New Eyes & Leadership In Noxubee County

NOXUBEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- New leadership and changes are underway in Noxubee County.

The school district was recently taken over by the state and its new appointed leader has been in his role for about two weeks.

So far, so good. That’s how the district says things have gone since school started last month.

The State Transformation Interim Superintendent of Schools for the Noxubee County School District has been in education for 19 years.

He’s not new to the game and knows each year comes with its own obstacles. He’ll spend his next 5 years working to return the Noxubee County School District to local control.

Rodriguez Broadnax knows what it’s like to be the new guy in school.

He’s been the new guy at several schools over the years, helping turn game plans into winning plays.

“One of my schools had the highest minority rate and that was a Hispanic rate and it became one of the top nine schools in the entire state of Nevada,” said Broadnax.

He says it’s his job to get the Noxubee County School District running smoothly again.

“Our team working very hard, along with our teachers, our leadership team, our teachers, our parents, and community. We have to work together and that’s been my focus bringing unity to the school district,” said Broadnax.

But, a lot of work has to be done before the pages can start turning.

“Finances now, are our biggest challenge. That’s our biggest challenge is getting our district back financial savvy,” said Broadnax. 

Noxubee County High School Principal James Covington says changes are already underway.

“We’re going to bring our alternative school students back to Noxubee County, which should save the district approximately $100,000 dollars and you know, we’re having financial problems and certainly that $100,000 will help,” said Principal Covington. 

Covington says the new leadership has given the district a set of new eyes and direction in the classroom.

“We were going to embrace the change. I spoke to my faculty during our first faculty meeting, I told them the ‘change train’ has arrived we either get on board, we get left behind, or we get ran over and we’re winners here in Noxubee County and we’re going to win,” said Covington.