Meridian has a new school superintendent.

During a special meeting Wednesday, the district's board of trustees unanimously approved a three-year contract with Charlie T. Kent Jr. as superintendent of the Meridian Public School District.

"This is a momentous event in the life of our community," said President Fred Wile at a press conference immediately following the meeting.

"This is a momentous event because the new superintendent will replace Sylvia Autry, who provided visionary leadership in developing a blueprint for the future and is building community recognition of the importance of public education and the support for it," Wile said.

"Our community requires another powerful leader who can help us move to the next step, take the board's vision, build on Mrs. Autry's accomplishments and put their own distinctive stamp on things."

And Kent plans to do just that.

"One of our main goals to start with is to maintain what's already there; we have a very good district and we want to move it from good to great," said Kent, who will assume his superintendent duties on July 1. "Also, we want to maintain the notion that failure is not an option."

A native of Mississippi, Kent currently serves as superintendent of the Country Club Hills School District – a suburb of south Chicago. Prior to that, he served as assistant superintendent of the Human Resources Division of the Indianapolis Public Schools. He has twice served as interim superintendent of the Decatur (Illinois) Public School District, as well as serving as that district's director of Human Services.

As superintendent of the Country Club Hills School District, Kent has focused on bolstering students' academic success. Since 2001, when he joined the district, student achievement has increased. In the 2001-02 school year, only 40 percent of the district's students met or exceeded state learning goals, as measured by the Illinois Standards Achievement Test. By 2006-07, approximately 61 percent of students were doing so.

"The board chose Charlie for a number of reasons: he's a native Mississippian, he knows the educational issues that face our community and he also understands the opportunities that we have," Wile said.

As the district moves into a new era, Kent said it is vital that students have the teachers and administrators they need, as well as the professional development to continue to move forward.

"Our goal is to compete and to strive to be the best school district in the state of Mississippi. If I say that today and I haven't started, we lay the foundation and get everybody involved – and that means parents, community, ministerial alliances, social and service organizations in the community. It's going to be a 'we' thing; 'we' will build a school district based off the foundation that's already been laid."

Kent's term begins at a time when the local school district is in the midst of a great transformation – particularly with the establishment of Small Learning Communities as well as construction of a new ninth grade building on the Meridian High School campus and numerous classroom renovations on several campuses. Noting that change is a constant in education as well as essential to meeting the needs of students, he asks the community to continue to support MPSD as it implements these changes.

"Partner with me and the rest of the district, and let's do what's right and what's best for our children," Kent said.





Charlie T. Kent Jr. Chronicles



• Associate of arts degree from Coahoma Junior College

• Bachelor of science degree from Mississippi Valley State University

• Master of education from the University of Illinois-Urbana

• Degree in Educational Administration from Eastern Illinois University

• Completing doctoral dissertation at Illinois State University

• Spent 14 years in the Army Reserves, which included service in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm.

• Past member of Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce