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Jean Luna-Vedder selected as CMCSS Director of Schools





Luna-VedderSUBMITTED

Luna-VedderSUBMITTED

The Clarksville-Montgomery County Board of Education has selected Jean Luna-Vedder as the next Director of Schools.

“I am humbled and honored to have the opportunity to return home to CMCSS as the Director of Schools,” Luna-Vedder said in an email Wednesday. “I look forward to working collaboratively with the team toward educational excellence in a positive, safe environment for our students and focus on strategies to increase morale for faculty and staff. I am excited to begin the work!”

Dr. Luna-Vedder currently serves as the Chief of Student Readiness for the Tennessee Department of Education.

She has been a resident of Clarksville-Montgomery County since 2007 and previously served in the CMCSS as a teacher, assistant principal, principal and director of high schools.

The school board will begin contract negotiations, with anticipation of Luna-Vedder beginning her work as director in July.

In the Tuesday, May 10 school board meeting, three of the four finalists received nominations, including Luna-Vedder, Angela Huff and Sean Impeartrice. Finalist Mason Bellamy was not nominated.

 

 

The ballots, read by school board attorney Mark Nolan gave four votes to Luna-Vedder, including board members Margaret Pace, Kent Griffy, Charlie Patterson and Josh Baggett.

Two votes, from board members Carol Berry and Jimmie Garland, went to Huff. Board Chair Herbert Nelson voted for Impeartrice

Patterson made a motion to have the board vote unanimously once Luna-Vedder received four votes.

However, Garland abstained from the vote, which presented a tally of 6-0 and one abstention.

Main Street Clarksville questioned Garland on his purpose of abstaining from the unanimous vote.

“I don’t vote for something I don’t believe in,” Garland said.

The board decided to have Nolan, Nelson, Garland and Griffy form a committee to negotiate a contract with Luna-Vedder.

The decision will not be official until the board approves the contract.

Board of Education conducts candidate interviews

In the week prior to the director selection, interviews with the four finalists were conducted.

Jean Luna-Vedder

Luna Vedder said her decision to apply for the director position was not only a matter of the heart, but also a logical decision and has found the opportunities within the school system to be amazing.

“I truly believe this school system should be one of the leading academic counties in the entire state,” Luna-Vedder said.

Luna-Vedder said she’s lived in multiple states and has been in multiple positions prior to coming to the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System and her role at the state level makes her uniquely qualified.

“For the last three years, I’ve been able to see the connections that go on within a district,” Luna-Vedder said. “At the state level, I’ve been able to see how laws are made, and how those conversations are had and how they honestly listen to what is going on in districts, listening to the voices on how to make change. And then, how to bring that back to the district.”

Luna-Vedder said that in being part of a military family, she is understanding in the needs of a military community.

“I understand what it’s like to take children and have to move them to another state, and to another district,” Luna-Vedder said. “Not only [understanding] academically what that means…but also socially and emotionally. [I understand] what is it like to have a parent who is deployed and what it is like for families.”

Angela Huff

Huff, the CMCSS interim director of schools, said she was first attracted to the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System when she applied for the Chief of Staff position. She was drawn to the numerous programs offered by the district.

Huff said the major strength she would bring as director would be the balance of leadership.

“By that I mean that my experiences have been unique,” Huff said. “I’ve served as a teacher, so I would bring that classroom perspective to decisions. I’ve also served as a district leader, as well as a principal. I think when you have those different experiences, it helps as you make decisions.”

Huff said those experiences enable a person to look at issues through multiple lenses.

The relationships Huff has built with internal and external stakeholders would be beneficial in the position.

Sean Impeartrice

Impeartrice, who serves as the chief academic officer for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, said he was intrigued with the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, which is why he first applied to work with the district.

Impeartrice said his leadership success is evident by continually high achievement and growth scores through the years.

In Clarksville, Impeartrice emphasized partnerships that have reflected his success in leadership.

“I negotiated with Austin Peay to start the teacher residency pathway,” Impeartrice said. “They wanted to increase the diversity of their educational candidates. We wanted to increase the diversity of our teachers, so we had the common goal.”

Mason Bellamy

Bellamy, who serves as the chief of academics and schools for Metro Nashville Public Schools, said Clarksville is his home, the place where he was born and raised.

“I feel like everything in my life up to this point has led me to this moment,” Bellamy said. “I owe everything from the person that I am to Clarksville-Montgomery County.”

Bellamy said the relationships he has built over the years in Clarksville would help him if he is selected as the next director.

“I was a student of Clarksville-Montgomery County School System and I now have a student currently in the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System. He’ll be a rising junior at Clarksville High.”

Bellamy served as the Director of High Schools at CMCSS. He was also the former director of elementary schools, a principal, an assistant principal and an elementary teacher in the district.

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