Mexico Public School District superintendent Dr. Tammy Lupardus was placed on a paid leave of absence after a vote in closed session by the school board last Tuesday, May 18.

Assistant superintendent Melissa Chastain took over as interim superintendent. The board plans to conduct a performance review of Lupardus’ term before announcing a final decision.

Lupardus has held the position for less than a year.

The Board of Education issued a statement calling for patience, but providing no further details. As a rule, board members do not comment on personnel matters.

Initial reports of heated discussion during the board meeting proved unfounded. Lupardus was placed on leave by a unanimous vote of 7-0.

Lupardus joined the district in July 2020, stepping into somewhat of a quagmire. The pandemic had wreaked havoc on the spring semester, shutting down classroom education and activities. She immediately assembled a task force to plan for a safe return to school last fall.

Mexico public schools lost just two weeks of in class teaching to the pandemic in the 2020-21 school year.

The role of Lupardus and the school board received general praise. Before the April election this year, then candidate for the school board Keith Louder said “I give the board high marks for their response to the pandemic. Students have had the opportunity to be in the classroom and activities have remained available.”

But some were rankled by the strict mandates involved, including the wearing of masks. Of greater concern was turnover at the administrative level.

Although it is unknown if all were directly related to her leadership, six employees issued resignations and two more opted for retirement since Lupardus became superintendent. These include John Kitchens, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment; Deb Haag, Mexico Middle School principal; and Marci Minor, director of communications.

Minor won a seat on the school board in the April election. As a candidate, Minor gave the district credit for keeping students in session, but she found fault in the way the district kept parents, faculty and staff informed.

“As a parent, I don’t feel like I’ve ever received transparent, consistent and ‘real’ communication regarding the pandemic and school practices from the district level,” she said prior to the election. “There should be communication to let us know they care and are present with us in the crisis, using real words and not lengthy educational jargon.”

While Lupardus has been the target of criticism, many parents of school district students said they were unaware of what caused the decision.

“Most of us are confused,” said Jean Stephens, a Mexico parent. “It seems like there are things going on in the district we don’t know about.”

Yet Stephens had no issue with the board’s action. “They are just doing their job,” she observed.

Lupardus came to Mexico from Charleston R-1 School District, where she served as superintendent. In four years at the helm of the Bootheel district, she claimed to have slowed the loss of young teachers.

The Missouri Association of Rural Educators assisted the school board in the search and hiring process that brought her to Mexico. She replaced Dr. Zach Templeton.