By Kimberly Hopson
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Kevin R. George said he is not afraid to take on the challenges that lie ahead a he gets ready to take on the position of the new superintendent of the St. John the Baptist Parish School District.
“I’m not intimidated by it. In fact, I embrace it. I embrace the challenge of all of our people on the path to student learning. Everything we do should be geared toward student learning,” said George.
George also said he would not let the current School Board’s reputation for bickering sidetrack him from his main focus: the students of the parish. George said he will work to make sure all board members understand that the decisions they make will directly affect children.
“I think with school boards, you always have personalities. Everyone is voted in from a specific area of district, so each one of them has priorities to their constituents,” said George. “It’s my job as the superintendent to get all of our people on the same page about what’s best for the entire district. If it doesn’t impact student learning positively, then we should maybe think about what it is that we’re doing,” he said.
George is a native of Crowley. He has been employed since 2012 by the Louisiana Department of Education as a district support deputy network leader, where he worked with school districts to implement new initiatives such as Common Core state standards and COMPASS.
Prior to that, he served as the supervisor of middle and secondary schools for the Lafourche Parish School Board. He has also served as principal of Thibodaux High School, L.E. Rabouin High School in New Orleans and Elysian Fields Elementary School in Houma, assistant principal of Oaklawn Junior High School in Houma and as a teacher at Terrebonne High School in Houma.
George, a graduate of Notre Dame High School in Crowley, received his master’s degree in education leadership from Nicholls State University. He is currently a resident of Thibodaux.
George said several jobs have popped up over the years, but none of them moved him to apply. He was not unhappy with his job at the Louisiana Department of Education but has always wanted to become a superintendent because it would allow him to influence children’s learning. George said the St. John School District caught his eye because he felt that the size of the district would correlate well with his style of leadership.
The district’s gradual improvement in district performance scores over the past few years was a plus.
“I applied for this position only because my end goal has always been to be a superintendent. Being a superintendent is an awesome responsibility. You have an entire community depending on you. If you have a great school system, that community flourishes as well. People want to move to an area that has a great school system. That’s a responsibility that I want to have because I believe in the things that we can do here,” he said.
“The type of leader that I am, even though I give autonomy to my principals to make decisions that they need to make, I like to be an invisible part of the learning process. I want the teachers and kids to know who I am, and that’s the only way that I know how to improve a school district,” he continued.
The superintendent said he loves working with children and has always hoped to be in a position to affect more of them.
“I feel I know how to move kids and how to get kids to learn. That’s my biggest joy — kids learning, kids achieving, kids accomplishing goals that they set forth. That only happens through collaboration with teachers. We can talk all we want about what we want at the school board office, but if that teacher isn’t equipped or doesn’t have the resources they need to teach those kids, everything else we’re doing is moot,” he said.
Although he has not officially started his new position, George already has plans in place for his administration.
He said his first order of business is to connect with the community and learn as much about the district as possible, since the people that make up the district have a better idea what its strengths and challenges are. George said he also looks forward to supporting his teachers because he realizes that “a happy teacher will knock down a wall for you.”
“My plans are to meet with every single board member, every single central office member, every single principal, individually. I think by speaking with these individuals, I’m going to grow my knowledge. I don’t know St. John Parish like they do, so I’m going to lean on them to build a portfolio of what needs to happen in the district,” he said.
“I don’t believe in just waiting, sitting around in the office and having people tell me what’s going on. I want to see what’s going on. We’re going to put processes into place, and we’re going to see how they’re working and how we need to tweak it,” said George.
Most importantly, the superintendent wants the public to know that he has an open-door policy.
“I want to be invited to every church, every civic organization, any family day in the park. Hey, call me. I have to be involved in this community to understand their wants and their needs. We’re going to give them a system that they’re going to be proud of,” said George.