Southern Indiana Business July-August 2020 | Page 16

FIVE QUESTIONS
5
QUESTIONS
Rising to the challenge
Southern Indiana women lead during times of change
by Brooke McAfee
It’s been a year of challenges
and changes across the nation
and within the Southern Indiana
community — a pandemic
has changed our way of life,
and protests calling for racial
justice have sparked local and national
conversations.
We talked with five goal-oriented
women who are leaders in various sectors,
including government, business and the
arts, to learn how they are approaching
current challenges and forging a path for
future success.
CLEMEN
PEREZ-LLOYD
West Clark Community Schools
Superintendent Clemen Perez-Lloyd has
been leading the district through times
of uncertainty for about two years. With
the approval of a referendum in the June
primary election, West Clark will split
into two separate districts, the Henryville/
Borden School Corp. and the Silver Creek
Community School Corp.
Perez-Lloyd, an educator of more than
20 years, feels confident about the future of
the two school communities.
As West Clark Community
Schools prepares to split into two
separate districts, what are your
goals for continuing high-quality
education in the community?
“We have a solid instructional program
in both districts. We still have the same
administration, as well as teachers. The
programs will not be impacted. What I do
believe will happen is that as the districts
determine the needs of offerings and programs,
now they have the ability to tailor to
the needs of each specific campus...As the
kids come back to school and the administrations
on both sides get settled, I think
they will have the opportunity to expand
offerings and the quality of the instruction.
We have to remember at this point that
COVID has been a challenge for all, so trying
to incorporate technology I believe will
be the way to continue a high quality of
programs in both districts.
“When you are an education person
at heart, you lead with a mind of always
thinking about kids. You want to make
decisions for the best interests of students.
So in the past two years, when there has
been uncertainty of what’s going to happen
to the district, as a leader, my mindset
would always be, we cannot predict the
future. The focus of the administration and
other leaders was always to ensure that we
act in the present to make sure we have
good services for our kids and students
were always the main focus.”
News and Tribune file photo
16 July / August 2020