Interim superintendent promoted to full time

New Bald Knob School District Superintendent Melissa Gipson stands next to the master’s-degree diploma she received from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Gipson was promoted to superintendent after serving three months in the interim following the death of Superintendent Bradley Roberts on Nov. 13
New Bald Knob School District Superintendent Melissa Gipson stands next to the master’s-degree diploma she received from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Gipson was promoted to superintendent after serving three months in the interim following the death of Superintendent Bradley Roberts on Nov. 13

— After a three-month period as interim superintendent of the Bald Knob School District, Melissa Gipson has been promoted to the position full time.

Gipson, who was the director of federal programs and curriculum coordinator, was named interim superintendent following the death of Bradley Roberts on Nov. 13. Roberts was a longtime administrator in the district and had been superintendent since 2014. He was a 1976 graduate of Bald Knob High School.

School board member Alfred Collins said Gipson was among 16 applicants for the full-time position. He said the board interviewed four candidates and hired Gipson, who was asked to accept the position March 1.

“I was so happy in my role, and I’ve always loved to serve a superintendent and to be an assistant,” Gipson said. “When Mr. Roberts passed, because Mr. Roberts was a part of everything — the school, church — it was a huge loss.”

Gipson said she was nervous when asked to be interim superintendent.

“I have a 2-year-old. … I was concerned about that,” she said. “But I wanted us to have time to be able to breathe and not just react. I knew that I had not been actively seeking a superintendent position. It had not even really crossed my mind.”

Gipson said that during her interim term, she realized she could do the job, so she applied for it.

“I wanted the best thing for our community,” she said. “I went into it with the mind that if we found someone who could do better, then I would be fine with that, too, because I enjoyed my role. If I was the right person at the right time, … I feel like God has his plans laid out for us. You don’t have to seek things out when it’s in his right time and right plan. It just worked out.”

Collins said Gipson will be an asset for the Bald Knob School District.

“I think she will bring honesty and sincerity to the district,” he said. “I think she will work for the kids and community.”

Gipson said she takes her goal for the future from the school crest at Bald Knob.

“We have a school crest, and on the crest it says ‘pride, achievement and integrity,’” she said. “My goal for our district is that we would continue to just grow that — when we talk about what our mission is and our vision, that we focus on pride, achievement and integrity in everything that we do, whether it be in facilities, academics, financially. We hope to strive for excellence in everything. In doing that, I believe our culture of family will just continue to grow.”

Gipson said the town of Bald Knob is family to her.

“When you come to Bald Knob, you become part of the family,” she said. “The school is that way. The community is that way. It is something that I want for my son. I want him to be part of an extended family and that you put yourself aside to serve the people in the family. That is what I want to continue to grow in the district.”

One of the biggest tasks Gipson has undertaken since she was named interim superintendent was whether to bid to host the Class 3A State Basketball Tournament.

“We felt like our girls would make it there,” she said. “We decided to, so talk about scary. We got the bid to host. It was my first time to get to see that — everyone coming together. It doesn’t matter if you are a school employee, whether you are a student in the school or a community member or just a patron who may have a business in the community. Everyone pulled together for the state tournament, and it was incredible. It is important.”

Collins said Gipson was leading the way during the state tournament.

“She didn’t ask anybody to do anything that she wouldn’t do herself,” he said. “She showed it. She did an outstanding job and got everybody involved.”

Gipson was born in Joplin, Missouri, but lived in several states growing up. She graduated from high school in California. Her parents moved to Cabot after she graduated from high school, and Gipson attended Arkansas State University-Beebe for two years before moving to Texas, where she attended Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas. She earned her bachelor’s degree there.

Upon graduation, Gipson moved back to Arkansas and taught four years of elementary school in Cabot. She earned two master’s degrees from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

Gipson was a principal in the East End School District in Bigelow for two years before becoming an assistant superintendent at Lonoke. She is currently in her fifth year at Bald Knob.

Gipson and her husband, Mark, have a 2-year-old son, Jebediah.

“I look forward to him growing up here with friends that he is going to have for life, which is something different than I had,” Gipson said. “I’m excited for that.”

Staff writer Mark Buffalo can be reached at (501) 399-3676 or mbuffalo@arkansasonline.com.

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