By Bonita Wilborn
DeKalb County Superintendent, Jason Barnett began, “Dr. Eric Mackey was named as the Alabama State Superintendent of Education on Friday, April 20, 2018, but I had a pretty good feeling that he was going to be named as the Superintendent, so on April 19, I called him and said, ‘When you get settled into your new job, I’d love for you to come up and visit DeKalb County. I’d like to show you around some of our schools.’ So after he was given the position we talked on different occasions so I reminded him that when he had time I’d really like for him to come up here. Well after that, he reached out to me and asked if it would be OK for him to come sometime after the first of the year.”
When all of the planning was done and the date scheduled, all that was left to do was sit back and wait for the time to finally arrive when the Alabama State Superintendent of Education would make his arrival. “So on Thursday, January 24, we had a nice reception for him,” Barnett continued. “He shared some words of wisdom, motivation, encouragement, provided some in-site about what’s going on at the state level, and we just had a great evening. Then on Friday morning I picked him up at Collinsville around 7:15. When he got in the car we went north all the way to Ider High School. We visited there, then went to Sylvania High School, to the DeKalb County Technology Center, to Plainview High School, Crossville Middle School, Crossville High School, Crossville Elementary School, and then back to Collinsville High School. I think it was a very successful visit. He saw some of the really strong things we have going on, saw some of the areas we’re working to improve, and based on his visit he has a better understanding of our needs, where we are, and he can better provide support for us.”
Barnett went on to say, “Dr. Mackey has done a great job for us as Superintendent, and I knew he would. I’m excited to have someone like him, with his passion, his knowledge, his wisdom, and his character in that position.”
When asked if it was customary for the State Superintendent to routinely visit some of the school districts, Dr. Barnett responded, “In the past we’ve had many State Superintendent that have visited a lot, but others haven’t visited very much. I believe that Dr. Mackey has a real desire to be in the schools. So he’s setting aside a portion of his calendar to go out and visit schools and districts. Obviously he has a lot that keeps him tethered to Montgomery with the state department being located there, the state board meetings being there, and the legislature being there, but it’s a desire and a passion of his to be out in the schools. Because as we all know, that’s where the magic happens.”
When asked about the system’s strengths that were pointed out to Superintendent Mackey, Barnett said, “I showed him things we’ve been working on the past few years: data, programs, professional development we’re putting in place to improve our learning and student achievement, and we went out an saw some of those things. We shared some of our partnerships with our Southern Regional Education Board, other instructional initiative, and he got to see those things in place. It happened to be the 100th day of school, so we got to see a lot of kindergarten students dressed up as grandmas and grandpas walking on canes, and had just a great time.
I didn’t want our schools to just put on a big show or performance; I wanted to show what we do every day. We could have put on a show and make a spectacle for him, and that wouldn’t be bad either, but we wanted him to see what we do Monday – Friday, every day of the year. And that’s what we did.”
According to Barnett, Mackey spoke very positively about the schools within our system. “What he saw, I think he was pleased with,” Barnett said. “He saw some good instruction, some well behaved students, and buildings that have some age on them, but that have been well maintained and cared for. He saw a lot of students that were kind and courteous, raised well, and represented us well. He had nothing but positive things to say about his visit here.”
Barnett said the oldest building within the system is located on Collinsville’s campus; the home economics and ag building, which work is already in progress toward replacing. The newest facility Mackey had the privilege of seeing was Crossville Elementary School. “A lunchroom expansion is currently being constructed at Collinsville. The current dining room facility was build when the school had a total enrollment of around 350, but has since grown to 950. Collinsville has also recently had a 10-Classroom expansion. We have a major safety initiative going right now where we’re putting vestibules in the entrances of our schools. We’re also putting in automated doors and locks where teachers have key card swipe access with the doors locked at all times. That’s going to be a big improvement for us county wide.