New Jefferson City School superintendent shares goals for the district

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City School District hired Bryan McGraw as the district's new superintendent with a 7-0 unanimous vote by the school board on Friday.

Bryant McGraw has 26 years of working as an educator under his belt. He spent 11 of those years as superintendent of the North Pocono School District in Pennsylvania. He says his accomplishments there will set him up for success in his new role.

"Achieving great success at a blue ribbon school and advanced placement test scores increasing all through my time where will give me a road map into what we can be successful at here," McGraw said.

McGraw has been deputy superintendent with Jefferson City Schools for the past eight months and he says that gives him an advantage since he already knows the district and has made relationships made.

McGraw says, "Where most people might have to come in and learn about the organization for a whole year before making any changes or working or creating relationships with people, I have a leg up in having those relationships already."

The first issue McGraw plans to tackle as superintendent is bringing in more colleges graduates to the classroom.

"We wanna focus on recruiting and retaining the current staff we have and that's by building a culture, a positive culture within the district and creating those you those great relationships with them," he said.

The new superintendent says he wants to add teachers to the classroom that are excited about working with kids and creating positive relationships with them. He says the biggest challenge the district is facing right now is closing the achievement gap and he plans to work at it every day.

McGraw said "Working with kids getting them the resources they need, working with parents, working with teachers and creating again that environment, a positive environment where kids feel comfortable learning and will excel over time."

McGraw also wants to focus on students participating in extra circular activities and to do that he will encourage the teaching staff to have a relationship with kids after school.

"I think when you can build relationships during the school day that will create success after school and I am a big proponent of having the staff that works here coach here."

Ken Enloe President of the JC School board says that the district wanted to hire someone within the district and that they were focused on diversity when looking for their next candidate.

"We wanted someone who has experience as a superintendent in a diverse economically and racially diverse environment like our district," Enloe said.

As far as COVID, McGraw says the district will continue to monitor cases. He hopes to not put restrictions in place again but will do so if needed.