Laurel School District Announces Watts as the New Superintendent

HATTIESBURG, MISS. – Friday morning, the Laurel School District announced that Dr. Toy L. Watts will take over as Laurel’s new superintendent.

“I am very excited to get to the Laurel School District, I can hardly wait… Next week I’m actually going to come in a little early so, I can have some quiet time to look over some paperwork,” Watts said. “I look forward to meeting my teachers on the third [Jan. 3], my staff, and everyone who works here to take care of our children here in Laurel.”

Watts brings over 20 years of experience in education to the Laurel School District.

“I have a little bit of experience in everything. I've been a teacher for ten years, I was a counselor two years,” Watts continued. “I have a huge wealth of knowledge in the area of education in various formats.”

“Wow! It’s like a sigh of relief right now to actually have this person starting January first,” the Board of Trustees President, Miranda Beard said. “See we're not where we want to be as a district and we believe Dr. Watts can take us to the next level of success.”

Dr. Watts says she is already prepared to make an impact.

“Hitting the ground running, that’s an understatement. I already started… I did my research on the district before I came,” Watts explained. “I still have some more inside research that I need to do, but as soon as I decided I was going to interview for this job, I hit the ground running.”

Overall, Beard and the Broad of Trustees say that the new superintendent needs the public’s support.

“It's going to be the most important factor right now… getting the staff and everybody supporting the new superintendent,” Bread explained. “So, that she can feel comfortable in the new role and be able to make the wise choices and decisions that are needed.”