Dr. Darron Edwards was named the new superintendent for the city school district this week.
The Yazoo City Municipal School District board announced the decision Thursday morning. After a brief discussion during an executive session, school trustees ended the search for the district’s new leader, which has been ongoing for several months.
“Dr. Darron Edwards will be the next superintendent of the Yazoo City Municipal School District,” board president John Wallace announced to the audience, which included about 10 people. “I am sure most of you know about him and his capabilities.”
Edwards currently serves as superintendent of the West Tallahatchie School District.
One of the highlights during Monday’s meet-and-greet with Edwards was his experience with raising the bar for troubled school districts.
During that community meeting, Edwards said he has experience with turning a failing school district around. He said he improved the graduation rate within his current district from 56 percent to 79.6 percent.
“Two schools within the state of Mississippi have a zero percent dropout rate,” he added, during the meeting. “When I came, the dropout rate was 19 percent. We had higher expectations. Today it is zero percent. When you talk about moving districts forward...I’ve done that. I bring experience at every single level, and I have the results to back that up.”
