Saturday, November 17, 2007 1:21 AM CST
New Charleston superintendent praised for his open attitude in Altamont district
By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
dfopay@jg-tc.com
ALTAMONT — The people who work with Jim Littleford say he has an open door and an open mind.
They also think the man who will become the Charleston school district superintendent next year will do his best to get things done and let people know when something can’t happen.
“He can’t say yes to everything, but he’s done everything in his power to get something done if it’s possible,” said Dale Laue, president of the school board of the Altamont school district, where Littleford is currently superintendent.
The Charleston school board voted on Wednesday to hire Littleford as superintendent, and he’s scheduled to start the new job on July 1. He’ll leave a job he’s had since 2001 in a district with about 750 students to come to a position in a district with around 3,000 students.
Laue said dealing with the changes that go along with working in a larger school district will probably be Littleford’s biggest challenge. But he also noted that, while Altamont is the first district in which Littleford has served as a superintendent, he worked in a larger one, Effingham, before.
“He’s grown greatly,” Laue said. “I think he’s a very strong leader.”
For example, he continued, Littleford led the way when the district had to find the money to replace a condemned building. The replacement now houses high school classes and the district’s unit offices.
“We went through some tight financial squeezes at that time and built our funds back,” Laue said. Littleford also keeps teachers motivated and “cares about them as individuals,” and the district state test scores have hit the required marks, he added.
When he came to the Altamont district, Littleford had a goal of establishing a foundation that would raise money and provide grants to teachers for classroom projects, Laue also said. The foundation issued its first grants last year, he said.
Public schools in Altamont work closely with a private school, the Altamont Lutheran Inter-Parish School, because that school sends students into the public system, Principal Gail Traub said. Littleford has been a big part of that and it’s vital for the Lutheran school students who will move on to the public high school after they finish eighth grade, she said.
“It’s important that students who come from our school be prepared,” Traub said. “We work together. He’s always looking for ways to improve the school system. You can get a superintendent who’s not willing to do that.”
Altamont’s teachers have benefited from Littleford’s “open line of communication,” said Cheryl Jackman, an elementary school teacher who’s president of the Altamont Education Association teachers union. Littleford conducts regular meetings with the union and the school board so all sides can share information on matters that interest them, she said.
“We’ve had a good working relationship,” Jackman said. “He’s open and communicates well. He listens and tries to do something.”
The Altamont district’s school principals both said they’ve worked well with Littleford during their time together, which high school Principal Jim Strange described as “a very enjoyable stay.”
“I hate to see him go,” Strange said. “He’s fair, to the point and diplomatic. He’s been a super individual to work with.”
He credited Littleford with bringing back a unified approach for all the district’s grade levels instead of separate ones for high school and grade school. Strange also mentioned Littleford’s involvement in school extracurricular activities and work with local civic organizations as well.
Altamont Elementary School Principal Mike Gill praised Littleford for “spending the money necessary to keep our (test) scores up” while at the same time being a “good shopper” who works to find bargains on equipment and other purchases. He also said the superintendent is someone who’s open to others’ ideas.
“I feel very comfortable with him,” Gill said. “No matter what the situation, I am very comfortable telling him what’s going on.”
Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
|
|
|
