Coffee County BOE hosts superintendent interviews

The Coffee County Schools Board of Education hosted its four finalists for the open superintendent position at a special work session on June 24, and a new superintendent is expected to be named June 29.

The four finalists included current Coffee County Schools Special Programs Coordinator Gray Harrison, Coffee County Schools Federal Programs Coordinator Kelly Cobb, Piedmont High School Principal Dr. Adam Clemons and Guntersville City Schools Chief Administrative Officer Jeff Jones.

The board presented each candidate with the same questions during the interviews and then each board member had the opportunity to ask further questions, as well.

A big topic of discussion was the importance of extracurricular activities with each finalist pointing to the importance of extracurriculars in the school system. Harrison is a long time former coach in Coffee County and Enterprise City Schools.

“I think it’s a necessity especially for secondary kids,” Harrison said. “They are very beneficial – not just sports but band and clubs and organizations – in keeping a lot of our kids in school and out of trouble. It also teaches life lessons, whether that be time commitment, hard work, effort or competition.”

Jones, who is also a former coach, said he, too, understands the importance of extracurriculars but also said there must be a balance with education.

“I understand the importance of extracurricular activities,” Jones said. “The research tells us that the kids that are involved in extracurricular activities are more successful in their lives in the future.

“I will say, though, that there has to be a balance. I have seen situations where extracurricular activities begin to interfere with our core purpose of educating students. It needs to be a part of that education but if we start to see those activities start to interfere with educating then we have to take a step back and reevaluate our priorities.”

Clemons pointed to other more unconventional extracurriculars that could benefit the school system, like E-sports.

“E-sports is a huge area that gets kids plugged in that needs to be taken advantage of,” Clemons said. “When we do our end-of-the-year presentations our E-sports kids that are getting awards aren’t involved in anything else, so it’s big for those kids. There’s also a lot of scholarship money for kids in E-sports and in others like fishing and things like that.”

Clemons also pointed to other extracurriculars that Piedmont has instilled like a Fire Academy – to push interested students into fire fighting – and even recruiting students into education.

“We have a future teachers signing day partnered with the Alabama Education Association,” Clemons said. “We make a big deal out of it. One of the most crucial issues we are facing in education is the lack of quality folks going into education.”

Cobb said the teacher shortage was one of the biggest obstacles facing the school system and is something she wants to tackle head-on if she becomes superintendent.

“One of the biggest challenges we are going to face in education is hiring quality personnel,” Cobb emphasized. “We are definitely in a teacher shortage and it is very critical that the people we employ are qualified in what they teach and also have the skill sets necessary to help make our schools successful.

“That is going to be a challenge for all of us. We are going to have to find solutions for that by being creative in our hiring and also our recruiting, as well. We have to get younger people to look at the field of education and encourage that.”

Board member Galen McWaters asked each of the candidates a question regarding controversial curriculum that he says aims to teach “revisionist history.”

“In certain areas of the country there seems to be a move from educating our students to indoctrinating our students,” McWaters said. “What is your viewpoint on certain political faction’s move to teach revisionist history in order to promote certain political agendas?

Harrison said that the school would simply teach what the state mandates in its curriculum.

“I think the role and direction of the school system’s (curriculum) has to be the direction that is provided by the Alabama State Department of Education,” Harrison said. “The curriculum that needs to be taught needs to be provided by the state board of education. I think that you stay within that realm and don’t get outside of that.”

Cobb reiterated that the curriculum comes from the state and all textbooks are approved by the board.

“I’m very passionate about what we teach to our students and how we teach it,” Cobb said. “We need to focus on the basics. We don’t need to get into theories or too much into the political climate. Teachers are charged with not putting their opinions in the classroom.

“I think we have to be more active and more informed and know what is coming through in our textbooks. I believe in the basics first and teaching factual information. I don’t believe in altering that and I don’t believe in teaching any theory that is out there at whatever level.”

Clemons – who said he considers himself a historian – said that while teachers should not stray from the curriculum, there are some things in history that aren’t taught that maybe should be.

“I do not believe that anything that has Marxist ideas or is founded on things that are not in line with the American philosophy of making America the best it can be is not productive for any student,” Clemons said. “At the same time, I have read a lot of history and have taught a lot of history and sometimes there are things that maybe aren’t taught that should be.

“I am very concerned with the way our country is going right now and as a father of five it scares me to death. It’s my responsibility as a dad, more than the school or pastor or anyone else, to make sure my kids get the education and faith and whatever else they need than it is anyone else’s.”

Each candidate was also asked what some of the weaknesses they thought Coffee County Schools had and what they would like to try and improve on if they were selected as the superintendent. Jones pointed to academic achievement as something he would like to improve.

“I think one of the strengths of Coffee County Schools is the employees,” he said. “I studied and looked at the state report card and a lot of the things you are achieving here could not be achieved without good people.

With that said, there are opportunities for improvement when it comes to academic achievement on the state report card, which is the measure of how students are doing on grade level standards. We can identify the essential standards and make sure every student has access to those grade level standards and give more time and support to those that are behind to help fill that gap.”

Cobb agreed that Coffee County Schools’ biggest strength is its teachers and that the school system has to lean on those teachers to identify weaknesses that can be strengthened.

“Our greatest strengths are our teachers. They have heart and they have soul and if you are around them you will see that,” she said. “They are the heartbeat of our schools and our schools are the heartbeat of our communities.

“We have to embrace that. We can definitely improve on some identified areas. We have to look at our data right now and see where those (teaching) gaps are and listen to our teachers who see it every day.”

Harrison said he believes the learning gaps created by the COVID-19 pandemic are the biggest obstacle for the school system.

“The biggest weakness is trying to figure out the learning gaps that we have being gone during COVID,” he said. “A kid that is virtual or one that had to be out of school with quarantine issues, trying to get those kids caught back up is big. That’s something that is going on everywhere, though.”

Clemons said that he is a big proponent of technology and electives and those are two areas he would try to improve at Coffee County Schools.

“The technology component is something I would like to work on and the limitations of electives are some things I’d like to address,” Clemons said. “

Coffee County Schools Board of Education called a special board meeting for 5 p.m. on June 29 at the school board in Elba. The board is expected to vote on a new superintendent at that meeting. For more information on that meeting, visit www.southeastsun.com or access The Southeast Sun Facebook page.