Paintsville Ind. superintendent of 13 years hired to lead Murray Ind. system; Coy Samons notes similarities of two districts known for academic success
Ledger & Times, Murray, April 22, 2017
MISD names Samons new superintendent
by JOHN WRIGHT
Murray Independent School District Superintendent Bob Rogers could not help recalling Friday the day last fall when he was asked about the MISD’s performance in the latest round of Unbridled Learning testing district students had undergone while the scores were still embargoed from the media.
A Murray Ledger & Times article said he was “coy” about the situation, which later revealed that MISD had finished No. 1 in Kentucky. Little did he know that near the end of his 12th year as MISD’s superintendent he would be relating to that term again.
Friday, just months after Rogers had announced he would retire at the end of the current school year, the MISD Board of Education selected the aptly-named Coy Samons, superintendent for the past 13 years for the Paintsville Independent School District in the far-eastern portion of the commonwealth, to assume that position on July 1, one day after Rogers ends his tenure.
“I feel good about it,” Rogers said after Friday’s announcement. “I like that we found somebody with experience and that they came from a similar district to ours, and hopefully, everybody here will be as kind to him as they have to me these last several years.”
As Rogers said, Paintsville is similar to MISD in that it is a frequent visitor to the upper echelon of Kentucky schools academically. Samons said Paintsville usually finishes in the top 10 percent of test score results; Paintsville High School has also developed a strong reputation for preparing students for their post-high school days, finishing as high as No. 4 in ACT exam scores statewide, while it has had all but two of its graduating seniors go on to either college, technical training or the military the past five years.
“I am coming from a pretty good district,” Samons said after signing his contract under the watchful eyes of MISD board members Richard Crouch and Mark Vinson. “Ours is twice as small as Murray (MISD’s enrollment is about 1,600 students, compared to Paintsville’s 840), but we’ve been quite successful.”
Samons interviewed for the job Friday. Crouch said Samons’ selection came at the end of a rigorous process that began with the establishment of a screening committee consisting of one board member (Vinson), one parent (LaCosta Hays), one classified staff member (Teresa Butler), two teachers (Amy McDowell and Gina Maley) and one principal (Denise Whitaker). He said that group was responsible for contacting the 12 candidates who applied for the position to determine which of the candidates fit the criteria that was set by the board.
Last week, the committee reported its findings to the board, clearing the way for interviews to begin.
“It was a process that worked well,” Crouch said. “Early on, there was strong sentiment that we wanted someone with experience as a superintendent and someone who had been with a strong district when it came to academics.
“When you look at the two districts, Murray High School, in the latest rankings, was seen as No. 15 in the state with Paintsville 25. With that, you have to consider that this also included many of the magnet schools in the larger communities whose demographics are much different from (both Murray and Paintsville).”
Simons is a lifelong native of the eastern mountain regions of Kentucky, having spent his entire professional career in that area. A 1983 graduate of Betsy Layne High School in Floyd County, he served principal’s stints at his alma mater and Phrestonsburg High School before becoming the director of the East Kentucky GEARUP program out of Morehead State University.
Then, in 2002, he became principal at Paintsville High School, where he spent two years before assuming the superintendent’s position of that district.
He said he has a few core philosophies.
“One thing is that we need to try our best to be all things to all people. We must provide opportunities to all students so that they will be able to succeed,” he said, going into goals he will have once in Murray.
“The first thing is getting in here and working with the staff and students, who I refer to as the ‘stakeholders’ of the district. That means doing what we can to keep Murray Independent at the top.”
He also said he knows he has big shoes to fill.
“I am following one of the most respected superintendents of this state from Paducah to Pikeville,” he said of Rogers, remembering his first thought when he noticed that the MISD job was being posted. “I said, ‘That looks like a good job for someone.’ Having been here for a few visits, I can see that Murray has a lot to offer, both the district as well as the community with the university and the lakes.
“We have found it very interesting.”