Transfer of Kennedy Principal to Wellington High School has some people concerned

April 12, 2018 Cueball

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — At its Monday meeting, the Wellington school board approved the hiring of Stephanie Smith as the new assistant high school principal for the fall of 2018. The hiring has raised a few eyebrows.

Stephanie Smith

Smith will be transferring out as the Kennedy Elementary Principal, a position she has held the past two years to become a high school administrator. She will be replacing Janet Doud, who is becoming the Wellington Middle School principal after Jamie Ybarra submitted his resignation earlier in the year.

The shuffling of administrators isn’t unusual, but the timing of this one is. Smith leaves Kennedy after spending a year of implementing the School Redesign Project Initiative which is to be launched this fall. The project is a new educational pilot program through the KASB in which Kennedy Elementary students as well as WHS Freshmen and Sophomores will learn a new concept in which students will work at their own pace outside a classroom structure on core curriculum subjects with the assistance of a teacher (see story here).

The concern with many Kennedy teachers is Smith has been the leader of the project, has spent a year traveling to other states learning about the project, and has been moving teachers toward the new concept all year. Suddenly, a portion of the Kennedy teaching staff feel, she is leaving for the high school at its most critical juncture – its implementation.

Mark Whitener

“It is as if she is dumping it in our laps and moving on,” said one Kennedy teacher, who wished not to be identified.

Wellington Superintendent Mark Whitener said he could not elaborate on personnel but did have this to say:

“When USD 353 has an opening, it is posted for all and qualified employees are welcome to apply. Principals select candidates for interview and then make a recommendation to the superintendent. I then take a recommendation to the board.”

When asked if the Redesign Project will continue to be implemented at Kennedy he said it will go on as scheduled.

USD 353 will now start the advertising process for a new Kennedy Elementary Principal. However, some teachers worry that the new principal will be a step behind, having not participated in the development of the Redesign Project.

Kennedy is the only Wellington Elementary that will launch the program in the Fall of 2018. The timeline is set in which students in Kennedy and the freshmen and sophomores in the high school will start the project in the fall. The rest of the schools will follow suit thereafter after the experimental stage.

Pat Zeka

Wellington school board member Pat Zeka, the lone board member to vote against it, expressed her concern:

“There is a brand new principal with no experience or without a whole year of training, visitation, staff development, etc. What’s worse is Kennedy has had nine different administrators in 19 years – that’s a new principal every two years. That’s not good for anything to change.”

Smith was unavailable for comment and she is out of the school building until Monday.

Linda Ledesma, who has been a parent and grandparent at Kennedy Elementary and a site council member, addressed the board on Monday expressing her concerns and love of the elementary.

Since then she has provided Sumner Newscow a letter she sent to Mr. Whitener. Ledesma wrote:

If the school district is making this pilot program, why would you feel it would be ok to take the principal who has been involved from the get go out and move her to another building? Have you attended any meetings with the staff at Kennedy?

Have you spent time getting to know any of the parents of kids at Kennedy? I think Mrs. Smith is a good leader and has started with the re-design. if you take her from Kennedy at this time, it sends the same message the Kennedy has for years: that the staff nor the students deserve consistent leadership.

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In other school board news:

•Impact Bank was named the financial institution to handle USD’s financial services for the coming school year;

•Renewed the OPAA food services project.

•Heard information from PI Group of Lenexa on how the school could save on energy consumption with a 20-year long-term plan.