Sexson removed as East Middle School principal

Joplin R-8 Executive Director of Secondary Instruction Jason Cravens told East Middle School teachers this morning that Bud Sexson is no longer their principal.

Cravens said that former North Middle School Principal Barbara Cox will step in for the remainder of the 2015-2016 school year.

The years under Sexson, who took over as principal at the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year following the removal of long-time Principal Ron Mitchell, have been bleak ones at East, which has seen the departure of nearly two-thirds of its faculty, including some of the school's top performing veteran teachers, some who retired earlier than they had planned, took jobs in other districts, or left without having any jobs lined up to get away from Sexson and the C. J. Huff Administration.

Test scores have also dropped each year as Sexson deemphasized discipline and encouraged a grading system that allowed the students to not bother doing a hefty percentage of their assignments

The Joplin NEA chapter documented complaints against Sexson and presented them to former Superintendent C. J. Huff during the 2013-2014 school year,

Concerns by East teachers about the lack of discipline, the forced implementation of standards-based grading, and a growing climate of fear in the building led the NEA chapter, following a meeting with more than two-thirds of East's teachers, to submit a resolution to Joplin R-8 Administration containing a list of concerns and suggestions for improving the situation..

The list was ignored by Huff.

Sexson's leadership, or lack thereof, continued to be a concern throughout the following school year and the first half of this year.

Sexson himself talked about the problems at East at the November 25, 2014, R-8 Board of Education meeting, as noted in a Turner Report post on that day:

Out of 34 teachers at East Middle School last year, 10 are no longer there, Principal Bud Sexson told the Joplin R-8 Board of Education a few moments ago, but it doesn't matter.

The 10 replacements "are the best group we've had," Sexson said.

Among those who left East following the 2013-2014 school year were a number of veteran teachers, including eighth grade science teacher Mike Wallace, seventh grade reading teacher Jennifer Wallace, eighth grade reading teacher Kim Frencken, sixth grade math teacher Brian Neugebauer, and special education teacher Bridgette Titus.

Sexson acknowledged that East's test scores were down significantly in math, something he blamed on having a first year teacher in eighth grade, a first year teacher in seventh grade, and a third year teacher in sixth grade.

It might take a while to bring those scores up, Sexson said, mentioning it could possibly take three years.

One problem East Middle School has had, Sexson said, has been a culture problem. "There are some personal issues that have gone on," he said, not explaining what those issues were. "We know our culture has taken a hit."

Sexson left the board befuddled with his explanation of the new approach East is using so that students take control over their own learning. They all must decide that "I know what I don't know and I know what I know."

Cravens told the East staff that Sexson is being reassigned to other duties in the district.

What Sexson did specifically to cause his departure is not clear, but what is clear is that Interim Superintendent Norm Ridder has begun the process of steering the Joplin R-8 School District in the right direction.

The first step was the recent reassignment of Curriculum Director Sarah Stevens, whose unseemly flirtation with Core Collaborative may have hastened the reassignment, but it was coming anyway because with only two years as a classroom teacher, she was clearly unqualified to handle curriculum and testing for a district the size of Joplin.

It also seems clear that Tuesday night's vote to allow Bright Futures Joplin to become an independent entity is a sign that BF will no longer be the overwhelming top priority it was during the Huff Administration and that it is likely to be handled (by the school, at least) in the same manner in which Bright Futures operates in other school districts.

Data that Ridder presented to the board Tuesday night provided a mandate for needed changes throughout the district, changes which could include some of the woefully underqualified people who were promoted to top administrative positions in the Huff Administration.

The naming of Barbara Cox as the interim principal should also send a message to the faculty at East. The dwindling few who have been at East (formerly South Middle School) for more than a decade remember Cox as an assistant principal under Ron Mitchell at South before she became principal at North and know her solid reputation as an educator.

(More to come)