Board president shares details on community input session ahead of event

By Jazmine Knight

As part of the St. Joseph School District’s superintendent search, the district is inviting the community to voice their opinions.

St. Joseph School Board President LaTonya Williams shared details on how the input session will work and tips for giving constructive feedback.

“It’s not going to be like an open forum kind of thing. It’s to look at the information that they’ve already received,” she said.

Each session is hosted at a St. Joseph School District middle school and lasts an hour. Parents, staff and the community are invited to participate in the discussion in the absence of board members to discuss the results of a communitywide survey that was sent out earlier last month.

“I’m just glad that there is an open process like this for everybody,” said Williams.

Williams said the board is looking for what type of individual the community wants to see in this role.

“Are you wanting more of a community-minded person? Are you wanting a person that has kids in the district?” she said. “Are you wanting a brand new superintendent? Are you wanting one that has a specialty in HR or finances?”

Going into this process, Williams said she’s completely open-minded. As a community member herself, she wants people to know that she’s thankful for the community and she hears the community’s opinions and frustrations.

“Lots of times the people will be like, ‘The board isn’t listening to the people’ or that the board isn’t understanding,” she said. “I’m also a taxpayer. I also have kids in the schools. And so I completely understand where they’re coming from.”

Overall, she’s excited to bring the people of St. Joseph along in the process.

“It’s important to instill trust and commitment and buy-in. If you’re a part of a process, if it makes you care more about the process, and then it also makes you care more about the outcome of the process,” she said.

She encourages community members to stray away from negative comments or complaints during the session. She said it’s not time to air out grievances but instead time to create a positive environment for the new superintendent to step into.

“Being extra negative isn’t productive. And it’s actually counterproductive, and it’s only going to do more harm than good,” said Williams.

Williams said the Missouri School Board Association met with a teachers union last night to get input from them as well. She said the MSBA will also be meeting with the business community, administration and other local leaders and organizations to hear their opinions as well.

After the input sessions on Wednesday, the board’s next step is to meet with MSBA and discuss results of the community input session. From there, the St. Joseph Board of Education and MSBA will develop a job description based on the community’s feedback.

“Then also on the other hand, we’ve already received a lot of attention about the job opening, and it’s not even out there to apply for it and that gives us lots of hope,” she said.

For those who are unable to attend the community input sessions or are comfortable with the process, feel free to voice your opinions or concerns by emailing the board and letting them know. Their email addresses can be found at https://www.sjsd.k12.mo.us/our-district/board-of-education.

There will be three locations for Wednesday’s input sessions:

Spring Garden Middle School, 4-5 p.m.

Bode Middle School, 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Robidoux Middle School, 7-8 p.m.