Clarksdale Municipal School District superintendent Dr. Earl Joe Nelson is rolling out a reorganization plan during his second year on the job with an eye on improving student performance and cutting expenses.
Returning is assistant superintendent Dr. Toya Matthews, but there are also two additional assistant superintendents, Dr. Shanta Rhodes and Dr. Janice Page.
Nelson said both new assistants worked for school districts that received A’s from the Mississippi Department of Education. Rhodes has worked in and will oversee federal programs, Pre-K to fourth grade, fifth and sixth grade and career technical education. Page will be working with Pre-K to fourth grade, fifth and sixth grade.
“Based on last year, being here a year and getting to know our culture and the things that were going on and our buildings and our students and knowing them, we made a few adjustments,” Nelson said. “One of the biggest things we wanted to do is establish teams. We established three teams this year.”
Nelson said he will have instructional, leadership and operational teams.
“Last year, I did all those things and then some things kind of bogged me down,” said Nelson, adding it took his time away from focusing on students and day-to-day operations.
Last year, Nelson said the district spent $1.6 million in consultants. Those expenses have been cut in half and Nelson believes the CMSD will save money in the long run.
“We’re looking forward to cutting into that amount with expertise of these two individuals on our team,” Nelson said.
While COVID-19 caused the district to go to virtual learning after the spring, Nelson said the goal was for the district to improve its MDE grade to a C at the end of his first year. He said the district was not there at spring break, but was in position to make necessary improvements with nine week of instruction left when the pandemic took effect.
The MDE waived accountability grades for the 2019-20 school year. The CMSD received an F in 2018-19 prior to Nelson’s tenure as superintendent.
After being in the district for one year, Nelson has been able to evaluate where he feels improvements are needed.
“What I see that we need improvement is building that foundation for literacy, building that foundation for students to read, to be able to pass our third-grade gate (test) and be successful getting throughout high school state assessment,” Nelson said.
Nelson said approximately 70 percent of kids are one to two grade levels behind in reading and the goal is to close the gap.
Clarkdsale Municipal School District had an enrollment of 2,294 students last year.
