Residents ask for local superintendent

CEDARTOWN — Residents gave voice to what was a consensus opinion during the final of two hearings on the school superintendent search on Tuesday night.

That message to the board was clear: local educators need someone they can trust, and that person is a longtime veteran of the Polk School District.

Every speaker was careful not to put a name to that candidate, but thus far the only local to confirm she has applied for the job is Assistant Superintendent Laurie Atkins, who had no further comment on the job itself.

Atkins was among a large crowd at the Polk County College and Career Academy’s campus at Cedartown High School for Tuesday night’s meeting, which featured more than a dozen speakers who signed up to give their thoughts about what the Board of Education should seek in a new superintendent.

Many among the speakers were local educators who also came to the board with a plea for no more immediate changes, and no new programs that promise results and are quickly forgotten by the next year.

That message began with Cedartown High School math teacher Jennifer Fetkenhour, who said that trust and work ethic must be restored to the district.

Specifically, her complaint — mirrored by others — is the Board of Education needs to bring in a new leader for the district that trusts teachers to make the right choices about how to present material in the classroom to students. She also pointed out school isn’t just about education, but preparing students for life.

Polk County College and Career Academy Chief Executive Officer Katie Thomas agreed with those thoughts, and said in her 12 years of education in the district there have been six different superintendents; two of those serving in interim roles, and this has been too much change at the top.

“We need someone who loves this school system, someone who loves this county, and someone who has a vested interest in what we do on a daily basis,” Thomas said. “We need someone who is respected, and not someone who is coming in trying to gain respect, but has earned it.”

Thomas said the district needed healing from within, and someone teachers can trust their problems and concerns in the classroom will be addressed and not ignored.

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‘We need someone who loves this school system, someone who loves this county, and someone who has a vested interest in what we do on a daily basis.’

Katie Thomas educator Polk County School District