Dr. Nichols said he would “listen, evaluate and lead” as superintendent if selected
MADISON – Dr. Ed Nichols, the former superintendent of Decatur City Schools said Thursday that if chosen to lead the school district in Madison he would first work to identify and focus on areas where improvement would make Madison City Schools even better.
Nichols said the school district has obtained its high level of educating students through great teachers, parents and community support. “But, to do anything starts in the classroom,” he said. “That’s where the rubber meets the road.”
He was answering one of the school board’s questions during the last of three interviews held this week to determine who will replace former superintendent Robby Parker, who retired in February. Assistant superintendent Eric Terrell has been serving as the interim until a a new superintendent is selected.
“Our school system is a high achieving school system. What is your vision to take us to the next level and deal with achievement gap?” school board member Louis Ferrer asked.
Nichols said the school district needs to take a hard look at the areas where the district needs to improve and focus on those.
One statistic he used as an example is from a state assessment showing students from lower income families in Madison are successful at 52% while non-poverty students are successful at 83%.
“There is a gap,” he said. “If you want to be number one, you have to close the gap. You have to take those opportunities.”
“If I am given the opportunity to serve with you as superintendent, I am going to start looking at those gaps,” Nichols added. “You are far above the state level, but we are not the state. Our standards are higher, and we should want it to be. Every percent (on the assessment) is a child, and every child is important.”
He then began to explain his process for finding and working on the various gaps throughout the district.
“It does not mean that Ed Nichols is going to walk into a kindergarten class and tell a teacher they need to use whole language instead of phonics,” he said. “That is not my role. But I will get teachers together and say just what you asked me, ‘We are a high achieving school system, but here is the data. We have gaps. What do we do to make the gaps better?”
“I like to start with the people where the rubber meets the road and ask them what they need and what can we do,” he continued.
Nichols gave the school board members his first 60-day plan for himself if selected to lead Madison City Schools. “It talks about listen, evaluate and lead,” he said.
One example he used came from his experience as the superintendent in Decatur City Schools. “We looked at every program we had,” he said. “I asked the question, why did we use this program and what was the outcome supposed to be. If the outcome was supposed to be x and we were not getting x, then we were either not living up to the fidelity of the program or the program wasn’t successful and we needed to get rid of it.”
Nichols said he listened to the ones in direct contact with the students in making those assessments. “I listened to teachers, administrators and parents and talked about what we could do to improve the instruction in the classroom,” he said.
Throughout the interview session, Dr. Nichols relied heavily on his experience as a former superintendent and connections with state leaders to show how he could also be a strong advocate for the school district in Montgomery.
Nichols’ career started as band director at Tullahoma High School and then Austin High School in Decatur. His work in administration started as principal of Austin in 1998. He was promoted to assistant superintendent and then to superintendent for Decatur City Schools.
Since 2016, he has worked as Director of Principally Speaking Network with The Schools Foundation in Huntsville. Since 2018, Nichols has been president of ENspire Consulting LLC in Decatur. He also has served as media consultant for Decatur Morgan Hospital and Music Director of Central United Methodist Church.
Nichols has also been serving as the interim principal at Decatur High School.
At the University of Tennessee, he earned bachelor and master’s degrees in Music Education. At the University of Alabama, he completed the Innovative Leadership Program in 1998, followed by Education Specialist credentials in Educational Administration and a doctorate’s degree in Education Leadership.
Nichols has been an Adjunct Professor for Samford University and UA. He has been active in civic and professional organizations and earned honors from state education agencies and community groups.
