A full Watson Chapel School District board voted unanimously toward the end of Monday’s regular meeting to hire Keith McGee as its next superintendent.
McGee, 51, attended Monday’s WCSD meeting with his family — he’s married with two adult sons — and met several staff and community members. His resignation as superintendent of the Helena-West Helena School District took effect Monday, five days after he submitted his letter to the limited-authority board.
McGee said he learned he was the WCSD board’s top choice about a week ago.
“I’m just glad to be a Wildcat,” McGee said. “I’m looking forward to be working with everyone.”
McGee succeeds Tom Wilson, who had planned to retire June 30 but stayed on board to help with the transition. Wilson, who just turned 75, said he’ll likely stay on two more days, as he and McGee meet with contractors for Watson Chapel’s new high school and other bullet points on the district’s to-do list.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Aside from the construction, which is job No. 1, McGee said, is to make sure the WCSD is adequately staffed by the time school begins Aug. 19.
Wilson announced his retirement June 4. McGee said he knew Watson Chapel was his next destination once the position opened.
“I looked at it, researched it and, after much prayer and fasting, it felt like a good fit where I can come in and be able to utilize my skill set,” the former Baptist minister said, adding he can help kids in the district grow academically. “I feel like I’m a good fit in a lot of school systems, but obviously I just felt like this is where God was leading me and this is where I want to be able to just educate all children. Lot of good resources, lot of good community support, and support from the staff and faculty.”
The WCSD held special meetings through much of June to conduct interviews for the superintendency. McGee emerged from a group of finalists that included Marvin Burton of Little Rock, Veronica Perkins of Blytheville, and David Westenhover of Alpena.
Board President Goldie Whitaker had hoped the board would make a hire by July 1, the start of a new fiscal year in Arkansas school districts, but she said following a July 2 work session the board was assuring stakeholders, staff and students the right candidate would be selected. The board had held an earlier work session once the finalists were interviewed.
“It was some work going, but we still had the three remaining candidates,” Whitaker explained. “It came really after the executive session. We went back in and decided he was the man.”
Whitaker on Monday publicly recommended McGee’s hire following the executive session for personnel matters.
“His leadership ability — the work he had done in Helena-West Helena and being able to recruit kids back to the Helena-West Helena School District,” Whitaker said. “His test data shows that he is a leader. He can get people to work with him to get those scores up, and that’s one of the main factors we looked at. The recruitment of the kids back to the district, that helped us to really look at him deeply. His references are very good references, and we decided it was a consensus of the board.”
The move from Helena-West Helena allows McGee to lead a district that is not taken over by the state Department of Education but is winding down the first of a two-year accreditation probation from the state board for violating state standards regarding student record keeping. Less than a month into the job in 2022, Wilson led a successful millage increase campaign to benefit construction of a new high school, just a few years after the WCSD avoided a state takeover by improving its financial picture.
“We’re going to keep working together and keep building on the progress that’s already been made,” McGee said. “We’re going to keep utilizing the resources that we have with the department and also the resources here and continue to move forward.”
McGee becomes the third WCSD superintendent since 2021.
Keith McGee, left, is seated with his wife Cicily and son Keith Jr. during a Watson Chapel School District board meeting Monday, July 8, 2024. The board unanimously voted for McGee’s hiring as superintendent. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)