The Noxubee County School District’s progress report

NOXUBEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Change is never easy and Noxubee County School District Superintendent Rod Broadnax said that’s especially true in education.

“In order for you to be great, you have to be uncomfortable. That means you have to be able to deal with change and change is tough, but I’ll tell you what, in this district, as long as we focus on kids, change will be a little bit easier as we move forward.”

Broadnax said that when he started in August, he would never have thought the district would be where it is now in such a short time.

He believes Noxubee County is moving forward quickly and progress can be seen in the district’s academic status.

“We had five students that made a perfect score on the Math State Test and that lets us know that teaching and learning are going on in Noxubee County, not just at a mediocre level, but at a high-level.”

Broadnax said he has a team that helps him put together the best plan for the district and the plan includes tomorrow’s leaders.

“A new Aspiring Leaders Academy for I call it, For Tomorrow’s Leaders of Noxubee County, and those we meet bi-weekly with master teachers, I call them master teachers throughout the district, who are ready to move into an upward trajectory in their career.”

Broadnax said change is a process and even though it may hurt, and some may not agree with it, it’s something you have to stick with.

“Everybody is held accountable in the district, from all of our administrators, to our teachers, to our students. I am held accountable from the state, from the community, and if I’m held accountable for what we’re going to do for kids, what’s best for kids, we’re holding everybody else accountable.”

Although there has been progress, challenges still remain.

The superintendent said one of those includes changing the culture of the district.

“What used to happen can’t happen for us to be effective. We have to be able to deal with change in order to move forward. So, that’s one of the challenges of our district is the culture, changing the culture, not just of our district, but the community as a whole to say, ‘hey, this is what we want for kids.’ ”

Broadnax said the district will have a new fleet of buses this fall.

He also said the district is getting ready to start the process of building new schools for our students.