Normandy School District’s Board of Education unanimously chose Tyrone J. McNichols to be the district’s new superintendent of schools last week.
McNichols, currently assistant superintendent for learning in the Hazelwood School District, beat out two other finalists: Dexter Suggs, chief of staff in the Indianapolis Public Schools, and Vickie Murillo, assistant superintendent in the Kansas City, Mo. School District.
On July 1, he’ll take over the position currently held by Stanton E. Lawrence, who announced earlier this school year that he was resigning on June 30 to return to Texas. McNichols, 48, agreed to a three-year contract with an $180,000 annual salary.
“We had an extremely strong pool of candidates. Dr. McNichols is very student-centered,” said William Humphrey, vice president of the Normandy Board of Education. “He has the knowledge and proven experience to work well with our community.”
McNichols said he wants to work in Normandy because he sees it as “an opportunity to make an impact in a district that has the potential to be a beacon on the hill.”
“I am from St. Louis, and it’s very disheartening when one of our school districts is unsuccessful,” he said. “Even though it’s just one, it impacts us all.”
McNichols decided to apply for the position once he heard Lawrence was moving back to Texas.
“Being a male and elementary-certified, I always seemed to get the classrooms that had the most challenging students in them,” he said. “When I went to the middle-school level, same thing.”
In his current position at Hazelwood, he said he oversees the schools that are the most challenged and have the most needs. One of his major focuses at Normandy will be raising reading and math achievement in all grades levels, he said.
“It has to be rigorous,” he said. “Kids rise to whatever the expectations are. People have preconceived notions that kids can’t do it when they walk in the door. We aren’t going to beat them down. We are going to raise their sense of ability because we care for them.”
McNichols previously held the position of assistant superintendent for accountability in the Hazelwood School District. Prior to his central office experiences in Hazelwood, McNichols worked as an elementary school principal.
McNichols worked in the district when Chris Nicastro, now the state’s commissioner of education, was Hazelwood’s superintendent.
“I know her from that experience, and she has been supportive in my career opportunities,” he said.
In September 2012, Nicastro and Lawrence went head to head in debating the district’s accreditation status. When Nicastro recommended to the state board of education that Normandy lose its provisional accreditation status, Lawrence said the state should accept some of the blame for the district’s failures because the board and commissioner made the decision to merge the unaccredited Wellston School District with Normandy in August 2010. He said the board’s and commissioner’s unmet promises of support after the merger led to the district’s downfall.
“We became the first district in the nation that was struggling to be handed a district that had been failed,” Lawrence said.
McNichols said he has not called or met with Nicastro yet, but he plans to.
McNichols’ leadership experience also includes serving as an elementary school principal in the Kirkwood School District and a middle school assistant principal in the Clayton School District. He had classroom teaching stints in the St. Louis and Pattonville school districts as well. He also served as a program coordinator with the Mid-County YMCA in Brentwood.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Central Missouri State University and earned Master of Education and Doctor of Education degrees from the University of Missouri – St. Louis. In 2012, the St. Louis American Foundation presented McNichols with a Salute to Excellence in Education Award.
He is married and the father of three daughters and a son.
“This is a wonderful opportunity,” said McNichols. “The challenges that exist in the Normandy School District exist throughout the country – providing all students with a quality education, insuring schools are safe, and making sure all stakeholders are involved.”
