The Mississippi Association of School Superintendents (MASS) will soon be under new leadership following the retirement of Executive Director Sam Bounds.
Public education veteran Phillip Burchfield, a native of Ackerman and graduate of Mississippi State University, has been selected to replaced Bounds, who also recently retired as superintendent of the Clinton Public School District.
Prior to closing out his career in the Clinton Public School District, Burchfield served as the superintendent of the Starkville School District from 2003 to 2008.
The MASS and the Alliance of Educational Leaders of Mississippi is a non-profit association made up of 144 public school superintendents and 2,000 public school administrators.
Burchfield called this an exciting time to be a part of the organization, and thinks this will be a transformational era as the MASS prepare for the challenges of the future
“I look forward to working with our membership as we find even more ways to strengthen our impact,” Burchfield said. “We’re developing a number of new Web-based services that offer more convenience and choices to our members, and there are more innovative projects on the horizon that we plan to introduce in the coming months.”
Burchfield’s 42-year career in public education began as a junior high science teacher, which led to administrative opportunities such as principal at Clinton High School and his different roles as superintendent in three Mississippi school districts.
Burchfield graduated with a bachelor’s degree in zoology from MSU and later earned his Doctor of Education degree from MSU in 1995.
Bounds first joined the MASS as its executive director in 2004 and despite stepping away from the organization’s day-to-day operations, he will remained committed to supporting the state’s educational system.
“It’s not just a career, it’s been a huge part of my life,” Bounds said. “One can’t walk out of here at the end of the day and leave it behind, so count on me to remain active in my pursuit of new and better opportunities for education.”