After joining Columbus Municipal School District as a classroom teacher in 1992, Dennis Dupree rose through the ranks to become assistant principal, principal of Hunt Intermediate School and eventually superintendent of student support services.
He was named superintendent of Clarksdale Municipal School District in 2007, and after more than a decade there, he returned to Columbus for a brief stint as interim superintendent.
Now retired, Dupree was the only candidate to qualify for CMSD’s lone elected board seat, a position he will assume in January.
News editor Emma McRae asked Dupree in October how his decades of experience will guide his newest chapter at CMSD.
You’ve served CMSD in several capacities over the years. What keeps bringing you back to this district?
CMSD has so much potential. When I say that, I mean it from a standpoint of getting community buy-in, student buy-in and parent buy-in – just getting people to understand what we truly have here and what it could be.
How did you end up in Columbus?
I was working in Oxford at the time. I was the head football coach at Oxford High School. I was the first Black head football coach and the only Black head football coach they ever had. My wife had applied for a job here. They had the perfect job for her – the federal program director and special education director all tied into one. That’s her front, so when she applied for it, she got the job. So I gave up my head coaching job to come here with her. She wanted me to stay and still coach there, but I was willing to give that up to come here with her, and so that’s how I got here.”
Having worked inside the district, what perspectives or insights do you think you bring to the board?
Well I look at it on two fronts. The first being, having the opportunity to work here and knowing the ends and outs. But I think moreso, just understanding where you fit in.
Now I’ve never been a board member, so this is going to be totally new for me. Even though I’ve had 39 1/2 years of experience in education, I’ve never been a board member. I’ve worked with different boards along the way. … I’m hoping that as a board we can work together as a collective body in supporting the superintendent and supporting the goals and what we set forth in the strategic plan and following those directions and doing what we’re supposed to do as board members. That is my hope.
Coming up through the ranks here gave me a different eye. From being a teacher, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, it gave me a different view of how I know things can work, some of the pitfalls, some of the dos and don’ts. So I’m hoping I can bring that voice to the board, just a little voice in contributing to help the board make crucial decisions that are going to come about.
Just before you assume the position, the board will either hire Craig Chapman as superintendent or reinitiate the search process for a new candidate. Having had that experience as a superintendent working with multiple boards, what do you feel the board’s role is in supporting the next superintendent?
It’s outlined what a board’s responsibilities are versus what a superintendent’s responsibilities are, and what I’m hoping is that we stay within those guidelines that are set forth for board members and what it says for what superintendents are responsible for.
When there’s an issue, I think that sometimes it could go either way. We either crossover or vice versa. I’m hoping we can keep an even keel as a board and hang to our responsibilities and then just let the people we hire work and do what they’re responsible for.
What do you see as the district’s greatest strengths and biggest challenges right now, and where do you think the board can make the most positive impact?
I don’t know the answers to all of those things because I’m not officially there to see where we are from a complete standpoint in all of those things, but I think we have a great opportunity to do some things here when it comes to passing the bond issue to get some facility upgrades and get some things in place.
But at the same time, we’ve got to make sure we’re retaining teachers, highly qualified teachers and administrative staff. I’m a firm believer in doing right by people. I just say when you do right by people they will do right by you.
Is there anything else you want to add?
I just truly want our system to grow. This was a tough decision for me to even put my name out there to do this, but I felt the need to just for the simple fact that I think I have something to offer. I’m hoping that the other board members will know that I’m truly coming on to support and do whatever I can to help the district. And I think the staff, most of the staff members probably already know me; some of them worked for me back when I was here before. I’m a true believer, as I said, in treating people fair and giving them the opportunity to help our young people grow.
INTERVIEW BY EMMA MCRAE
PHOTO BY DEANNA ROBINSON