Profile: Kenneth Spells
Going To Bat Through Athletics
BY JULI DOSHAN/School Administrator, March 2018

Kenneth Spells

GROWING UP IN North Carolina’s Tobacco Road, Kenneth Spells learned about all the great basketball players who attended nearby Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Naturally, he wanted to play the sport himself.

Unfortunately, because he couldn’t get a ride to practice every day, he couldn’t participate in high school. This partly motivated Spells, now superintendent of the South Bend, Ind., Community School Corp., to make education his career.

“We lived in rural North Carolina — the high school was 25 minutes away and my grandparents just couldn’t take me (there),” he recalls. “But the love and passion for sports were there, so I guess because of that, I wanted to make sure that other students didn’t miss out on those opportunities.”

The self-titled “athletic superintendent” is quick to point to the benefits of scholastic sports. He is working now to add boys’ and girls’ lacrosse to his 17,700-student district.

“When you work in districts like those I’ve worked in with high poverty, sports give our students something to look forward to and help us keep students in school,” says Spells, who began his career as a social studies teacher and basketball coach in Columbus, S.C. “Also, it can help our families pay for college, so I think it’s a very important piece of the puzzle.”

Supporting students is a major focus for Spells, whether he’s attending their games or providing them with help to succeed in classes. During his previous superintendency in Alton, Ill., the district expanded its after-school and summer school programs, resulting in an additional 288 annual hours of instruction for struggling students in grades K-9.

In Alton, Spells initiated a one-to-one laptop program for all 3rd through 12th graders, something that got him an invitation to meet President Obama at the White House.

Upon arriving in South Bend in 2016, he began a campaign, Team South Bend, to rally the community behind its students. He visited the district’s 34 schools in 34 days and brought his advocacy to the chamber of commerce.

“He’s made a concerted effort to get out to listen to as many teachers, parents, students and community members as possible,” says Jeff Rea, president and CEO of the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce. “He’s got a really difficult job with a lot of demands on his time, but he hasn’t let that get in the way of his interest in learning what the community needs are.”

Spells uses Team South Bend to promote equity through a system that allocates resources based on the needs of a given school and to prepare students for college, career and the global marketplace.

The connection to the business community is helpful when Spells organizes nontraditional job fairs, expands career and technical course offerings, in high schools and middle schools, and brings mentors into schools to motivate students to pursue their interests.

“I want to make sure that I am helping these students not only be successful, but do what they love because when you love what you’re doing and you’re passionate about it, you’re going to be a very productive citizen,” says the two-time local winner of the NAACP Educational Leadership Award.

Fortunately for those in South Bend, Spells has found something he wants to do. He’s even managed to pursue his first reason for getting into education — social studies. An experienced traveler, he has visited 48 states and plans to check off Montana and North Dakota this summer.

And when he’s not working or travelling, he can, of course, be found watching sports.

JULI DOSHAN is senior editorial assistant at School Administrator.

BIO STATS: KENNETH SPELLS
Currently: superintendent, South Bend Community School Corp., South Bend, Ind.

Previously: superintendent, Alton Community Unit School District 11, Alton, Ill.

Age: 50

Greatest influence on career: Hearing former Charlotte-Mecklenburg superintendent John Murphy interviewed upon his receipt of the job when he challenged us to have high expectations.

Best professional day: In 2014, as one of 117 superintendents chosen for the first National ConnectED Superintendents Summit at the White House.

Books at bedside: Tuesday Morning Coaching by David Cottrell and The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008 by John F. Harris and Mark Halperin

Biggest blooper: As assistant superintendent, I read students’ names at graduation. Knowing the importance of correct pronunciation, I rehearsed until I had every name perfect. Alas, at the ceremony, I mispronounced a student’s name.

Why I’m an AASA member: I look forward to the monthly School Administrator magazine so I can keep current with the state of public education.