What do students want in the next APS superintendent?

THE SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT THIS WEEK’S TOPIC: APS LEADERSHIP

Josh Prout, 17

Senior at Midtown High School

“I would definitely like a superintendent who can empathize with students and really see them as people,” Prout said. “I think it can be hard, because there’s a lot of numbers, whether it’s test scores, how many students, districts and all of that, but each number is a person and I think keeping their mental health in mind especially is really important.”

Prout hoped mental health would be included in the health class he took his junior year, but was disappointed in the course.

“When we tried to discuss mental health issues, it was clear that the textbook we were using was very outdated,” he said. “Thankfully, I think (the textbook) has been changed, but it just left me very concerned.”

Prout acknowledged mental health can be awkward to address, but said Atlanta’s next district leader needs to understand how critical the issue is. About 45% of Atlanta middle and high school students who responded to a health survey in 2023 reported feeling depressed, sad or withdrawn at least once in the past 30 days.

“Nobody wants to talk about depression, anxiety, anything like that,” he said. “It’s an uncomfortable topic, especially when talking about kids. In an ideal world, there wouldn’t be any (mental health problems), but I think that part of that is the problem ... the more it’s discussed, the more that’s known about it, the better-equipped people will be to deal with it, recognize it, and help others as well.”

Prout also said he hopes the new superintendent will revisit a program that offered free meals to all students in the district.

Robert Rumley, 17

Junior at North Atlanta High School

Rumley, who plays on North Atlanta’s varsity soccer team, gets home late after practice and games. Then he has to tackle his homework.

“I would like to see some study halls for studentathletes,” he said. “It’s on us to get our grades up and things like that. And for freshmen coming in, I could see how their GPAs would be higher if they could get study halls and stuff like that.”

He said having a study period during the day could help him work on assignments and plan for tests.

Rumley would also like to see more food options in the cafeteria.

“I don’t eat meat,” he said. “I’m a pescatarian. (He eats fish, but not meat or poultry.) I usually have to bring food from home.”

Iridian Ramos-Santiago, 16

Junior at North Atlanta High School

Ramos-Santiago hopes Atlanta’s next education chief will focus on literacy.

“We’re living in a very technology-heavy world,” she said. “We need media literacy, we need literacy rates to go up as much as possible, especially for our younger students. So, making sure that every student has the capacity and ability to learn and is given the resources that they need in order for those rates to go up.”

Ramos-Santiago also believes the board members should listen carefully to what students and parents say about the search process.

“Community involvement is hugely important,” she said. “(The superintendent will make) decisions for anything that (students) do, what they learn, what they eat, how they get home. Literally anything you can think of, a decision has to be made about it.”

She said listening to a variety of viewpoints will also help the board meet its goal of hiring an equity-driven leader.

“You can’t have equity if you don’t know what needs people have, and who better to tell you those needs than the people themselves?”

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