Dr. Simone Griffin has been selected for the position of superintendent of Benton Harbor Area Schools.
At a meeting on Tuesday, the board of education had two candidates to consider for the job. They were Griffin, the regional director of teaching at Learnwell Educational Services in Illinois, and Dr. Dallas Lee, the assistant superintendent of educational services at Elementary School District 159 in Illinois.
Trustee Elnora Gavin got Tuesday’s meeting started by proposing a motion to hire Griffin.
“One, she was inspiring, but two, she also had very specific solutions that speak to the different needs of our children, our community, our families, and our staff,” Gavin said.
Gavin said Griffin has proposed a specific process to get the district on track. Board President Dashuna Robinson said she was thrilled with both finalists, but Griffin brought a personal touch that appealed to her.
“The thing that stuck out for me the most was that her introduction was to let us know that she is no different from our students, that she had her own challenges as a student, and it was through the Army that she learned the quality of studying and learning and applying herself,” Robinson said.
And Trustee Trenton Bowens said Griffin knocked his socks off.
Learnwell Educational Services provides educational and mental health support to students around the state of Illinois. Robinson said Griffin in her previous role led 23 hospital education programs across multiple states and supervised multiple school principals.
During Tuesday’s discussion, Trustees Stephanie Rockette-Martin and Matthew Bradley expressed support for Dr. Dallas Lee over Griffin, but said they will gladly work with Griffin. A previous finalist, Jeff Dase, dropped out of consideration before the meeting.
Contract negotiations with Griffin will now begin.
