Dr. Cindy Bennett has been superintendent of Vance County Schools since July 1. In these past few months, she and her team have continued to navigate the rough waters of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent tragedies affecting VCS students and families have offered challenges as well, and Bennett said her team is pitching in to provide support for students and staff.
“I firmly believe in servant leadership,” Bennett said on Tuesday’s Town Talk with John C. Rose. “It’s all hands on deck and that’s the way we operate,” she added. It’s the way she and her administrative team – her Cabinet, as she calls the central services staff – deals with issues and problems, as well as in times of great success.
Last week’s tragic car accident that took the lives of two teenage siblings on their way to Vance County High School also injured two students and their mother who were on their way to Aycock Elementary.
Upon hearing the news of the accident, Bennett said a team of guidance counselors and social workers were dispatched immediately to the high school. The leadership team went as well, to offer support to their colleagues at the high school, as well as to students.
The students were well-loved, she noted. “It’s been a tremendous loss.”
She added that she hopes and prays for a speedy recovery for the two Aycock students.
Feeling part of a team is an important component of Bennett’s attitude of leadership. She said she and former superintendent Dr. Anthony Jackson had a very good working relationship before they found themselves working in the same school district. Jackson arrived about six months before Bennett, who has now in her 7th year with VCS.
In fact, she said, they both applied for the VCS superintendent job that Jackson ultimately won. “I had a desire to be a superintendent,” Bennett said, whether in this district or elsewhere.
Vance County has been “home” now for the past 13 years, and Bennett said she is very grateful to have a chance to give back to her community.
In her first six years or so with VCS, she said she has observed a real focus on innovative practices. “I think there is a very strong mindset of innovation and a desire to provide the best possible opportunities and experiences for our students,” Bennett said. “That is something I want to continue.”
Opportunities sometimes arise from challenges, and she said the COVID-19 pandemic certainly has proven to be a challenge for everyone. And educators are no exception. She said she hopes to be able to continue to offer school staffs and families social emotional support as the district and the community face a “new normal or our next normal, whatever that might be.”
The district will continue to focus on what is best and what is right for students, she said. “I think one of my areas of focus will be providing authentic experiences for students” so that whether they decide to further their education after high school or stay at home to join the work force, they will have had great opportunities and experiences with VCS.
Focusing on this aspect surely will have a positive effect on graduation rates and staff retention, she noted.
“Ultimately, our one responsibility is to the students in this community to recognize where the gaps in learning might be, to recognize where there are places and experiences that we can provide for them,” Bennett said.
Understanding the needs of the community while tapping the expertise of educators is key to providing a quality education.
The Center for Innovation is one such facility that Bennett looks to for creative ways to teach students. “I don’t want this to be a facility that is planned from the top down,” she said. “We want to be good neighbors and good partners, she added.
“We want to be seen as an organization providing experiences to our community but also providing support to our community,”
Bennett said.
“it’s all about relationships – those that trickle down and those that bubble up in the organization. We want to be seen as an organization that values its community…sees the value, power and worth of every single student that comes through our doors. (We want to) take them from where they are and grow them as much as we possibly can…That’s what we are here for.”
A couple of things that nag at the superintendent are staff shortages and bus driver shortages.
She said she’s trying to get a pay increase for bus drivers and there’s a $2,500 signing bonus to entice prospective drivers. “They are essential to everything we do,” she emphasized.
Making sure that parents feel reassured about safety protocols in schools is uppermost in her mind as well. The district follows a layered protection approach to achieve the COVID-19 safety protocols – masks, daily temperature checks and school nurses diligently monitoring the health of everyone inside school buildings – all serve to keep the school environment safe.
She commended parents, staff and students for working together in this effort and encourages anyone in the community to ask if something is unclear. “We do not mind answering their questions,” she said. “We understand how important it is to know that our children are safe.”
For Bennett and her leadership style, it’s all about focusing on relationships and on transparency.
“It’s all about servant leadership – that’s what we’re practicing,” she said.