“She’s a partner to the business community, she’s collaborative, she listens and looks for solutions. I’m eager to hear what she has to say today.”
Those are the words of Matt Morrow, president of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. He commented just before the annual State of the Schools speech by Springfield Superintendent Dr. Grenita Lathan this week.
Lathan spoke at Ozarks Technical Community College’s brand-new manufacturing center, outlining district achievements and plans. The chamber of commerce crowd gave Lathan a standing ovation.
She noted it’s just 18 days until the Springfield school year starts, with 24,000 students returning to class, served by 3,500 teachers and staffers. KSMU checked in with Lathan shortly before her talk.
“Oh, I’m excited — I’m excited about the upcoming school year," Lathan said. "I’m excited that during the ‘21-’22 school year, the goals that the board and I outlined last year upon my arrival, that we were able to accomplish those goals. I’m excited about the upcoming school year because we’ve realigned our academic programming. We will be providing additional expanded services for students before or after school that need that additional care.”
Lathan said that changes to the Springfield district’s strategic plan are coming soon. Members of the public will get to have their say.
“And also the board and I just started Tuesday night the process to start revising our strategic plan. And we’ll be gathering stakeholder input over the next several months, so I’m excited,” Lathan said.
Keep up with information about school board meetings by selecting "Board of Education" at sps.org.
