Bessemer City Schools superintendent begins leading district amid state board of education take over
A new superintendent is now leading Bessemer City Schools, but the move comes with concerns from teachers鈥� union representatives. This comes in the middle of the Alabama State Board of Education鈥檚 takeover.
Tuesday marked the first day on the job for Michael Turner. He told 米兰体育 13 he鈥檚 excited to build on the progress the district made with its past leadership. That includes jumping from a 62 to a 69 in the system鈥檚 state report card. He knows there鈥檚 much more progress to be made before the state board of education鈥檚 intervention is over.
Turner said he wants to look at test scores to figure out how to better serve teachers and students. That means creating strategic plans to address areas of struggle or offering professional development for educators who may not have the resources they need.
Turner said the district recently finished seven capital improvement projects, but he knows there鈥檚 more work to be done before the schools can operate without the state鈥檚 supervision.
鈥淭he best way to characterize it is a partnership, because that鈥檚 exactly what it is,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淒r. Boyd is here and, certainly, he and I are going to be working hand-in-hand to make sure that we align what the state is looking at in the expectation to where we are in Bessemer and making sure that we have a seamless transition so what the state expects is replicated in the day-to-day operations here.鈥�
Central Alabama American Federation of Teachers president Erika Hughes says the staff seems excited to work with the former Pinson Valley High School principal, but there are concerns. Hughes is challenging the new superintendent to take those concerns seriously, follow board policy and form his own opinions without influence to move the district forward.
鈥淭hey need to start with being able to follow board policy," she said. 鈥淚t all depends on who you are and what position you have as to who runs the show in Bessemer. It鈥檚 very important that Mr. Turner realizes there鈥檚 a board policy for a reason, and no matter what position you have or who you are, everyone should follow board policy. It should also be that everyone is treated equally and fairly, and neither one of those things are happening. If we can start out by doing that, I think that that would be a huge positive start for Bessemer.鈥�
When asked what his timeline for meeting his goals was, Turner said he wants to sit down and really look at the data, so there鈥檚 no set date yet.