On Monday night, the Ironton schools board selected a familiar face to be the new high school superintendent, Dr. James Payne.
After the board announced that Payne was returning to the school system where he had been superintendent from 1993-1999, there was applause from the public and the teachers and staff that attended the meeting.
“Welcome home, Dr. Payne,” said board president Rae Ann Witt. “It is a true blessing to have you back for a second time.”
In his 30-year career, Payne has been the superintendent at Symmes Valley, Ironton, Dawson-Bryant and then retired as the county superintendent for the Lawrence County Educational Services Center.
Payne said enjoyed being a superintendent and after he retired, he was kind of looking to see if there was an opening for him and when and where.
“I can’t say I didn’t really enjoy retirement and I can say I did miss it,” he said. “I wanted to again be a part of a group that was doing good things.”
And Payne was ready to get back on the job. The Ironton School Boards unanimously voted to give him a two-year contract and on Tuesday morning, he was back in the schools to talk with everyone from principals to teachers to cooks to bus garage.
He said it is all about collaboration and the students.
“I want to get opinions from a lot of different people and I have to be able to accept those opinions,” Payne said. “Everybody contributes to an operation, it doesn’t matter what kind of job they have in the system —everybody is important and everyone matters. We have one focus, to give our students the foundation they deserve so they can do anything they want to when they leave here.”
He said he always tells people that schools are in the dream business.
“People look at me funny and ask ‘what does that mean?’” Payne said. “Every child has a dream and we want to be able to contribute to those dreams and that is as good as it gets when you can give a child, a student who graduates, that dream.”
Payne said his goal for the school is to be collaborative and that he doesn’t want to come in and just start throwing edicts out.
“I want to take the time to listen and to get some insight from the people that are in the system,” he said.
He does want to get parent groups set up and talk with teachers to put in plans.
“But we have to listen first before we act,” Payne said.