Sutherland: Ready to 'hit the ground running' if named superintendent

Holly Sutherland spent 14 years as a teacher and assistant principal with Hoover City Schools before heading off to her hometown to become principal at Haleyville High School in 2014.

She was promoted to become superintendent for Haleyville City Schools in 2017 but now believes the time is right to return to Hoover and fill the shoes of departed Superintendent Kathy Murphy.

Sutherland is one of five finalists for the superintendent job interviewed by the Hoover school board in the past two weeks.

She told the school board in her interview Wednesday night that her experience in Hoover and Haleyville has well prepared her to be Hoover’s next superintendent.

She got her feet wet in education at the elementary level, working two years as a teacher in Auburn City Schools and four years as an elementary teacher at Rocky Ridge Elementary in Hoover, where she learned the expectations for Hoover teachers — being data-driven and outcome-driven and educating the whole child, she said.

She then got a chance to be an elementary school assistant principal under Principal David Fancher at Bluff Park Elementary, whom she said taught her a lot about celebrating teachers and showing appreciation for teachers and gave her an opportunity to increase her scheduling and curriculum skills.

At a districtwide retreat of administrators, she became acquainted with former Hoover High Principal Don Hulin, who invited her to become an assistant principal at the high school. At first, she thought he was joking because her experience was limited to the elementary level, but he was serious and she made the transition.

“That was probably one of the best experiences of my life,” she said.

The administrative team at Hoover High under Hulin had a diverse set of skills but together made up kind of a “dream team,” Sutherland said. “We made some great things happen.”

That job prepared her to be a principal at Haleyville High School for three years, and the past few years as superintendent, she has had the chance to replicate a number of the strategies and initiatives in Haleyville that she learned in Hoover, she said.

In the last few years, Haleyville City Schools has improved its state report card grade, decreased absences by 12,000 in one year, gone through AdvancED accreditation, increased collaboration and had all of its schools certified in science, technology, engineering and math, she said.

Sutherland said she believes Haleyville schools are at a good place and have a good group of leaders, and thus she felt comfortable in leaving there to apply for the superintendent job in Hoover.

“You’ll never have to doubt work ethic. You’ll never have to doubt love for the kids. You’ll never have to doubt that I’m invested and I’m engaged,” she said. “It’s exciting to be a part of this district. There’s great things going on. You have some of the best teachers and administrators I’ve ever worked with.”

Because of her past connections to Hoover, “we’re not going to have to play get-to-know-you games,” Sutherland said. “I’ve worked with the administrators. I know them. I know their heart for kids, and they know me. We’re going to hit the ground running … They know that I love kids and I’m going to do everything I can to make this district continue to be solid and continue to be respected by all the other districts in the state.”

Sutherland said one of her top priorities as superintendent would be to develop a strategic plan for the next five to 10 years.

“You have to have a plan. You have to have actions steps. Those have to measurable,” she said.

That plan would address academic growth, community growth, learning gaps kids have developed due to missing school because of COVID-19, other achievement gaps, literacy, science, technology, engineering, arts, math, finances, capital improvements, potential grants, community engagement and communication, she said. And a plan to make sure that all students receive an equitable education would be intertwined in all of that, she said.

A second priority would be to find a way to get students back in school, Sutherland said. She would follow guidelines set up by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but would implement creative scheduling to get as many students as possible back in school five days a week, she said.

“I believe in teachers. I believe in the impact that teachers have. I don’t think they can be replaced,” Sutherland said. “I also think that those support systems we have besides academics can't be replaced, such as our mental health programs, such as our counseling programs, such as our school lunch programs. There’s so much more to it than just the academic side.”

Sutherland said she knows how big Hoover and Spain Park high schools are and that social distancing can be a challenge, but she believes it’s so important for kids to be in school. Virtual school is a great option for some kids, but “it’s just not for everybody,” she said.

Some Hoover parents have indicated it would be beneficial to have a superintendent with experience in getting a school district released from federal court supervision of desegregation issues, as Hoover is seeking to do.

Sutherland said she has not had direct experience in dealing with desegregation cases, the U.S. Department of Justice or NAACP Legal Defense Fund, but she is no less committed to ensuring that all students receive an equitable education.

And while with Hoover City Schools, she went through extensive training and discussions about equity issues and making sure no students are treated unfairly with regard to things such as discipline, transportation and access to extracurricular activities. She also has spent a lot of time and reflection on issues related to cultural diversity, poverty and making sure all students are well served by their schools, she said.

In Haleyville, 60% of the students come from low-income families, and there is a growing Hispanic population and a number of students with severe disabilities, she said, so she is accustomed to meeting the needs of those students, she said.

Also while she has been in Haleyville, the district partnered with the city of Haleyville and accessed state and federal grants to make high-speed internet more accessible and affordable for families, she said. Under her watch, Haleyville has put electronic devices in the hands of all students in grades 6-12 and is working to make them available to elementary students, she said.

The district has added two pre-kindergarten classes and started offering courses in the high schools to help students prepare for the ACT college entrance exam while at school, she said.

When asked about the possibility of seeking a property tax increase for Hoover schools, Sutherland said that needs to be a collaborative decision between the school board and city officials. She doesn’t think it’s a bad thing, but she would need to do more research on that subject before giving an opinion regarding Hoover taxes, she said.

She definitely believes that officials should not seek a tax increase unless they truly believe the community supports it because if the effort fails in a citywide vote, it could give a black eye to the city and give people an impression that the community doesn’t support its schools, she said.

Other finalists for the Hoover school superintendent job are retired Pell City Schools Superintendent Michael Barber, Bessemer City Schools Superintendent Autumm Jeter, Satsuma City Schools Superintendent Bart Reeves and Phenix City Schools Superintendent Randy Wilkes.

Hoover school board President Deanna Bamman said the board hopes to make a decision by March 1 and have a superintendent in place by April 1.

Interviews with each of the finalists can be seen on the Hoover City Schools website.

Read summaries of the school board interviews with Barber and Reeves. More summaries will be coming of the interviews with Jeter and Wilkes, which were held Thursday.