The Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees met in a retreat work session Tuesday to discuss its performance objectives, as well as goals and objectives for Superintendent Eddie Peasant for the year
The meeting was the fifth and final stage of the district’s contract with McPherson and Jacobson LLC, the Omaha-based firm hired for the superintendent search. The meeting was conducted by McPherson and Jacobsen Mississippi consultants James Hutto and Tom Clark. All board members were present except for Vice President Lee Brand Jr. No action was taken during the session. Peasant and the board members also participated in various discussions and team-building exercises.
The three objectives laid out for Peasant are to improve the district’s accountability scores, reduce turnover of staff and improve the district’s pre-K programs.
Peasant and the board will lay out plans on execution in later meetings. The three goals were pared down from 16 originally laid out by the board and Peasant.
Hutto reminded the board members to remember the goals would be in addition to Peasant’s responsibilities as superintendent.
“Realize that he’s doing a lot every day,” Hutto said. “You know with his job, he’s got something going on all the time. We have to realize that what we talk about tonight will be in addition to the daily duties he’s doing anyway.”
The board also spent time discussing roles and responsibilities of the board and superintendent and where they differed.
Hutto lauded the SOCSD Board’s culture and advised both the board members and superintendent to not get their roles confused.
“I’ve seen board members who go off on individual tangents, and it’s really counterproductive,” Hutto said. “The board’s not designed to work like that.”
Hutto said he had also seen superintendents try to go off on tangents or take matters into their own hands.
“That’s just as bad if not worse,” Hutto said. “This is not just about board members. Eddie has his lane that he’s supposed to be in.”
Hutto also advised the board to discuss and standardize its method of visiting schools to fulfill the requirements set by the state of Mississippi. The state requires board members to spend at least one full day in district schools.
“I do fear to a certain degree that if we do it in a willy-nilly fashion, we’re going to burn up a bunch of the principal’s time,” said Board President Keith Coble