Neville principal affected by consent decrees

Christella Dawson, the new principal at Neville High School, is intimately familiar with consent decrees.

When Dawson started the academic year teaching at Carroll High School in 1969, she didn't know where Neville High School was. One morning, she was told to pack her desk and report to Neville by 1 p.m. the same day as part of the ongoing desegregation case against Monroe City Schools.

She said the students — doctors' kids — all had better cars than she did as a still-new math teacher. The first few weeks, she said, were a struggle. Students would ask her for a hall pass so they could go ask another teacher if she was explaining equations properly. After weeks of struggle, she was frozen at a stoplight, telling herself something had to change.

She walked in the first class and told them "we've tried a democracy," but now she was in charge. She said she did not have to repeat that lesson for other classes throughout the day.

Dawson has been at Neville ever since. This week, she was made principal as part of changes made in response to the current consent decree.

"Desegregation got me to this school, and desegregation got me into this position," she said. She said God moved her here, and she loves what she does.

During a 30-minute interview, Dawson took two parents' phone calls, accepted a confiscated phone from a parent and took in an attendance slip from a teacher with a missing student.

Dawson said she'd find the student by the end of the day and find out why she missed class. If not Wednesday, first thing Thursday morning.

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Dawson taught math at Neville until the early '90s, when she was made assistant principal and started the computer science program. She said she loves the job she does and, in the past, turned down principal positions at Neville and other high schools. She also started the Renaissance program, which honors students with good grades and exemplary behavior records.

"It's been a tremendous ride up to this point," she said.

She had only kind things to say about Whitney Martin, who was principal until earlier this week and is now assistant principal.

"We're going to make this work," Dawson said.

Dawson said Martin let her have input on decisions and the pair have been working cooperatively since Martin took the helm last year. She's going to teach Martin about her tasks, and Martin will learn about the assistant principal job.

"This is the place to be," Dawson said Wednesday in her office. She said the teachers are a family, and they are supported. She said the Neville Nation stands together.

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Dawson said two Neville teachers had to go to other schools Wednesday, and new teachers started in their place. By 1:30, Dawson had checked on both to make sure students were welcoming the new staff.

She said during her first consent decree move, she didn't know what was going on at other schools, but now she does. She said moving teachers in lower grades away from small children is radical. The adults, she said, can get mad and make their own decisions. The children don't have a choice. She said the moves should have been made over the summer.

She said the school district and Neville are strong. The students are good, teachers are united, and the parents are supportive.

"They're not going to hurt us with this," Dawson said. "We're a team."

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