Tony McGee, Starkville superintendent, tells Baldwin County board he would prioritize teacher support, special education compliance and less screen time

Dr. Tony McGee, the superintendent of the Starkville School District, told Baldwin County Public Schools board members in a public interview that he would prioritize strengthening teacher supports, tightening special-education compliance and cutting back on classroom screen time if hired as Baldwin County superintendent.

McGee outlined how special education is implemented under federal law and the local steps he said are necessary to comply: child-find processes, comprehensive evaluations when requested, MET-team reviews, IEP development and parental procedural safeguards. "We’ve trained all of our principals on that," he said of recent district training sessions, and added that administrators had undergone restraint training and IEP training to improve compliance and practice.

He framed teacher investment as the central response to classroom challenges, saying district leaders must "pour into our people" with targeted supports such as behavior therapists and psychologists. Asked how to resolve community complaints, McGee said he gives parents his personal number and emphasizes listening: "Most people ... really just want a good education for their child." He told the board Starkville serves about 5,000 students and contrasted that with Baldwin County’s roughly 33,000.

On technology and classroom devices, McGee said the COVID-era push to one-to-one devices led to excessive screen time and social-skill erosion. "There's too much screen time in classrooms," he said, arguing that teachers should lead instruction and not be "the cell phone police." He recommended scaling back device use in favor of skilled, in-person teaching.

McGee also described how Starkville is handling a major school construction project and procurement: the district is building a $127,000,000 high school on Mississippi State University property and, rather than a standard design-bid-build approach, hired a construction manager (ICM) early to oversee design and phased bidding. He said that approach produced better cost estimates and allowed the district to phase the work; for example, a $7,000,000 dirt-work estimate came in at about $6,200,000.

Board members asked whether McGee’s experience leading smaller districts prepared him for Baldwin County’s size and simultaneous capital projects. McGee acknowledged the difference in scale but argued that "school problems are school problems" and pointed to 18 years of superintendent experience, recent high-profile project oversight and crisis management as evidence he could scale his approach.

Safety and crisis response were recurring themes. McGee said Starkville has invested in door-detection devices, ballistic window film for elementary grades, card-key entry for the new high school and a 14-officer district police force, and emphasized partnerships with community counseling agencies and Mississippi State University for psychologists. He recounted crisis examples — an immigration raid that left many children temporarily without parents and a major bus wreck — to illustrate the unpredictable demands districts must be ready to address.

On program evaluation and instructional materials, McGee said decision-making relies on usage data and teacher vetting. He described a process of asking four budget questions — does this improve instruction, help teachers, improve safety, or ease support-staff work — and said the district uses teacher PLCs and PTO councils to evaluate and select HQIM (highly qualified instructional materials) from state-approved lists, supplementing with vetted outside resources when necessary.

The interview ended without a vote. Speaker 1 told McGee the board will vote at its regular meeting on Thursday night and that they will follow up by phone.