Local leaders call on future WS/FCS interim superintendent to prioritize community partnerships

Community leaders sent a letter to the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education this week laying out their priorities for the future interim superintendent. 

Superintendent Tricia McManus will be retiring at the end of June to spend more time with her family. Her departure comes as the district grapples with major budgetary challenges, which some school board members say should be the focus of the person who takes her place. 

But in a letter to the school board, several local leaders including Rev. Paul Robeson Ford with Action4Equity, says the financial crisis makes it even more important for her successor to prioritize community engagement. 

“We are entering a period here where not just the district is going to have to maintain a certain focus and momentum, but the community too is going to have to step up to even the next level of its work," Ford says. "Because our young people are going to need even more and the district can provide even less, because it is pinched financially.”

Ford says before McManus, it felt as though "there had been a wall between the district and the community." He says he and others don't want that to happen again. 

"We all understood that this loss was going to be huge, and so we needed to get together as partners, and say, 'Alright, she's going to leave, but we can't lose this work,'" Ford says. 

Members of the Forsyth County Association of Educators, The Winston-Salem Foundation, Triad Restorative Justice, among other groups, signed onto the letter sent to the school board. 

In addition to emphasizing community partnerships, the list of priorities for the interim superintendent also includes continuing restorative practices, advocating for fully funded public education, and cultivating a sense of belonging for all students. 

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.