The week of September ushered an era out of Fayette County. The Fayette County Board help an unplanned meeting on and at the end of the meeting, Superintendent Dr. Jeff Bearden had his contract mutually terminated.
Mutually terminated means that an agreement was reached by both sides that it was in the best interest of the school system for Dr. Bearden to leave.
Dr. Bearden will leave the Fayette County School System at the end of December. Dr. Bearden has been with the Fayette County school system for two years. He has contributed BYOT to Fayette County as well as a new plan called Fayette 2020 vision.
His BYOT plan has been successful so far in all the high schools and middle schools. Dr. Bearden said that if he was staying in Fayette County, he had hoped to start BYOT in the elementary schools as well.
His 2020 plan for Fayette County focuses on teaching students skills they need for the real world and shifting the focus off of test scores and grades.
Dr. Bearden has also created three superintendent advisory boards; one for students, one for parents, and one for teachers. These boards got to meet with Dr. Bearden and discuss issues happening in the school system. Dr. Bearden said that these committees were one of the most helpful things as a superintendent since it gave him insight into all points of view in the school system and he hopes his successor will continue them.
Now as a member of Dr. Bearden’s student committee, I have to give my opinion.
Dr. Bearden was one of the only individuals in power who gave me hope in this school system. All one has to do is look around and see that schools aren’t how they are supposed to be. When I met Dr. Bearden and learned of the changes in the school he wanted to make, I knew that Fayette County could be saved.
However, the BOE has once again proved me wrong and has gotten rid of a man who had the students’ interests at heart and was all about progressing forward.
With Dr. Bearden leaving, I can only hope that voters in the future will be careful when they vote for the school board.
