A Connection to Students at Her Core
June 01, 2021
Appears in June 2021: School Administrator.
Profile
![Christy Pery](/images/default-source/school-administrator/june-2021/christyperry.jpg?sfvrsn=dcf5be1_1)
As the seventh-year superintendent of the Salem-Keizer Public School District in Salem, Ore., Perry places student-centered decisions at the top of her priority list, and that means giving meaningful voice to those she and the rest of the district’s staff are serving.
Her goals include closing achievement and opportunity gaps and rectifying disproportionate student discipline. With students of color comprising 52 percent of the district’s enrollment of 42,000, Perry says it’s especially important for her to think about students in historically marginalized groups.
“We’re in this time of historic reckoning that we have this political tension of people who don’t want the system to change because the system is good for them and they’re successful in the system,” says Perry, who was one of four finalists for AASA’s 2021 National Superintendent of the Year award. “It’s become a much more tenuous situation. We have to do what’s right regardless of the consequences.”
Last fall, Salem-Keizer created a student-led task force that discussed future deployment of school resource officers in schools. Leanette Mabinton, who graduates this month from Douglas McKay High School, says the superintendent ensured students took the lead on the task force.
“She was really just there to listen. And she was very good at when stuff got challenging, when we were stressed,” Mabinton says, noting Perry gave students advice when the task force was receiving negative attention in the community. “She was a great leader.”
As a student, Mabinton, 17, noticed Perry’s commitment to building equity and diversity in the district. “She understands what it is to educate herself about students of color,” she adds.
Perry says she is excited about Salem-Keizer’s social justice stance and proud to stand up for students. She leads staff meetings that prioritize equity discussions, giving attention to the Black Lives Matter movement and Native American Heritage Month.With this position of power I have immense responsibility, and as long as I’m showing up in the right way for our kids, I feel really proud of that.
“With this position of power I have immense responsibility, and as long as I’m showing up in the right way for our kids, I feel really proud of that,” Perry says.
The superintendent’s impact stems in large part from her relationship-oriented leadership style. Mabinton, who is African American, says she was able to get to know Perry well over her four years in high school and felt like she could talk to her district’s top official about both school-related and personal topics.
“It makes you feel very important,” Mabinton adds. “There’s times where there’s so much going on with the media with her or the school board and she’d still take the time to be like, ‘Hey let me check on Leanette and see how she’s doing.’ ”
At the end of the day, Perry knows she must set the tone for how she wants her schools to focus on students’ needs and how they have grown, especially during the pandemic.
“When we’re in our highest-functioning team times, we show up in our best way for kids,” Perry says, adding that her recent national recognition more rightly honors the work of educators across the district. “I can’t do it by myself.”
Author
BIO STATS: CHRISTY PERRY
CURRENTLY: superintendent, Salem-Keizer School District, Salem, Ore.
PREVIOUSLY: superintendent, Dallas, Ore.
AGE: 55
GREATEST INFLUENCE ON CAREER: Marlene Tymchuk, the 1980 Oregon Teacher of the Year, was a second mom who believed in me during the toughest times.
BEST PROFESSIONAL DAY: When our student-led
task force gave their report on school resource officers. In the midst of the hardest leadership of a lifetime, they provided such hope and inspiration for the way our youth show up for hard conversations and how they will make
the world a better place.
BOOKS AT BEDSIDE: Only fiction on my Kindle — to clear my professional brain.
BIGGEST BLOOPER: In my districtwide video messages, we capture mistakes
as outtakes. My favorite: laughing until we cried over trying to say the word intentional. It came out “intentionable” over and over again. We couldn’t get it right. Soon intentionable became a new word in the district. Laughing
at bloopers is good therapy!
WHY I’M AN AASA MEMBER: It’s too easy to stay in your own world and miss out on exposure to fresh and innovative thinking. AASA offers me these opportunities.
It’s too easy to stay in your own world and miss out on exposure to fresh and innovative thinking. AASA offers me these opportunities.
Christy Perry![]()
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