Dr. Kelvin Adams, who helped guide Saint Louis Public Schools to full accreditation, announced Tuesday he is retiring as superintendent on December 31, 2022, after 14 years of service.
Adams said in a release he wants to give the Board of Education adequate time to plan for the district’s next leader.
“Over the years, we have marked several important milestones, the latest of which was the passage of Proposition S on August 2, 2022. We are extremely grateful for the overwhelmingly positive support for Prop S (87% passage),” Adams said in a release.
“It shows us that voters trust this Board and administration to continue to build momentum and accomplish great things for our students, teachers, and families. Having managed the elected Board’s return to power and the great energy they bring to the position, I am leaving the district in caring and capable hands.”
“Full accreditation then was a goal. Now it is an expectation.”
Adams was hired by the Special Administrative Board that ran SLPS in 2008, and Adams said in a letter to parents and staff on the SLPS website, “I dedicated myself to increasing academic outcomes for students with a commitment to returning to the district to full accreditation. Together we did it.”
“Full accreditation then was a goal. Now it is an expectation. Looking back on our time together, we have accomplished so much more. We have doubled our Pre-K capacity, balanced 13 consecutive budgets, increased graduation rates, and brought unprecedented financial stability to SLPS.
Board President Matt Davis called Adams future departure, “the end of an era.”
“Dr. Adams often says he is, ‘data- driven,’ and he used that talent to analyze information and help change the trajectory of the district. Today, SLPS is fully accredited, due to the leadership of our superintendent and his team,” Davis said.
“SLPS includes some of the top schools in the state. Each of our 62 schools have distinguished themselves through programs and services, and challenged our schools to continue to improve. The district is fiscally strong, and we have the second highest starting salary for teachers in the region. That’s quite a legacy by any standards,” Davis said.
Davis added that a nationwide search for Adams’ replacement will begin in the upcoming weeks.
“What we have built over the past fourteen years is a solid foundation of support for our students, families, and community. I am leaving strong people and programs in place, and I trust them to keep moving SLPS forward,” Adams said.
“We still have a great deal of work that must be accomplished. That list includes focusing on returning students to safe, secure classrooms now that the pandemic appears near its end, continue supporting the efforts of the City-Wide Plan to develop a uniform blueprint of schooling for all students in the city, and approving the next version of the Transformation Plan, which will provide a vision for the future of the district.”
Adams, a former SLPS Human Resources director, came back to St. Louis after serving as chief of staff for the Recovery School District in New Orleans, a district in which 86 percent of students are eligible for free/reduced lunch and 99 percent are of a minority group.
“One of my strengths in the last 10 years is bringing people together to solve problems,” Adams said during a superintendent candidates forum in September 2008.
He was in line to be superintendent in New Orleans but decided to leave and return to St. Louis for this superintendent position.
“St. Louis is unique to me in that it presents a challenge,” Adams said during the forum
As his time with SLPS superintendent nears its end, Adams said, “As I continue to serve the students, families, and staff of Saint Louis Public Schools over the next few months, I do so with a deep sense of pride and humility.”
