The search for a new KCK schools superintendent may be about to take a bizarre swerve

Employees and patrons of Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools are awaiting the coming week with trepidation.

Many expect the board of education to vote Tuesday night on a superintendent to replace Cynthia Lane, who is retiring on June 30. And they fear the board will pass up Lane’s heir apparent — a trusted and admired deputy superintendent — for an outsider with no knowledge of the district or the community.

After months of inactivity since Lane announced her retirement plans in January, the school board has kicked into high gear. A search firm presented a slate of candidates, which the board winnowed down to a list of six prospects. Over the last couple of weeks, three of the candidates have withdrawn from consideration.

Board members decided on two finalists, who appeared at public forums last week and also interviewed with the school board.

One finalist is Jayson Strickland, the deputy superintendent whom Lane has been grooming as her replacement. A 1989 graduate of the district’s Washington High School, Strickland has spent his entire career in the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools. He’s been a teacher and principal, and has overseen elementary instruction and curriculum for the district. At the start of a public forum last week, audience members rose to their feet and applauded Strickland for more than a full minute. He received a similar show of appreciation as the event ended.

Patrons were less enthralled with the second candidate. Charles Foust had been an administrator with the Houston School District before moving to Union County Public Schools in North Carolina a little less than a year ago. In 2016 he was on the short list of candidates for superintendent jobs in Minneapolis and Bentonville, Ark.

When questioned at the public forum, Foust said his wife and children currently reside in the Houston area, and would likely not move to Kansas City if he gets the job here. 

That was just one area of concern for the audience. People who attended said Foust seemed confused about Diploma Plus — the effort to make certain that every student graduates with credentials beyond a high school diploma. That initiative is the heart of the district’s strategic plan. 

Patrons said Foust also seemed clueless about Kansas school financing — understandable, but not good for a prospective superintendent.

“I was not happy with Dr. Foust’s approach to change,” Sally Murguia, a former parent and district volunteer, wrote on a blog called Effective KCK School Board. “He gave glib plans with no indication that he would first seek to understand the local situation. I felt that he spoke as if we in KCK cannot solve problems or understand our own issues.”  

Audience members were asked to fill out forms listing the strengths and weaknesses of the two candidates after the forums. People who attended the session with Foust said many forms were handed in with the “strength” section left empty and the “weakness” section spilling off the page.

“I hope the board read these and took them seriously,” Murguia wrote in her post.

But many fear the board is beyond convincing.  As we wrote in May, the seven-member board has been taken over by a faction of five members who seem to think that the current administration — though highly regarded throughout the region and the state of Kansas — is somehow defective.

The board faction, led by vice president Valdenia Winn, has been vague about exactly what they think Lane’s administration is doing wrong, other than saying they’d like to see the district hire more employees of color and dole out more contracts and favors to local businesses and groups.

But it’s clear that Winn and her followers want a break from Lane’s administration, as well as a superintendent they can control. The newcomer eager to land a superintendent’s post could be just their ticket.

Shanta Bailey, a Sumner High School graduate, tells The Pitch she takes pride in being a product of the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools, with its reputation for stability and caring about students of all races, ethnicities and backgrounds. “I think we’re headed in the right direction,” she says.

Bailey attended the meet-and-greet sessions with Strickland and Foust. Like others, she came away worried about Foust’s commitment to the district.

“I’ve never seen Kansas City, Kansas, as a stepping stone district, and I would hate to see it be that way now,” she says.

After the public forums, Bailey said she observed patrons gathering in groups in the parking lot of the central office building. 

“There were more parking lot meetings the second night [after Foust’s presentation ] than the first night,” she says. “People were concerned about  [Foust’s] credentials but, to be honest, they were more concerned about whether we were going to be heard by the board.”

District patrons will have a chance for public comment at the start of Tuesday’s 5 p.m. board meeting, but must register by noon Monday with the school board clerk, Susan Westfahl, at 913-279-2235. Citizens can also email school board members ahead time. 

“If you ask the community’s input you’d better listen to it,” Bailey says.

Few people, though, have any confidence that is what’s going to happen. 

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