By Kristen Shepard
Editor in Chief

Coppell ISD Superintendent Dr. Jeff Turner has been in the local and state spotlight this week after announcing his retirement on Friday and receiving the Key Communicator Award, the highest award given by the Texas School Public Relations Association.

The Key Communicator Award recognizes an exceptional educator who has contributed greatly to the profession of public school communications. After being nominated by Tamerah Ringo, director of Communications and Public Relations for CISD, Turner was humbled and overjoyed to receive the award.

In her nomination letter, Ringo praised Turner’s efforts to unite legislators, school boards, principals and parents alike to collaborate and work towards a new model of education. Ringo admires Turner’s dedication and persistence in pushing for change.

““Every chance he had, he got an audience. Whether it was three or 30 or 3,000 it didn’t matter,” Ringo said. “He was targeting the audience with laser sharp focus that the way schools are today can’t continue if we want our kids to succeed. Schools can’t be run the same way they were run when we went to school.”

Turner, who has been the superintendent of CISD for 12 years, has made communication a priority in the district in multiple ways. Turner has always been a firm believer that communication between all components in education should communicate. Turner wants to utilize the ways students already communicate to change education to work in the student’s favor.

“Communication is a key in any kind of work that students aspire to go in to. Developing your skills as a communicator is something all students should do no matter what,” Turner said. “I laugh sometimes when I think about the adults who think kids do not communicate, but in reality they communicate more than we every imagined possible, just in different forms.”

For Ringo, the tipping point in nominating Turner came when he called administrators to unite for a common cause.

“When Dr. Turner was able to compose a letter that went to all superintendents asking them to sign a resolution opposing high-stakes testing, in his role as president for all administration in the state, that was a really strong indicator of his ability to garner support on a really important issue in our state,” Ringo said.

Turner has worked central roles in the quest to reduce the amount of standardized testing that goes on in Texas schools to a more reasonable number.

“He helped take the number of standardized tests required to graduate from 15 to five, which was a necessity,” Ringo said. “Texas is the only state in the entire nation that required 15 tests.”

At the award reception for Turner’s Key Communicator Award in Dallas on Sept. 27, 2013, Turner delivered an impassioned speech calling the crowd to action.

“The system has to be changed to allow students to do better things. Students can’t be sitting in boring classrooms listening to people talking at them. It has been my passion for a long time to help school districts be able to get adults out of the way of kids, so that kids can do more,” Turner said. “Because of the passion that I have for freeing education up from the schooling that we all had over the years, it is easy for me to get up in front of groups and be passionate.”

Turner’s passion for change in schools is infectious. When he announced plans to retire earlier this week, district employees and surrounding educators were surprised. Though he is retiring from his position with CISD, Turner plans to continue working towards achieving his goals.

“I feel such an urgency that if we do not do better in our public schools, then they will cease to exist,” Turner said. “I believe we have made some great changes and some great strides here in Coppell. I am going to continue in this work. I am not sure in what form that will be.”

Ringo feels the weight of his retirement heavily.

“[Turner’s retirement] is a loss professionally and personally, we worked together for 12 years,” Ringo said. “He has been a mentor, a teacher, an inspiration and he has been a good friend.”