The Dumas Public School District Board voted to offer Dr. Camille Sterrett the position of Superintendent for the district in a special called meeting July 12, 2022.
Dr. Sterrett will start as the new superintendent in the 2022-2023 school year.
Sterrett, born and raised in Dumas, graduated from Dumas High School in 1993. She earned her Bachelor's in Science in Education from the University of Arkansas in Pine Bluff in 1997; a Master's of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of Arkansas at Monticello in 2005; and Specialist in Education in Educational Leadership with a concentration in superintendency from Arkansas State University in 2014. She earned her Doctor of Education degree from Arkansas State University in 2021.
Sterrett has been working in education for 25 years starting as a 5th grade teacher at McGehee School District. She taught as an elementary teacher grades 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grades at DSD from August 1998-July 2007. She worked as a Curriculum Coordinator for the University of Arkansas at Monticello College of Technology- McGehee from 2007-2008. She worked as a Teacher Recruitment and Reten-tion Program Advisor for the Arkansas Department of Education from May 2008- July 2013. She became the Director of Special Program with the DSD where she worked with federal and state programs and as Human Resource starting in 2013.
Sterrett also made history in the Dumas School District as the first African-American female to hold the position of superintendent. She said she was taking the job one day at a time. She likes being consistent, following policies and procedures and is working to bring about innovative changes for students, teachers and staff in the school district.
“I am excited about what's to come and I encourage support from parents, students, dedicated staff and community members as we all strive to make the Dumas School District better,”
She said.For any parents or guardians that have questions or concerns, they can contact Dr. Sterrett by her email camille.sterrett@dumask12.org or call the Administrative office at 870-382-4571.
She looks forward to the days ahead in making connections and building relationships.
Sterrett described her work in education as having a passion for helping and giving back to others. She said she is constantly working to make things betterbetter for other people and support the students, teachers and staff of the Dumas School District.
“I always wanted to serve others so that I could make sure students have what they need for the future,” Sterrett said. “I had a vision for leading people. I love what I do and I have a commitment in providing students with a quality education and I want to lead them into a healthy, safe, learning environment.”
The Dumas School District is currently working on several projects with one to to enhance teaching and learning in the district. The DSD is also continuing to work on completing the updating of the HVAC units for the four schools with the Dumas Junior High School and Reed Elementary to be installed.
The reconfiguration from the junior high to the Middle School format and high school is in place to start in the 2022-2023 school year. In this phase, Reed Elementary will have 3-5, the middle school will be grades 6-8, and high school will be 9-12. Teachers and classrooms have already been reconfigured so that everyone is in place for the start of the school year.The district has received a $500,000 grant that deals with access control, video, surveillance, student badge Id and visitor solution to increase safety measures on the school district campuses. Visitors will continue to sign in and out of the office and will have to walk through the metal detectors as a safety precaution.“We want to make sure our students are safe as they are walking or working all day long in our district,” She said.
The Dumas School District also partners and collaborates with the Dumas Police Department with two Student Resource Officers present in the district. Sterrett said the DSD wants the students and the parents to know that they take student safety as a priority.The DSD is also working on a three year teacher recruitment and retention plan. The Arkansas Department of Education requires Arkansas School to have this plan. The plan will develop goals, strategies, and learn about the district needs to address recruitment and retention issues. Sterrett said they plan on supporting the teachers in the district; recruiting staff from within the district using the Grow Your Own program; and recruiting new teachers from universities.“One of the main things we want to address is teacher burnout, making sure that those teachers who are already here feel as though they have a voice and that they are important. Because I think that is important that needs to be addressed. The only way student's teaching and learning can be there is that the needs of our staff are addressed first. They have to be healthy and feel great in order that it can trickle down to the students,” Sterrett said.
