New SJSD superintendent optimistic for her turn to lead
The St. Joseph School District's next superintendent knows she has work ahead of her but said she's ready for the challenge.
Ashly McGinnis, the district's current assistant superintendent of academic and education services, was selected from a pool of 25 candidates in December to lead the St. Joseph Schools. She will begin in her new role on July 1, taking over from Gabe Edgar, who is retiring.
"I've been here for 18 years," said McGinnis. "I'm very invested in our community and care for our staff. And I'm just excited to continue working in our district."
McGinnis began her career with St. Joseph School District as a substitute teacher and worked her way up, serving as an assistant principal, athletic director and teacher at Truman Middle School and principal at Lafayette High School before moving into district administration. With her new role, she has some big goals.
"Our biggest priorities are the vision forward action steps and the long-range plan," McGinnis said. "Our board has committed to those plans and we're making progress on them now. It's definitely not going to happen overnight, but we've been making progress on those things."
When it comes to taking over from Edgar, McGinnis said she believes she's ready.
"I'm in the middle of the transition process now, which is great that I have the opportunity to learn from some leaders who have been in the game a little bit longer than I have," she said. I'm fortunate enough that I've been here for 18 years and so, I do know the ropes a bit."
One big issue McGinnis said she wants to work more on is the recruitment and retention of staff.
"I have to say, our biggest asset is our staff, it's our people," McGinnis said. "I'm very committed to our staff and want to make sure that one of our focuses is on retaining and recruiting high-quality staff. I think that's super important for our climate and culture in our district."
McGinnis will be paid $210,000 in her new role, a salary that's less than the $225,000 Edgar started at when he was named superintendent in 2022. Edgar currently is paid $251,235.
School board members told News-Press NOW Edgar’s initial salary in the role was higher because he had several years of prior experience as a superintendent in other districts and also had served as St. Joseph's assistant superintendent.
McGinnis said she's not focusing on salary but rather other aspects of her hiring.
"It's exciting for our district to have a female superintendent," McGinnis said. "It's been a very long time since we've had a female superintendent."
SJSD's first female superintendent was Melody Smith, who served from 2006-2013.
