Newport Independent School District has appointed Matt Atkins as its interim superintendent.
The Newport Board of Education appointed Atkins at its regular meeting on June 25. Atkins has served as principal of Newport Primary School since 2017 and graduated from Newport High School in 2000. He has worked in the district for 19 years.
Atkins attended the meeting virtually because he was out of town.
“I would like to thank the board for giving me this opportunity,” Atkins said. “I’m very grateful to have this opportunity to be the interim superintendent for the upcoming school year. Newport independent schools are very special to me.”
Atkins’ interim term will last for one year. According to Newport Board of Education Chair Ramona Malone, the board will officially search for a permanent superintendent in January. She said Atkins can be named the permanent superintendent should he apply and be selected.
“I graduated from Newport schools, and just as a student, I knew I wanted to come back and be a teacher,” Atkins said. “I care about the kids, the teachers, the staff, the community.”
The interim superintendent appointment comes after a two-hour closed session with the school board on May 15, when then-Superintendent Tony Watts resigned.
At a special meeting on June 4, after speaking in a closed session, the board passed a motion to sign the settlement and release agreement and covenant not to sue regarding Watts’ resignation. Watts’ superintendent duties will end on June 30. Watts’ settlement agreement included payment of $175,000.
Before he resigned, Watts’ contract was from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2028.
What has happened in the district leading up to Watts’ resignation?
In October 2024, the district transferred $1 million from its investment fund to balance a budget deficit of $937,930 before sending it for review to the Kentucky Department of Education.
In January, former district Finance Director Jennifer Hoover said the school district was facing a $3.9 million budget deficit for the 2026 school year, which would likely lead to job losses; however, during the June 25 meeting, Malone said the $3.9 million deficit was a result of a draft budget, and the district was not in debt.
“Let me explain that $3.9 million deficit was a draft budget,” Malone said. “When it was prepared, that was an estimate to let us know that things need to change. We are not in debt, we are not broke.”
The Newport Teachers Association, the district’s teachers union, called for a “no confidence” vote in Watts at the board meeting on Feb. 26, but the vote failed to garner support among the board members.
According to information from the superintendent’s office, on May 2, the district sent out 30 non-renewal letters to teachers at several schools throughout the district, the same week Watts resigned, and the board cut the administrative positions. While statements from district staff suggest that the district will begin the next school year in the green, the district’s long-term financial health is unclear.
Newport Board of Education member Bobbie Stubbeman said she was impressed with Atkins and welcomed him to the new role.
“We interviewed some really great applicants, but you above the board stood out, and we were so very impressed with you and what you promised to the district to move forward,” Stubbeman said. “So congratulations.”