PINE BLUFF -- Two Jefferson County school districts are welcoming new superintendents this summer.
The Watson Chapel School District has hired Connie Hathorn, who will begin July 1, to replace the retiring Danny Hazelwood. Hazelwood has led the Watson Chapel district for the past eight years.
Hathorn currently serves as superintendent of the Youngstown, Ohio, School District. Attempts to reach him last week were unsuccessful due to his move, and the terms of his contract with the district were not available.
At the Dollarway School District, Patsy Hughey said she is eager to implement changes that she believes will help improve the struggling district. The Dollarway School Board fired former Superintendent Bobby Acklin in April, after board members said he'd failed to improve the district's lagging academic and financial situations.
Acklin was appointed by the state education commissioner to lead the district in June 2013 after the previous Dollarway School Board was dissolved during a state takeover for poor academic performance. But the Arkansas Board of Education returned the district to local control last year, and Dollarway School Board Secretary Gene Stewart said he and other board members wanted a leader "who can take us in a new direction."
Stewart said they believe they have found that person in Hughey, who had served the district previously as its director of federal programs. Hughey, 54, will be paid $120,000 annually, according to her two-year contract.
She currently lives in Camden but said she and her husband plan to move inside the Dollarway district over the summer. Hughey received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Southern Arkansas University, and she holds an education degree from Henderson State University.
Hughey served one year as superintendent at the Stephens School District -- from 2013 to 2014 -- and spent 13 years working in various capacities for the Camden-Fairview School District. The state Board of Education voted in 2014 to consolidate the Stephens district with three neighboring districts after enrollment fell below 350 students for two consecutive years.
Hughey said she plans to hold everyone at Dollarway accountable for educating students, modeling her style after Hillary Rodham Clinton's book It Takes a Village, which describes how each member of society should play a role in molding children's lives.
"From the parents -- especially the parents -- to teachers, principals and my office, we are all going to be active in making sure we meet all the needs of the students who come through our doors," Hughey said.
"I recognize what a love many people have for the Dollarway School District, and what pride our graduates used to have for their school. We are going to get that back."
In addition, Hughey said she is looking to refine the district's curriculum to ensure that students are learning "everything they need to be productive members of society."
Hughey also touted a four-year, $1 million grant the district recently secured to bolster its pre-kindergarten program. She said money from the grant will be used to hire new teachers and add more space for pre-K students. There are currently 80 children in the program.
"This is so exciting for us because we can start children out with our new education goals and ideas, and those things will be the foundation for their successful futures," Hughey said.
In the coming months, Hughey said she plans to "get out in the community" to speak with parents and district patrons, so that "everyone can feel like they are a part of what they are doing."
That news was received well by parent Shannon Fricks, whose daughter will be in 10th grade next year at Dollarway High School.
Fricks said more educators should "be mindful that their jobs are not just within the walls of the school. They have a community to think of."
"This school is our community," Fricks said. "It's such a big part of how we identify who we are. I am glad this new superintendent understands that."
State Desk on 06/08/2015