WACO, Texas — On Tuesday, July 9, a group of around 20 parents gathered in the G.W. Carver cafeteria to discuss the state of the Waco Independent School District following Dr. Susan Kincannon's retirement announcement.
The issues discussed ranged from the need of experience as a superintendent, to the impact of community relationships, preservation of existing arts programs, and how to build on existing successes within the district and more.
Megan Henderson, a Waco ISD parent whose daughter graduated from Tennyson Middle School said she wants to see the new superintendent have a strong presence in the school district and someone who understands the challenges facing independent school districts throughout the state of Texas to come in an help Waco ISD.
"We need someone who can come in and listen," Henderson said. "Some of the challenges are just cultural, I think we’re having perceptional challenges in our community in our state and in our country about the challenges and demonstration that public education is critical to the success of any community."
Henderson said the next candidate would be better suited if they understood the diversity, in both race and socioeconomic status of the district. Adding that it would better help them understand the needs of the community as a whole.
"The new superintendent needs to understand that there are students here in the community with a variety of needs," Henderson said. "When I say that we are a diverse district, we are not just a racially diverse district, we are a socioeconomically diverse district."
Wade Mackey a parent and former employee with the district that worked with students in the district's alternative education program said he feels the district has been moving back into "disproportionality" when it comes to addressing the needs of all students, as well as parents when it comes to voicing their concerns about the state of Waco ISD.
"For a district that says that we value all as part of their most basic slogan, we have not shown that we are not valuing all students in our actions over the past five years," Mackey said.
Mackey said the superintendent needs to embrace community input and engagement when forming policies, such as the bond that was voted on for behavioral positions that was repurposed to add literature positions in the district.
"People's opinions about what was going on at the high levels of the district, what the superintendent was doing, what the district was doing nobody felt like they could express those," Mackey said. "Now we're falling back towards moving into disproportionality."
Henderson said the next superintendent needs to be open to those discussions for change to happen.
"Finding the balance between what's going well in our current district and where there are opportunities for growth and change is important," Henderson said. "We're not doing everything well, but we're not doing everything poorly either."
There were two discussion sessions Tuesday, one at G.W. Carver Middle School Cafeteria from Noon - 1p.m. and another from 5:30p.m. - 6:30p.m. at the Bell’s Hills Elementary Library.
Kincannon is set to retire on September 30.
For those that were unable to attend the sessions, Waco ISD asks that you fill out the online survey on their website. You can find it at www.wacoisd.org/suptsearch.