Cassandra Walker Suggs will be the third person in the last three years to assume the role that has been a lightning rod for controversy in the Rockwood School District.
Suggs, the current Wildwood Middle School principal, has been named the district’s director of educational equity and access and will begin that job on July 1.
The position previously was called the director of education equity and diversity, and one person who formerly held the job is suing the Rockwood district.
Suggs said she thought long and hard about whether to accept the position.
“Yes, there was pause, reflection, prayer and conversations with my husband (Ron Suggs), (Superintendent Curtis Cain) and others,” she said. “I would not be speaking honestly if I said there wasn’t. That would be true of any human being going into this position and knowing what has happened in the past.”
Suggs will be paid a $136,671.89 annual salary in the director position next school year. She currently earns $131,731.94 as a principal.
Board of Education members voted unanimously in a March 16 closed meeting to promote Suggs.
Rockwood has struggled to keep someone in the position in recent years.
Brittany Hogan resigned as the director of educational equity and diversity in April 2021. She had been promoted to that position at the start of the 2020-2021 school year after working for the district since 2012.
Hogan has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Rockwood, saying the district did nothing while she and other Black staff members were being harassed by parents and other community members and only addressed the issue when white employees became targets of the abuse.
She is seeking damages in excess of the court’s jurisdictional minimum of $25,000.
Aisha Grace, who assumed Hogan’s position at the start of the 2021-2022 school year, resigned in January.
Hogan and Grace resigned following three years of parents challenging Rockwood administrators over decisions related to COVID-19, district spending, and equity and diversity initiatives. Those challenges also led to the resignation of former Superintendent Mark Miles after the 2020-2021 school year and former executive director of student services Terry Harris in January.
Miles had been the superintendent for two years before stepping down, and Harris had worked for Rockwood for 17 years.
In March, the district promoted Marquette High School Principal Stephen Hankins to assistant superintendent of student services, which is the new name for the role Harris served in at Rockwood. Hankins will start that new job on July 1.
“There was trepidations at first,” Suggs said. “Then when I got the job, so many people were so happy and congratulated me. So many people came up to me, sent text messages or called and said, ‘Be safe. I want you to be careful. I hope you will be all right.’
“I let everyone know I am going to be fine. This is a great opportunity for me to show love for people. I am a pretty tough person. There will be times there will need to be some courageous approaches, but in the end, I want us all to come together.”
Cain said he believes Suggs will thrive in the newly renamed position.
“She is a true champion for kids,” he said. “She literally lights up when she is in the proximity of students. She has an amazing ability to connect with students and families and builds such genuine and heartfelt relationships.”
Cain said the district changed the title for the director position because it is more encompassing.
“This isn’t about any subset of students,” he said. “Students bring about different needs, different challenges and different aptitudes as well. How do we best work to meet the needs of all 20,000 students in the Rockwood School District? It is going to be differentiated. It is going to vary over time. I think our response is going to have to change as students’ needs change over time. I think this position is part and parcel of making that happen.”
Unique perspective
Suggs began her career in education nine years after starting a career in media.
She said she wrote for the St. Louis American newspaper in 2000 and was host of a show on STL TV, the government access station for the city of St. Louis, from 2002 to 2015.
Suggs hosted the STL TV show with Ivy Hartman, a college career counselor at Rockwood Summit High School.
She also was a host for the radio show, “Kelly and Cassandra Live,” which was on 1380 AM The Woman.
In 2009, Suggs started her career in education teaching English as a second language to students in preschool through high school in the Washington School District.
In 2019, she relocated to Columbia, where she was the dean of students at Hickman High School and an adjunct journalism professor at University of Missouri-Columbia.
She returned to the St. Louis area in 2020 when Rockwood hired her as the assistant principal at Rockwood South Middle School, and she became the principal at Wildwood Middle at the start of the 2021-2022 school year.
Suggs also has published two award-winning books for youth, “Becoming Myself” and “Stories from My Life,” and she wrote one fictional book, “The Girl Power Series: Neighborhood Watch.”
“When I first started college, I worked as an educational reporter for CBS,” Suggs said. “Then I wrote children’s books, and then I became a teacher and now an administrator. I have put myself in a place to be surrounded by children my entire adult life.
“I want people to know how much I truly care about all children. This position affords me the opportunity to touch all buildings. I am really excited about it.
“I am proud to be the director of educational equity and access for the Rockwood School District, and I am thankful.”
Suggs earned a bachelor’s degree from Western Illinois University, a master’s degree in teaching from Lindenwood University, a master’s degree in teaching English to speakers of other languages from Southeast Missouri State University, a specialist degree in educational leadership policy analysis from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a doctorate from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She also holds certification in school management and leadership from Harvard University, according to a written statement from Rockwood.
“She has a diverse background, not only in terms of teaching but work experience as well,” Cain said. “I think she is going to do a really good job for students and families in our district.”
Healing
Suggs said her top priorities for next school year are to get to better know the Rockwood community, staff and students and to listen to what people want from the district.
“That is my top priority, building relationships and asking questions,” she said. “I really need to listen and hear what the pulse is. If you read one side of the news, people think we are all up in arms and it is an unsettled place to be. If you read the other side, it is the best place.
“After I listen and learn about what our needs are as a district, I will cultivate a plan for moving forward. That is when we will have to do some healing, have some good conversations and have some great people come on board and help us rise to the top.”
Cain said Suggs will be working with Hankins and numerous staff members to assure there is equity and access for Rockwood students.
He also said Suggs understands what the current climate is in the district and has the tools to navigate it.
“She understands there are different wrinkles across the school district,” Cain said. “It is not something to run from. I think it is something to acknowledge. She has an effective understanding of context that I think will aid her in being successful in this role.
“When I think of the fact that rapport and relationships are going to be key for this role, I think those are places where she thrives. I think it is going to be a good fit and a productive one, not only for Dr. Walker Suggs but for the Rockwood School District.”