(St. Louis Public Radio) – Dr. Tiffany Anderson, whose performance as superintendent of the Jennings school district has raised the schools’ accreditation and garnered national acclaim, may soon be moving on.
Anderson is one of two finalists for the superintendent’s post in Topeka, Kan. She spoke with officials of the district and others at a meet and greet session Tuesday night; the other finalist, Frank Harwood, central administrator of schools in Bellevue, Neb., was scheduled to hold a similar session Wednesday night.
Patrick Woods, president of the Topeka school board, said that after both candidates have had meetings with board members, a final selection will be made, possibly as early as this week.
“We’re going to certainly try and work diligently to get it wrapped up as soon as possible,” Woods said. “You make a decision, and then you into enter negotiations with whoever the top candidate is, and try and see what you can work out.”
Reached briefly by phone on Wednesday, Anderson said she wouldn’t discuss the Topeka situation until it is settled, including whether she had applied for the job or whether she was recruited.
“I can’t comment on anything now,” she said. “I’ll wait and comment until everything is over with, and then we’ll connect.”
In an emailed statement Wednesday, Anderson said she would be “one of few African-American women superintendents in Kansas and the first African-American female superintendent in Topeka, Kan., if she is offered the role and chooses to accept.”
Working in Topeka would put Anderson closer to her family. Her husband is a physician in Kansas City, where their son attends school, so she regularly commutes between there and St. Louis County.
In the email, she noted that her daughter would be graduating from Saint Louis University this coming December and her son attends the University of Kansas.
“Like Jennings,” the statement said, “the majority of students in Topeka receive free/reduced lunch and they are also focused on equity issues and closing the achievement gap.”
During the session Tuesday night, Anderson addressed one of the biggest issues in Topeka schools – funding – according to WIBW television.
“Rather than tackling the way schools are funded, … really looking at what we are doing with what we have,” she said. “That’s the first piece, and then making sure that there is a relationship built with legislators to better understand the needs in the district.”
Anderson has been a nonstop cheerleader for Jennings, making sure its achievements are recognized. The district’s score on the annual state report card has risen steadily since she became superintendent in 2012 and moved into full accreditation territory in 2014. It rose even more last year, prompting the state school board to grant the district’s request for full accreditation.
She has said repeatedly that success in Jennings shows that students who come from low-income homes can learn as well as anyone else.
“What we’re showing is that poverty doesn’t make a difference,” Anderson said last month. “Your ZIP code should not determine what kind of education you get, and we’re showing that it doesn’t have to.”
Her accomplishments have drawn national recognition, with stories from NPR, the Washington Post, Slate and others hailing her as a superwoman who has figured out some of education’s toughest problems.
In her district, she is known as the woman in white tennis shoes who not only runs the place but also takes her turn as a crossing guard.
Anderson has had one assistant superintendent this year, Phillip Boyd, but he left the district last month to go to graduate school full time and earn his doctorate.
The Topeka schools have about 14,200 students, with more than three-quarters of them from low-income families. Jennings’ enrollment is about 3,000 students, with all of them from low-income families.
The new superintendent in Topeka would replace Julie Ford, who is retiring at the end of the current school year.
