National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Lexington-Fayette County Branch

P.O. Box 13655
Lexington, KY 40583

PRESS RELEASE
“NAACP was founded 1909- The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate
race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.

Contact: JoJuana Leavell-Greene

lexingtonbranchnaacp@yahoo.com
(859)252-7336 Voice Service
(859) 608-9735 Cell

February 1, 2021, Lexington, KY

The Lexington-Fayette County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) calls upon the Fayette County Public School Board to consider the following:

1) Halting the Superintendent Search Committee process during the COVID-19 pandemic; OR

2) Postponing/extending the deadline to hire the next Superintendent to the 2022-2023 school year; OR

3) Conducting a “listening tour” across diverse communities in Fayette County before choosing the next
Superintendent; OR

4) Hire/Contract with a local racial minority (African American) consultant that was directly involved with
the district’s previous equity scorecard to advise the Superintendent Search Committee.

The superintendent search process and final selection is an important equity issue for the Fayette County
community. All attempts to include as many voices as possible in developing the “profile” for the next
superintendent must be exercised and handled with the utmost urgency.

In 2015, during the last search for the superintendent, the NAACP along with Sen. Reginald Thomas and Rep.
Kelly Flood attempted to change legislation to allow the Superintendent Selection Committee to include a
representative from the Equity Council. However, passage of those bills was not successful. Now in 2021, we
unfortunately find ourselves in the position of hiring a new superintendent. We would like to inform the Board
that we know that they are ultimately responsible for choosing the next Superintendent. As a result, they may
or may not acknowledge the concerns and accept the recommendations expressed in this letter.

It is an expectation that the Board will consult with the members of the Equity Council, the Chief Equity
Officer, and key stakeholders who also focus on equity in the district throughout this process and consider
their recommendations in choosing the next Superintendent.
In the prior selection process, the equity challenges faced by the district were compiled based on previous
Equity Council Score Cards and considered by the selection committee. Unfortunately, the data was neither
collected, nor reported in the same manner during the most recent Superintendent’s time of service. The
district continues to be plagued with the same issues in 2021. Therefore, the next superintendent must
implement policies and practices to turn these issues around. The next superintendent needs to be someone
with a proven record of successfully leading an urban school district and intentionally focusing on the
equitable distribution of resources to high poverty schools. The next superintendent should ensure that the
district meets equity goals. In addition, the new superintendent should have a proven record of holding
principals accountable for hiring black and Hispanic teachers who reflect the diversity of the city and schools,
for closing the achievement gaps, and for lowering the number of exclusionary discipline practices and
criminalization of racial minority students. We are more interested in a proven record of actions, as opposed
to characteristics and personality for the next superintendent.

A thorough search for the next superintendent can be anticipated to take more time than a few months if
FCPS is to become a more successful school district for all students. Leaders within the Lexington NAACP along
with other community leaders have expressed concern to the school board chair about this current
superintendent search process. However, we do not have confidence that this process will include the voices
of the community. At the very least, we expect the following characteristics (as found in the previous profile
for Superintendent of FCPS from 2015) to be included in the upcoming position announcement:

• “Candidates should be passionate about and experienced in consistently closing achievement

gaps, communicating openly, providing support to classroom staff and allocating resources
across the student population.”
• “Possess a proven track record of success as a superintendent in an urban school district.”
• “Implementing programs to close achievement gaps by focusing on the needs of all students.”
• “Be a proactive leader, focused on addressing accountability, student achievement gaps and
equity.”

The Lexington-Fayette County NAACP welcomes all to join us, as we seek to bring together the Fayette
County Public Schools and the Lexington community to advocate for civil rights and social justice in an effort
to eliminate all forms of racism, biases and disrespect to any group of marginalized people.

The Lexington-Fayette County NAACP meets 2nd Monday of the month at 6:00 pm (EST) ordinarily at the
Charles Young Center at 540 East Third Street, Lexington, KY but are meeting virtually during the COVID-19
pandemic. For more information, please contact Community Outreach Liaison,
lexingtonbranchnaacp@hotmail.com or visit our website at www.LexNAACP.net.