A Coast school leader is retiring. The community will help pick the next superintendent.
With longtime Superintendent Wayne Rodolfich retiring at the end of this school year, the Pascagoula-Gautier School District will hold meetings in January to gather input from parents, teachers and community members about what they’d like to see in the district’s next leader.
The district hired the Mississippi School Board Association’s superintendent search service to recruit and vet candidates. The board will interview finalists and vote to appoint the new superintendent.
MSBA will hold meetings for groups of stakeholders on Jan. 6, 2022 at the Pascagoula High School Performing Arts Center.
- 10:00 a.m.: District administrators (principals, assistant principals, directors, assistant superintendents)
- 4:00 p.m.: Teachers (teachers, assistant teachers, librarians, counselors, all other staff)
- 6:00 p.m.: Parents, community members, business members
Meetings will last about an hour.
Community members can also offer feedback through an online survey, which will be open from Jan. 7 to Jan. 22.
Parents received an email about the stakeholder input opportunities on Tuesday.
Rodolfich’s departure marks the end of an era for the district. He’s served as superintendent for 17 years, longer than anyone else in district history.
Under his leadership, the district launched career academies, became the first in the state to offer a seal of biliteracy, and opened the Family Interactive Center.
“I really have focused on building the coolest place we could build for children in the state of Mississippi, that doesn’t look like anywhere else in the state of Mississippi,” he said.
Now, with four children who are in grade school, he plans to continue working in education but wants to give his family “their adventure.”
Rodolfich, who turns 55 in June, said the family is “looking very hard at the state of Florida right now,” particularly Polk County, which is between Tampa and Orlando.
“There’s just a great opportunity for my children to really enjoy a very rich experience level, having some major cities,” he said.
