Tammy Lupardus, standing center, speaks at a superintendent candidate forum Feb. 10 at Mexico High School. Faculty and staff had an opportunity to ask questions at the forum and provide feedback to the Mexico Board of Education through a survey.

Tammy Lupardus always wanted to be an educator. Her childhood playtime was spent pretending to be a school teacher.

“I would line up my stuffed animals on the bed, and I would play school. I would play school with my younger sister and she got to where she really didn’t want to,” she said with a laugh.

Lupardus recently was named the new superintendent for Mexico School District 59. She will take over from Superintendent Zach Templeton who is retiring at the end of the school year. He is moving to Tennessee to be with his family.

Lupardus received her Bachelor of Science degree in education from Lincoln University in Jefferson City. She was certified to teach elementary education and special education. She received her master’s and specialist in education degrees from the University of Missouri Kansas City and completed her doctorate in 2012 from St. Louis University.

She started as a summer school teacher at the Jefferson City Special Learning Center after graduating from Lincoln. She then moved to the Liberty School District. She also served as a summer educator for service learning, which combines education with community service.

She was with the Liberty School District for five years before becoming the director of special programs for the Kearney School District in its central office.

She then moved to the Camdenton School District to serve as its director of special programs for four years. Her next move was to Lebanon, where she served in the central office for 10 years.

Lupardus knew that the next step for her as an educator was to become a superintendent.

Lupardus and her husband, Rob, have four children and have fostered 12 children. Her youngest children were about to graduate high school when Lupardus decided to seek the top post for a school district.

“We said we’re going to go wherever God leads us. It’s our duty on earth to make a difference and make an impact for others,” she said. “We believe in service to others above self. Charleston [R-1] was very at-risk school district I felt I could make an impact and a difference in.”

She and her husband, who is a reading specialist, have been at the Charleston district for the past four years. She plans to bring her leadership mentality to Mexico, she said.

“I look forward to transitioning to Mexico and getting in there and getting to know every one,” Lupardus said.

She was drawn to Mexico because of its student population size, the hands-on administrative style, the positive community support. Lupardus feels she can make a difference in the district.

“As my career has progressed I feel more and more sure we are called to serve where students really need it the most,” she said. “I looked at the free and reduced lunch population [for Mexico]. It lets me know I can make a difference for those students.”

Lupardus also wants address teacher shortages, which is a state and national issue. There are 1,179 teacher openings posted in the last 90 days in the state, according to job search site moteachingjobs.com. There are 217 openings in the Heart of Missouri region.

Fewer people are entering the education field. It is as much as a 50% reduction since the 1970s, Lupardus said. This reduction is likely due to changing attitudes toward education and the treatment of teachers, she added.

“I don’t think most people are aware of the trauma [teachers] face. Teachers go into education to make a difference and love and care for kids. It’s hard to be that support to students at the same time their conditions break your heart,” she said.

Lupardus wants to work collaboratively with district educators to find the answers to improve conditions for teachers.

“It’s not just about pay. It’s really in wrapping our arms around [teachers], supporting them and providing solutions that are focused on helping them serve the students. The most important factor for student achievement is the teacher,” Lupardus said.

While she does have the top post, Lupardus does not like to consider herself at the top of the district’s organizational structure, but at its base to support and be the safety net and structure for educators.

When Lupardus started at the Charleston school district, it was something of a revolving door of teachers. The district has 900 students, around 100 teachers and nearly one-quarter of the teachers were new Lupardus’ first year as superintendent. That number reduced to 10 new teachers in the most recent school year, she said.

Since Lupardus has been in upper administration for 19 years, she said she tries to find ways to get back into classrooms as often as possible. She also used her time as a foster parent to be an educator when she no longer was in a classroom, she said.

“I attend a lot of student activities and that helps me with my perspective as well,” she said.

Increasing teacher retention in the Charleston district automatically helped build student trust, Lupardus said. She also makes sure she is a visible presence in all district buildings, which helped in Charleston.

“I try to go to a variety of activities. Whether a student is in band, volleyball, a [Jobs for America’s Graduates], it doesn’t matter. That way I get to see a wide variety of our students. It’s also important to talk with our students,” Lupardus said.

Lupardus’ doctoral dissertation looked at teacher evaluation systems. She did a group dissertation with two other doctoral students, which was the research base for their individual dissertations.

“It is highly possible that you have one dissertation together and then your separate dissertation refutes or supports the findings in the [group] dissertation,” she said.

Her group was doing research on value-added teacher evaluations, which use end-of-year test scores to assess teacher effectiveness. Lupardus said they are not an effective indicator of teacher performance.

“There is no research-based way to tie student learning and achievement by points or a score to one teacher that students have had for one year. It is impossible,” she said.

Evaluations need to take a hybrid approach, she said. This includes using student and faculty surveys to help guide evaluations of teachers and school administrators.

“It is not a gotcha as a means to hire and fire, but as a means to give feedback in order for growth to occur,” she said.

Mexico uses surveys through network for educator effectiveness model as part of its evaluation process.

Lupardus enjoys the multifaceted responsibilities of being a superintendent.

“A superintendent has an opportunity to do many things in one day and that is really magnificent. I can’t wait to get started. I plan to make many trips to Mexico during this transitional time and hopefully that will enable me to hit the ground running on July 1,” she said.

nav-oc Naviga Writer 2020-02-25T00:55:30Z false yes NEWS