.

"For any organization, it takes several years to learn the district, figure it out. It is a difficult job. It can be highly politized," Hayter said. "It (offers) a level of stability for someone to say 'I'm going to sell my house, move my family, take on a totally new responsibility' but have some security of length of service."

Not specific to Springfield, Hayter was asked what a split vote on a superintendent contract typically signifies.

"Most superintendents would tell you a split vote would be concerning. It certainly depends on the context, why a vote occurred that way," he said. "But it is a team effort. The Board of Education has one employee technically and that is the superintendent of schools and certainly they can and should disagree on issues but hopefully ultimately come together as a team to work together."

Hayter said, in general, a fractured relationship between a board and superintendent can impact other areas.

"That trickles down not only to that relationship but through the entire district," he said.

Claudette Riley covers education for the News-Leader. Email tips and story ideas to criley@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Three on SPS board explain vote not to extend superintendent contract