‘Stop the ugliness:’ Interim superintendent implores Shawnee Mission to end divisiveness

Shawnee Mission School District Interim Superintendent Kenny Southwick said Monday that he had put an end to an effort to extend his tenure in the district through a new contract, after a public outcry mounted over the weekend regarding the decision.

Addressing board members and the public at a school board meeting Monday, Southwick said he would not accept a proposed three-year contract to extend his current $195,000 annual post as deputy superintendent through 2021.

Outgoing board president Craig Denny, a veteran board member who was defeated at the polls and presided over his last board meeting Monday, had placed the contract on the board’s agenda following a recent positive evaluation of Southwick by the board.

Though Southwick is the district’s deputy superintendent, he has also served as the district’s interim superintendent since former superintendent Jim Hinson retired on June 30.

Southwick’s current deputy superintendent contract, approved a year ago, expires in June 2020.

The new contract, which would have been presented to the board on Monday, would have extended his tenure by a year, but would not have changed his compensation or benefits. (Board members approved $34,500 in additional compensation for Southwick for taking on superintendent duties for the 2017-18 year, but the pay raise will not be repeated. )

The new contract caught the attention of the public late last week, igniting a series of protests on social media that have become all too familiar in a district where relationships between board members, administrators, staff and the public have fractured over issues such as teacher pay, administrative salaries, transparency, and changes to curriculum.

Some saw the contract as an effort by some board members to protect the job of an administrator whom a new superintendent might choose to replace.

Others incorrectly speculated that Southwick was getting a raise, while complaints about administrative salaries took off.

Three incoming board members who were elected in November and will be seated in early January wrote letters to the current board, asking members to delay the vote on the contract until a new board is seated on Jan. 8.

On Monday, Southwick said he was honored by the opportunity for a contract extension, but it was not important to him. He announced that his time in the district was “drawing towards the end” and implied that he would not ask board members to renew his contract in two years.

“I just thought that this particular decision and the outcry that cropped up across our district on social media was really not fair for you all to be put in a position to sit here tonight and say ‘Should this man get an extension on his contract or not?’” Southwick said to the board.

Then, in a weary voice, he acknowledged troubled times for the district and called for district patrons to practice civility.

“The message I want to share with you and the public is that we have great staff. Whether they teach our kids, whether they clean our buildings, whether they cook our meals, whether they help teachers hone their skills, we have a great staff,” Southwick said. “I’m calling tonight for the end of the divisiveness between administrators and our staff and our community. Because it does not serve the good of the Shawnee Mission School District for that to happen.”

He asked the board, district employees and the community to be kind.

“I will plead to people in this room, to people that would watch a live stream, to people that love this district, to practice this,” Southwick. “And stop the ugliness.”

After the meeting, Southwick told The Star that he felt that potential superintendent candidates could be spooked by the unrest in the district.

“It’s very important that we move forward,” Southwick told The Star. “It’s a great school district and we have an opportunity to get a great next leader. Whoever they are, they are watching.”

On Monday, a search firm informed the board that 65 candidates had applied for Shawnee Mission’s open superintendent post.

According to a timeline, board members are expected to interview finalists by late January and name a superintendent by March.

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 1:56 AM with the headline "‘Stop the ugliness:’ Interim superintendent implores Shawnee Mission to end divisiveness."