The old saying goes, “When one door closes, another door opens.”
As Dr. Amy Jackson closes the door on a 21-year career with the Poplar Bluff R-I school district, she’s opening the door for a new position in Maynard, Arkansas.
Jackson announced her retirement as the district’s assistant superintendent for finance after the Poplar Bluff school board meeting in February.
She will begin the new 2023-24 school year as the superintendent of the Maynard, Arkansas, school district.
“I planned on doing something else following my retirement as an educator,” Jackson said.
“However, an opportunity arose the day after I submitted my resignation, and I accepted the superintendent’s position with the Maynard School District,” she said.
She began her administrative career as the superintendent of the Risco, Missouri, school district in 2000.
After that, she came to Poplar Bluff in 2002 as assistant superintendent for special services, a position she held for eight years.
From 2010 to 2019, she served as assistant superintendent for human resources in Poplar Bluff, moving to the district’s chief financial officer position in 2019.
During her tenure, she has faced two considerable challenges: the school bond issue that led to dramatic district facilities expansion, and the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.
“COVID probably was the most challenging experience because of the magnitude of everything,” Jackson said. “We tried to ensure that we provided our students, staff and teachers with everything they needed to be successful with regard to instruction and safety.”
She said that before the bond issue passed, she was forced to make difficult decisions about staffing due to the financial constraints at that time.
After the bond issue passed, new opportunities for growth became available to the district.
“We all are always looking for opportunities to improve,” she said, “so being part of that initiative was probably one of the most rewarding experiences that I’ve had.”
One of the other challenges of the COVID pandemic was the series of decisions she and her colleagues have recommended to the school board about how to spend the millions of dollars in federal COVID relief funds, commonly called ESSER funds.
“As a team, we were able with the board to really prioritize how to best utilize those dollars to get the most benefit for our students for our staff, and ultimately for the district and community as a whole,” Jackson said.
Jackson joins Superintendent Dr. Scott Dill in departing the district at the end of this school year. She credits their professional relationship as a strength of her experience in the Poplar Bluff administration.
“It’s a wonderful professional relationship,” she said. “He has been just instrumental in having the insight to assist me and our team to look ahead to where we could future-proof the district’s finances.”
“He’s been a wonderful mentor to me,” she said, “and challenged me and others to really think outside of the box.”
Dill echoes these sentiments in his comments on her tenure.
“As CFO, she has undertaken the monumental task of ensuring that the district’s finance are in order as well as navigating all the all the intricacies of the influx of the federal dollars,” Dill said.
“She’s been a professional and valued member of our team,” he said, “and while we will miss her, we are absolutely certain that she will do an amazing job (in Maynard).”
Maynard School District has a student population just over 500, compared to more than 5,000 students in Poplar Bluff. Jackson is looking forward to returning to her professional roots.
“I got my start in a very small school district at Risco,” she said. “Going back to a small school and being able to give back where I got my start is something dear to my heart.
“I feel like that was God’s plan because those doors were opened, and the opportunity was there.”
She hopes that her legacy in Poplar Bluff will be as someone who put students and colleagues first.
“I would hope that people would think of me as a person that cares for our kids and loves our kids,” Jackson said. “I have done everything that I can do for their betterment and to enhance their education.”
“Our entire staff deserves recognition because without them, I could not do my job effectively,” she said.
“In every position that I’ve been in, hopefully I’ve made things better.”