St. Louis Public Schools could have its new superintendent before the first day of Black History Month, Feb. 1, 2023.
Three candidates, each an African American, will meet with the SLPS board of directors this week, and each will spend a day touring the district.
“We are excited to host these three very impressive career educators and introduce them to our community,” said Matt Davis, SLPS board president.
“On their visits, they will have opportunities to visit classrooms and meet and interact with students and staff members individually and in small groups.”
The final three candidates include Nicole Williams, who has served as interim superintendent since Dec. 31, 2022 when former Superintendent Kelvin Adams resigned from the post.
Williams served in several senior-level leadership positions, including as a superintendent of schools in New York. She was serving as Adam’s chief of staff before becoming interim superintendent. In that role she oversaw district strategic priorities including pandemic relief spending, equity, family engagement, and organizational transformation.
She had also served as SLPS chief academic officer for several years before serving as a superintendent in New York.
Williams was a member of the New York State Council of School Superintendents’ Diversity and Inclusivity Commission, where she focused on addressing gender and racial parity in the superintendency across the 733 school districts in New York State.
Bilingual in Spanish and English, Williams holds a doctorate and a master’s degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education (with a concentration in the Urban Superintendents Program); and a master’s degree in education (with a concentration in bilingual education), and a bachelor’s degree in political science, both from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.
Jermaine Dawson, Chief Academic and Accountability Officer, Birmingham City Schools
An Atlanta native, Jermaine Dawson graduated from Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology. He then received his Master of Arts degree in educational leadership from Kennesaw State University.
In 2019, he received his doctorate degree in educational leadership from Northcentral University. Dr. Dawson has a passion for the education of youth and has served in a myriad of capacities.
He has served in his current role since July 2020 and came to the Birmingham district after being a Zone Superintendent for Fulton County Schools in Atlanta.
He was the North Florida Area Director for Charter Schools USA, June 2018 to May 2019 and has been a Region Superintendent for Duvall County Public Schools in Jacksonville, Florida.
He previously had also been Director of Schools for the Birmingham district, a school support officer and area superintendent for the Houston Independent School District, as a principal in Atlanta Public Schools district.
Keisha Scarlett, Chief Academic Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Academics, Seattle Public Schools Keisha Scarlett formerly served as Seattle Public Schools Chief of Equity, Partnerships and Engagement. She began her career with The Boeing Company and would move on to become a middle school teacher and principal.
Scarlett previously worked as the district’s chief of equity and co-founded the Academy for Rising Educators (ARE)—a tuition-free educator preparation program—in partnership with Seattle Central College and the City of Seattle.
During her time as principal of South Shore PK-8 School, Scarlett developed an accelerated mathematics pathway for students in grades three through eight. In 2014, 25% of eighth-grade students were two years advanced in math, and all of those students met/exceeded standards on the state’s Algebra I and Geometry end-of-course exams.
She was selected as Washington State Middle-Level Principal of the Year and was recognized for leading South Shore to reach 80% proficiency across multiple grade levels in reading and writing on state exams.
She earned her doctorate and principal certification from the University of Washington, her master’s in education from Heritage University, and her bachelor’s from Clark Atlanta University.
Each candidate will record a brief introduction and interview video for the public, moderated by Karen Hall, a national search director with Ray & Associates. The interviews will be posted on the District’s YouTube channel on Thursday, January 26th.
Ray and Associates reports that 49 applications were submitted for SLPS’ top job. Applicants were then screened for experience and academic background and matched against the results of community engagement focus groups and surveys that the firm conducted in September 2022.
“The earlier community focus groups and surveys gave us a clear idea of what students, teachers and families wanted in a new Superintendent,” Davis said.
“We created a solid profile of what kind of leader we were looking for and are thrilled that we received such a tremendous response from educators locally and across the country.”
The new Superintendent will begin in July, according to Davis.
