New school district superintendent will visit Kansas City

Mark Bedell, the newly named superintendent of Kansas City Public Schools, will make his first visit to the district in his new role Monday.

District leaders and members of the school board will host Bedell, who is now assistant superintendent of high schools in Baltimore County, Md., during a meeting at 10 a.m. Monday at the art gallery of the Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts, 4747 Flora Ave.

Bedell, 41, will begin his first job as a district superintendent this summer in Kansas City. He is expected to ceremoniously sign his new contract Monday, making his job official.

The board announced last month that Bedell had agreed to a three-year contract with a $225,000 annual base salary. Other terms included in the contract are a district automobile, health and dental insurance, moving expenses, a retirement plan contribution and a retention bonus at the end of three years.

Bedell is expected to spend part of his visit reintroducing himself to the community and beginning to lay out his vision for Kansas City schools.

The last time Bedell was in the district was in January during the superintendent search process, at which time he talked about how he grew up poor in Rochester, N.Y., played basketball in college with the hopes of going pro and then changed course through the positive influence of adult mentors in his life.

Marshaling an educator-to-student mentoring program, Bedell led several Baltimore County high schools to improved test scores and retention and graduation rates, and he expects to bring the same know-how to Kansas City. But he said moving the provisionally accredited district into full accreditation is a primary goal.

During his visit, Bedell also plans to have lunch with student council leaders at Manual Career and Technical Center and meet with the Principal’s Advisory Group. On Tuesday, Bedell will tour Lincoln College Preparatory Academy, the Foreign Language Academy, King Elementary School, Gladstone Elementary School and Central Middle School.

Bedell will replace Steve Green, who took a superintendent job in the Atlanta area, where some of his children and grandchildren live.

This story was originally published April 2, 2016 at 1:18 PM with the headline "New school district superintendent will visit Kansas City."