On Tuesday, May 20, JCPS held two community forums to allow community members to ask questions to the two finalists in the search for a new superintendent, Ben Shuldiner and Harold Brian Yearwood. Both of the candidates were asked the same questions.
Shuldiner has over 25 years of experience working as a teacher, principal, professor, school board member and superintendent. He was superintendent of the Lansing School District in Michigan, raising graduation rates by 26 percentage points and attendance rates by 13 percentage points. While under his leadership, Lansing also achieved the highest reading growth scores in Michigan.
Yearwood, at the age of 17, immigrated to the U.S. from Trinidad and Tobago. He has 34 years of experience working as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent combined. He was Superintendent of Columbia Public Schools in Missouri, increasing its overall performance substantially.
First forum
The first forum was held at the JCPS Center for Professional Learning from 4-6 p.m. Community members and JCPS staff were split into two separate rooms. In the rooms, students from J.M. Atherton High School distributed and recollected notecards for community members to write questions for the candidates to answer.
Hazard Young Attea Associates employee, Tahirah Vinson, asked the questions to the candidates. Question topics included priorities for JCPS, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) changes, budget deficits, definition of success, safety for all students, threats from the state legislature, truancy and bureaucracy. Yearwood alone was asked about continuing ethics and potential changes to taxes.
Schuldiner spoke to community members from 4-4:50 p.m.
Someone asked about the three biggest challenges of JCPS. Shuldiner responded that it was the lowest performing schools in one district, the amount of vacancies of teachers, and toxic workplace culture.
Shuldiner was given the question on how he would deal with breaking up JCPS into separate districts. He believes that it is more important to invest more into the kids and take them into consideration when making these decisions. He did not directly state whether he would break up JCPS or not.
Additionally, Shuldiner was asked about how he would support and protect people of different cultural belief or learning backgrounds. He highly supported the fact that he wanted everyone to feel safe and comfortable in JCPS, ranging anywhere from gun violence to religion.
“My job more than anything is to stand in front, to take the bullet for our children. That’s the deal — to make sure everyone feels protected,” Shuldiner said.
He supported his statement by giving an example from his time as Superintendent at Lansing, he ensured that immigrant students were made comfortable in their new school environment.
Someone asked about how he would deal with chronic absenteeism. He discussed that JCPS schools can reduce chronic absenteeism by allowing students to have a friendly relationship with a faculty member so that they can get the resources they need.
He gave the example of working at Lansing where he gave children and teenagers other options on schooling, increasing the attendance rate. He also put in washers and dryers in order to allow students access to clean clothes who may not be willing to come to school due to lack of this option.
Yearwood then spoke to the community members from 5-5:50 p.m.
After an introduction of himself and his life story, Vinson asked Yearwood the same questions that were asked of his competitor. He was first asked what his top priorities for improving JCPS were, which he believed were academics. He discussed how he wants to boost JCPS’ test scores and standards.
“We have to make our state average our floor, not our ceiling,” he said.
In response to a question about truancy, Yearwood, emphasized the importance of relationships with students and referenced a program he had created in Columbia requiring members of his staff to mentor at least five students each year. He also mentioned his clergy advisory committee and how he used religious institutions to encourage attendance.
In response to a question about addressing the state legislators, especially those interested in splitting JCPS, Yearwood spelled out plans to build relationships. These plans included spending time in Frankfort to highlight the strengths of JCPS, like the magnet and specialty schools.
“[The state legislators] will be my best friends,” Yearwood said.
Second forum
The second forum was held at Stopher Elementary School from 7-9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20. Community members and JCPS staff were split into the gymnasium and library, respectively. In the rooms, students from Eastern High School distributed notecards for community members to write questions for the candidates to answer in the same fashion as at the first forum, recollecting them a short time later.
Before the floor was opened for questions, both candidates presented their presentations about strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) that they had previously shown to the district’s Board of Education on May 5.
Schuldiner presented first, reflecting on the successes of his superintendent in Lansing, specifically the growth in reading and math. He then shared the parts about JCPS that he likes, including magnet programs, a robust curriculum and governance focused on student outcomes. In regards to JCPS’ weaknesses, Schuldiner criticized communication, transportation, overall academics and a lack of equitable systems. To cover threats, he discussed government interference, workforce unease and school closures.
Schuldiner concluded his presentation by looking towards opportunities, including in-depth communication, improving relationships with legislators, academic improvement, addressing the budget deficit and supporting staff.
To start his presentation, Yearwood reviewed the vision and mission statements of JCPS. He then highlighted the Career and Technical Education, career programs for middle school students and commitment to life beyond high school. In regards to weaknesses, he criticized racial achievement gaps, stagnant test scores and the budget deficit. Discussing opportunities, he highlighted chances to close achievement gaps, target intervention and extend learning opportunities. Regarding threats, Yearwood presented about persistent equity gaps, pressure from the state and staffing challenges.
After their SWOT presentations, Vinson began asking questions submitted by the community members. The question topics included achievement gap, transportation, behavior issues, multilingual learners, bureaucratic inertia, police in school and legislative relationships. Similar to the first forum, Schuldiner answered questions for 50 minutes, before Yearwood followed.
When asked a question about the racial and ethnic achievement gaps in JCPS, Shuldiner responded with an answer that mainly exemplified the successful pattern he established earlier in Lansing. While there, he appointed a graduation specialist in each high school to support those at risk of not graduating and to build strong relationships with students. He described giving administrators and people working in the central office the responsibility to also go into school buildings regularly.
In response to a question about bureaucratic inertia in JCPS, Shuldiner discussed his plans to rework and streamline the system. For JCPS employees who do not directly contribute to the success of students, Schuldiner said he plans to relocate administrative staff, who he feels could be more effective elsewhere, to classroom positions in order to help fill the substantial vacancies.
“Can you tie what you do everyday to actual kids’ learning? And if you can’t, I’m going to say ‘what about a different job?’” Shuldiner said, summarizing his plan to streamline the bureaucratic side of JCPS.
Shuldiner concluded his questions from the community members andmoved on to the JCPS staff employees. Yearwood then made his way to the gym to address the same community questions as were asked of his competitor.
In response to a question about behavior, which he referred to as one of his “pet peeves,” Yearwood emphasized the importance of safety in schools and on buses, for both students and staff. He also explained that behavior must be disciplined systematically, using trauma-informed practices.
“When a child is disruptive on a bus, they are jeopardizing the lives of those that they are riding with,” Yearwood said.
In response to a question about the role of police officers in schools, Yearwood reiterated the importance of supporting academics and fostering community. He shared a story about school safety personnel working in classrooms and coaching extracurricular activities.
“One time I saw a police [officer], he was in full uniform, at a football game, coaching the team,” Yearwood said. He continued that police officers “should be there to build rapport.”
Future steps
The community members who attended the forum were urged to fill out a form to give extensive feedback on each finalist. The board will take this information into account when considering who to make an offer to.
The JCPS board will run background checks on the finalists and make an offer in May. In the following month, contract negotiations will continue and the board will approve the final contract. The new superintendent will begin July 1.
