Dr. Glen Fenter named new MSD Superintendent

Dr. Glen Fenter named new MSD Superintendent

Former ASU Mid- South president tapped to lead Marion schools

ralphhardin@gmail.com Dr. Glen Fenter, a longtime fixture in the local education arean, is coming back to this side of the river.

Pending formal approval by the School Board, Fenter has been named the new Superintendent of Schools for the Marion School District. The decision comes at the end of an exhaustive search by the district and McPherson & Jacobson LLC consulting group to find a new leader for the school district selected, replacing Don Johnston.

In June of 2015, Dr. Glen Fenter became the lead of workforce development efforts in the Mid-South as President of the Greater Memphis Alliance for a Competitive Workforce (GMACW). The alliance was created to build a pipeline of high-skilled workers to meet the needs of businesses throughout the region.

Prior to that, Fenter served as president of ASU Mid-South from its inception in 1992 until stepping down to take the GMACW position. Before that, he was principal of West Memphis High School, assistant principal of Fort Smith Northside High School and a teacher and coach at Alma High School.

A graduate of Hendrix College with an Ed. D.

from the University of Arkansas, Dr. Fenter first accepted the leadership of Mid-South Technical College and the challenge of guiding the community through a successful millage election in 1993 to secure local funding for a community college. He then worked with architects and board members to develop a master plan for campus expansion that has included more than $100 million in renovation, new construction and equipment focused on providing a breadth of higher learning for a community previously without such opportunities.

He also worked with the West Memphis School District to adopt the “academies” education model, which is designed to give students a head start in their post-secondary education and career paths.

The school district was expected to make a decision on the new superintendent by this Thursday, but by Friday afternoon, following a week of interviews, the news leaked on social media that Fenter had been offered and had accepted the job.

A field of 24 applicants was pared down to four final candidates, including Marion Director of Secondary Education Hugh Inman, Marion Facilities Manager Dusty Duncan, Little Rock Schools associate superintendent Marvin Burton.

Dr. Fenter’s vision of higher education is that of a catalyst for economic development – a commitment which has driven every major initiative in the college’s development. In the spring of 2005, Dr. Fenter worked with presidents of the other four community colleges in eastern Arkansas to create the Arkansas Delta Training and Education Consortium (ADTEC), which provides a comprehensive, regional approach to meeting current and future educational and training requirements through the creation of career pathways that begin with secondary education and extend through the provision of economically targeted baccalaureate degrees with multiple stop-out and entry points.

ADTEC has received national recognition for its workforce education model five times in seven years.

Honors include Southern Business & Development magazine’s “Ten Outstanding Southern Community Colleges for Workforce Training,” the Bellwether Award in Workforce Development, the U.S. Department of Labor Recognition of Excellence Award, the Southern Growth Policies Board Innovator Award, and recognition as a national model in a Workforce Strategy Center report underwritten by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The buzz on Fenter’s appointment quickly made the rounds over the weekend. A post on the Marion Elementary School Facebook page read, “We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Glen Fenter as the Superintendent of Marion Public Schools! Dr.

Fenter will replace Mr. Don Johnston who will retire at the end of the school year.

We wish Mr. Johnston a blessed retirement.”

Similar sentiments were shared by followers, including notes such as “What a great move by Marion!” and “Great news for our district!”

Perhaps Glenda Bryan, former principal at Avondale Elementary, now retired, summed up the reaction best when she posted, “I am thrilled to learn that Dr. Glen Fenter has accepted the superintendent's position for the Marion School District!

This is a win-win situation.

Thanks go to the search committee and to the school board members for all their hard work in securing a great leader for our

school district.”

By Ralph Hardin