PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) – With concerns over safety at schools looming, superintendents and administrators find it helpful to confide in other school leaders.
This year, Portsmouth Superintendent Dr. Elie Bracy III will lead a coalition of national urban superintendents.
Dr. Bracy says he’s humbled by this opportunity to help put Portsmouth on the map as the newest President of the Urban Superintendents Association of America. He says it’s nice to have other school leaders to talk with because a lot of times, they’re seeing similar issues.
“It’s really good because you get to bounce ideas off of other superintendents who have similar concerns that you do but you can see a different approach that they have taken,” said Dr. Bracy.
The Urban Superintendents Association of America was founded in 1993 in Texas. 2023 marks the 30th year anniversary of the association.
“We sort of listen and just compare notes,” said Dr. Elie Bracy III. “It sort of broadens your network that you have as a professional.”
Dr. Bracy says some of the issues he’s seeing in his district are likely happening elsewhere in the country.
“You’ve heard the saying it’s lonely at the top, well it’s good to have colleagues that you can reach out to not just in the state but across the country,” said Dr. Bracy.
Dr. Bracy says some of the concerns they discuss include student attendance, the poverty index and how it impacts students, school safety and security, and improving test scores following the pandemic.
“A lot of us are dealing with students that are in an urban city that come from low-income homes and when they come to us we are generally trying to catch them up,” said Dr. Bracy. “They come to us generally we are trying to catch them up before the pandemic, now add the pandemic on top of that and now we have an additional concern that we are trying to get our students back up to par.”
Dr. Bracy says it’s also important to collaborate on ways to recruit and retain teachers too.
“Personally in Portsmouth, our students come to us behind so we need additional personnel in place,” said Dr. Bracy. “We need to be competitive in salaries when we have some of our neighbors who have more resources than we do to be able to attract the best and brightest teachers.”
This year he also wants to focus on ways to form healthy relationships between school board members and superintendents.
“If we have the proper relationships in place I think that would help because as superintendent we are doing the best that we can but we need to make sure that our board members understand that,” said Dr. Bracy.
He says many superintendents are leaving their posts following the pandemic and he believes that has a lot to do with school boards.
“Just focus on what good Boardsmanship should look like and what we as superintendents, what we need to do to navigate through that when we see a board that’s really trying to step into the lane of the superintendent,” said Dr. Bracy.
Finding ways to address common issues, while all focusing on the same goal.
“We try to address topics that are meaningful that will impact our students, which are the most important people that we are in this business for,” said Dr. Bracy.
The Urban Superintendents Summer Academy is going to be held in Williamsburg this year. It’s scheduled for July 11th to 16th.
