NEW HANOVER COUNTY — In a unanimous vote, the New Hanover County Schools Board of Education decided to carry on with its current leadership stepping in as interim superintendent.
READ MORE: NHC school board fires Superintendent Foust
Chris Barnes will continue steering the reins, having been voted into the acting superintendent role last month. The board has to decide next moves and whether it will embark on a nationwide search for its permanent leader.
Barnes will be sworn in as interim superintendent officially at the board’s Sept. 3 meeting.
On July 2, the NHC school board appointed Barnes to fill in for the top district leader’s duties after voting 5-0 to terminate its former chief, Charles Foust.
Barnes, who received his doctorate at Western Carolina University, was superintendent of human resources for New Hanover County Schools. He has filled multiple roles in the education system across the state, including assistant principal at Sparta, Western Guilford, and Alleghany high schools, before becoming head of human resources in multiple Columbus County schools, including in Whiteville.
The board worked with the North Carolina Schools Board Association on candidates that could potentially step in on the short-term as the interim. The school board said it had seven applications, but Barnes remained the top pick to lead the 43 schools in the district as the traditional school year begins next week.
“He has consistently exceeded my expectations,” board member Pat Bradford wrote in an email to Port City Daily after Thursday’s vote.
The board received feedback from staff, teachers and parents in recent weeks in support of his leadership style. According to Bradford, many indicated: “He’s come to our schools. He served food in our cafeteria. He’s visible, he listens. He’s doing a good job.”
This was also touched on by board member Josie Barnhart.
“One of the overarching consistent themes has been the intentional presence in schools and meetings to support our district,” she said.
In the short time-frame of assuming the role, Barnes already has been part of a two-day leadership summit at the school district. It brought together principals, assistant principals, directors and supervisors to break out into various sessions and discuss myriad topics from instruction to student health to cybersecurity.
Barnes led a session to discuss the staff climate survey that board member Stephanie Walker presented the night the board voted to fire Foust. The results indicated school district employees were unhappy with leadership at the top of the administration as well as on the board, noting both were “out of touch” with needs of the classroom, did not feel supported or valued, and feared retaliation for speaking out.
At the summit, Barnes met with individual school leaders to craft a collaborative strategic plan to tackle staff concerns, calling the retreat “pivotal” in that it allowed them to reimagine the possibilities within New Hanover County Schools.
He wrote in a press release announcing the summit that the goal was to ensure all parts are “moving in the right direction toward tangible improvements” — something he also addressed in a video he recorded for the district and posted three weeks ago.
Barnes iterated to the board Thursday: “I will tell you very clearly, we have good principals in this district. We have good teachers in this district, we have good staff in this district, and we’re going to work collaboratively to make things even better.”
He said he continues to lean on a few pillars to best serve as interim superintendent: authenticity, consistency and visibility.
“Those are the three words that I live by and I hope to impart that to you all,” he said.
Port City Daily reached out to ask Barnes if he planned on applying for the permanent superintendent position but didn’t receive a response by press.
The board was in step on their decision, all agreeing Barnes was the right choice. They heard from district employees at a roundtable town hall last week and met face-to-face with teachers, principals, instructional coaches, cafeteria staff, bus drivers and cafeteria staff. Employees of the district were asked to share their insights on district climate, student behavior and the new superintendent search.
CATCH UP: NHCS employees tell board they want more action, less politics at town hall
School board members expressed to PCD how impressed they were by the candor exhibited, something also brought up at Thursday’s meeting to vote Barnes as interim.
“I’m excited we are listening to our staff for the first time,” board member Hugh McManus told his colleagues, “in that what they didn’t want to say to us before, they feel comfortable saying to us now.”
Vice Chair Melissa Mason said employee input was an “integral part” of the board’s decision to remain with Barnes, with Barnhart adding she was “confident” the board had their best candidate.
More so she wrote to PCD after press: “From a board member perspective we have been brought into more conversations, which I believes allow us to be more cohesive and have a better vision collectively.”
Stephanie Kraybill indicated Barnes had worked “top to bottom” with staff and the board in the last month, while Chair Pete Wildeboer said he was assured Barnes was the man “to rebuild trust and support from our staff as they provide a quality education for our students.”
“I think we have been moving in the right direction after our survey,” Walker said, also telling members she hoped to continue their unified approach and create a “stress-free environment” in her last months on the job.
Walker is not seeking to retain her seat this election season but instead running for New Hanover County commissioners. Also stepping down are McManus and Kraybill.
“I think everyone is paying attention,” Walker said. “And I just hope that going forward, that we are definitely gonna to do better.”
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