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Parents, students and teachers urge board to appoint Kyra Campbell as Edgewood High choir director
Summary
More than a dozen parents, students and staff urged the Richland Bean Blossom school board to appoint Kyra Campbell from the junior high to lead the high school choir, citing continuity, mentorship and program rebuilding after COVID; the board heard testimony but took no formal vote on a promotion at the meeting.
Dozens of parents, former students and teachers told the Richland Bean Blossom Community School Corporation board on May 19 that Kyra Campbell should lead the Edgewood High School choir program.
"Mrs. Campbell has already earned the respect, trust, and admiration of students and families," said Melissa Wells, an Edgewood junior-high teacher. "A successful choir program is built on leadership, passion, consistency, and the ability to connect with students." Brandon Wells, a parent and former choir director, said the district should favor an internal candidate who already knows and communicates with families: "You have someone who came up in this program who has demonstrated at the junior high level that she is capable of leading this program to even new heights of success."
Multiple students also spoke. "Mrs. Campbell is the one who encouraged me to join the choir and it made a real big difference in my life," student Emma Curtis told trustees. Older students and alumni echoed the same theme, describing show-choir camps, increased confidence, and renewed participation since Campbell took over the junior-high program.
Speakers framed their remarks as appeals for continuity after what several called an unsettled period for the program following a longtime director’s departure. Andrea Andrews, a district library and PLTW specialist, said Campbell "came in and...she has blossomed into what she is. She’s Edgewood Choirs. It is time." Brian Pollson and other community members recalled Campbell as a former student of the program and said that lineage strengthened her candidacy.
The remarks came during an extended public-comment period; the board voted to extend the comment window to accommodate the number of speakers. The public testimony was almost uniformly in favor of promoting Campbell, but the board did not record a formal vote or motion on a promotion during the May 19 meeting.
Why it matters: Supporters said promoting from within would preserve relationships with students who will be in the high-school program next year and sustain the momentum Campbell has built at the junior-high level. Opponents of an abbreviated search were not represented in force at the meeting.
What’s next: Board members heard the comments and continued with a packed consent and action agenda. The transcript contains no recorded motion or vote to appoint Campbell on May 19, and the board did not announce an immediate personnel action on the matter at the meeting’s close.
