WINONA – The Montgomery County School Board recently hired a new superintendent.
James Waldington-Johnson will serve as the superintendent of Montgomery County School District for the 2017-2018 school year. The district is set to consolidate with Winona Separate School District on July 1, 2018, and a superintendent for the consolidated school district will be named next spring.
“One of things that attracted me [to Montgomery County] was being a part of the consolidation,” Waldington-Johnson said. “I’m excited about that. I’m going to be here to help in this situation.”
A native of Ruleville, Waldington Johnson served seven years as principal of Ruleville Central before being named superintendent of the Hollandale School District. He eventually ventured out into the private sector, serving as vice president of marketing and school improvement at Bailey.
“That took me away from the children,” Waldington-Johnson said.
He went back to education as the superintendent of West Bolivar School District.
Waldington-Johnson has experience in school consolidation from his time at the Hollandale School District, who will consolidate with Leland School this school year, and with West Bolivar School District, coming onboard following the consolidation of Benoit, Shaw, and West Bolivar Schools.
This past April, the West Bolivar School Board relieved Waldington-Johnson of his duties as superintendent because of a policy disagreement over the possible merger of the West Bolivar High School with the middle school due to student population decline, the Associated Press reported.
“I’ve gone through it twice,” Waldington-Johnson said. “There were some trying times. Some meetings were heated because this is an emotional time. Emotions mainly come from not knowing. The worst that can happen is to leave the public to their own ideas about the consolidation. We must be transparent about what we have to do.”
Waldington-Johnson said when or if misinformation is making its way through the community, he will make sure that misinformation is squelched.
“The consolidation is an administrative consolidation,” Waldington-Johnson said. “Nothing has been said about any schools closing and teachers being fired. I need to make sure my community and staff are not concerned.”
Waldington-Johnson said he spent a few days with former Superintendent Michael Hood prior to Hood’s June 30 retirement to create a smoother transition.
“Michael and I were at Delta State [University] at the same time in 1987,” said Waldington-Johnson. “He played baseball, and I played football.”
Waldington-Johnson also said he met with Dr. Teresa Jackson, superintendent of Winona Separate School District, and Mark Middleton, chairman of the Winona School Board, about the impending consolidation.
“We met with Dr. Kent and the [state-appointed] financial advisor, and they brought me up-to-date to this particular point,” Waldington-Johnson said. “We are working together with the community.”
Waldington-Johnson said although the consolidation transition will be a major part of his role as superintendent of Montgomery County Schools, providing the students a quality education will always be his focus.
“My expectation is to raise the academic achievement,” Waldington-Johnson said. “We got our 2017 numbers, and we will probably be at the same place. We want to dig a little deeper, and we will be able to grow these children. I feel like the strategies that we will put in place will get them there. We educators, we are supposed to grow kids, if we didn’t grow kids, we missed the boat. We are still being held accountable for the kids.”
Waldington-Johnson said although he hasn’t met with the teachers yet, he has met with the district’s leadership team.
“We are student-focused, student-centered,” Waldington-Johnson said. “Everything we do will be about our students. With that being said, that will definitely produce for us.”
Montgomery County School Board Chairman Al White said Waldington-Johnson came recommended by the Mississippi School Superintendents Association.
“They said he was a premier superintendent,” White said. “We are glad to have him aboard, doing due diligence, and looking out for the students. We look forward to working with him.”
Waldington-Johnson complimented the Montgomery County School Board for their support of the students and the community.
“This is one of the best boards that I’ve seen,” Waldington-Johnson said. “They are very good and very supportive, and they want what’s best for the community.”
Married to Mary Waldington-Johnson, a school-based therapy supervisor for Sunflower School District, the couple has one son, Timothy, a teacher and a coach in Yazoo City.
