Kelt Cooper New Superintendent
By Robin Vinci at February 29, 2024 | 8:44 pm | Print
Kelt Cooper, currently superintendent of the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District in Del Rio, TX, was named New Britain Superintendent of Schools Wednesday after a 6-4 vote by the Board of Education.
“This was very difficult for the board,” said Sharon Beloin-Saavedra, school board president. “This was difficult because we had good candidates.”
The board had interviewed two other candidates Robert Copeland, currently superintendent of Piscataway Township Schools in Piscataway, New Jersey, and Sadia White, currently chief academic officer at Community Academy PCS in Washington, DC.
“Mr. Copeland did not want to stay because of the weather and we felt all candidates had to go through final interview to be considered,” said Beloin-Saavedra. “So, Mr. Copeland removed himself from consideration by not staying for the interview process.”
“We hope that with our vote we can move the district forward and show respect to the people who were involved in the search process that involved so many stakeholders and sought out so much public input.” she added.
School board member Paul Carver said it was the forms filled out by the public that put Cooper as the candidate the board wanted.
“He was consistently ahead,” said Carver. “We could have been very happy with one of the other two, but the forms all had him at the top.”
An offer was made and is contingent on a site visit, final contract negotiations and receipt of proper state notification.
Cooper was in a district that had an enrollment of 10,400 students and a budget of $100 Million. Cooper is bilingual and holds a Ph.D. (ABD, All But Dissertation), an M.A. and a B.A., all from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Past positions include Director of Technical Assistance, Office of English Language Acquisition Services, Arizona State Department of Education and Superintendent of the Nogales Unified School District #1 in Nogales, AZ.
Cooper’s doctoral coursework focuses on curriculum and instruction, and he has taught various college courses in that field. He has lead several school districts to significantly higher student achievement.
“Some of the highlights of what made board members feel strong about Mr. Cooper was coming from a rough and tumble district in Texas,” said Beloin-Saavedra. “We think the true grit he had working with an urban center in Texas will do well here in New Britain.”
“I’m both honored and overwhelmed,” said Cooper. “I am very excited about the opportunity to work here in New Britain.”
During his interview to the public at New Britain High School Tuesday night, Cooper said his family was all teachers. He said he was eclectic and was involved in sports including Rugby.
Most of his work has been on the Mexican border and he has worked with a largely Hispanic base.
Cooper said he had been the superintendent of the lowest performing school district in Texas and the fourth poorest and he turned it into a recognized district in three to four years.
“It’s a lot tougher than you are facing here,” Cooper said. “Why New Britain? If I can apply my skill set and do what I can and escape the heat of the southwest, I will gladly trade it in for the snow.”
He said he has a motto he brings to his programs. It is “if it is worth doing at all, it’s worth doing exceptionally well.”
“If you are doing things that you are not prepared at doing exceptionally well, why do it at all,” he said. “Anything short of doing exceptional is an investment of resources that are meaningless.”
He said that the board will start looking at everything that has been on their plate that does not factor into student achievement.
“Get rid of it. It costs money. It costs time. It costs energy,” he said. “Those savings will give teachers and principals breathing room. Your resources need to be better allocated.”
He added that the City needs someone to become part of New Britain.
”You don’t want somebody to come in and propose an outside perspective,” he said. “In short order you will think I have been here for the last 30 years. I will be visible. I will be working with various people.”
Cooper plans to live in the City of New Britain.
He said New Britain needs a lot and it would take time to get all that was needed.
“How do you eat an elephant?” he asked. “A little bite at a time.”
He said he plans to help with parent involvement and speak with students at the schools.
“I’ll be working at formulating with the staff positive plans to improve such things as expanding opportunities for all students, increasing or decreasing the achievement gap, looking at getting resources to teachers and getting rid of excess work we don’t need to do and make it simple.” he concluded.
Dr. Doris Kurtz resigned as superintendent of schools at the end of June 2011 after 10 years. Ron Jakubowski, assistant superintendent of schools, has been acting superintendent of schools since then.
