MAKING THE GRADE: Dr. Susan Kincannon retires after being an educator in Central Texas for 34 years

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Waco ISD Superintendent Dr. Susan Kincannon is retiring after working as an educator for 34 years all over Central Texas.

From teacher, to principal, to superintendent, Kincannon has seen almost everything through the years.

Kincannon found herself surrounded by educators after she was adopted and brought to Texas.

When she started school, Kincannon remembers whenever she struggled with what was going on in her life. She said she was inspired by teachers who were there for her.

“There was just a lot of things that were stuffed down deep inside... but I had a teacher that I knew loved me and she loved all of us I’m sure, but I really responded to that love and I loved the way that she made me feel and I realized that I was really good at learning and that school was just a place that I could thrive,” Kincannon said.

After graduating from Copperas Cove ISD and then getting her bachelor’s degree from University of Mary Hardin Baylor, Kincannon began teaching at Scott Elementary in Temple.

Later, after getting her master’s degree at Tarleton State, Kincannon came to Belton ISD in 2000, and after getting her doctorate at Baylor University, she became the superintendent in 2011 at the same district.

Kincannon says the role change was a big shift for her.

“You are leader of a system that is responsible for the lives of these children and ensuring that they get a quality education, but you are also an executive over so many complex systems to managing transportation to food service to security and the list goes on and so your constantly juggling keeping so many balls in the air at the same time,” Kincannon said.

Kincannon joined Waco ISD as a superintendent in 2019, and her mission was to make schools better for students and staff.

But in her first year in her new role, the COVID-19 pandemic shut schools down across the country, and Kincannon says she and her staff had to be careful and calculated in their next steps.

“One of the reasons that I think we navigated that successfully was that we had good communication with our leaders we had a lot of zoom meetings, we kept people informed we tried to do a good job of communicating and then getting opinions,” Kincannon recalled.

Kincannon said it was a trying time, but they pulled through together and returned to in person learning in the fall of 2022.

As the pandemic calmed down a new problem arose, but this time school districts couldn’t isolate themselves from the issue.

Each year, the Texas Education Agency, or TEA, gives all school districts in Texas an accountability rating, giving them a score from A through F, based on their student’s achievements, testing, and other factors.

In September of 2023, the TEA announced they would postpone the release of the ratings to adjust how they would calculate scores.

Waco ISD was one of the many school districts in Texas that was a part of a lawsuit filed, arguing that the tea did not give schools enough notice, and the new scores could be lower which would undermine the efforts of school staff to improve across the board.

Kincannon took it upon herself to testify in court, standing up for her district.

“For me it was about making sure that I got the story right for our community and for our public schools because I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve said...I know about accountability and testing systems and how this has worked over the years for my 34 years in education and what was happening was not right...we just had the rug pulled out from underneath us and I was fighting for my schools,” Kincannon explained.

Growing from a teacher to a superintendent, Kincannon looks back at her journey and says that teachers need more support while they go through the ups and downs of the job.

“I think there’s a tremendous amount of pressure that goes with the job and so teachers need ongoing mentoring they need the opportunity to understand their feelings, unpack them and reset,” Kincannon said.

As Kincannon says goodbye to Waco ISD and passes off the baton to the next superintendent, Dr. Tiffany Spicer, she gives her a word of advice for her successor on how to be the best superintendent for your district.

“Really not trying to compare yourself too much to anyone else is really important and just being you in the position, and I really try to be my genuine self in this job,” Kincannon said.

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