Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Dallas County School System is losing its two top officials this week.

School Superintendent Anthony Sampson’s final day was on Monday while Chief Schools Financial Officer Quinette Bruno’s final day is today.

Sampson will be retiring and not taking another position, while Bruno was hired to be a CSFO of another school district.

The Selma Times-Journal sat down with each of them to reflect on their time with the school district. And for Sampson, his final day on Monday was just like his first day.

“My last day has been just as busy as the first day,” Sampson said. “I woke up this morning and had an opportunity to go around and visit some of our schools engaging in summer learning, dealing with the normal ebb and flow of information. And it’s just been nonstop just trying to do a good battle hand-off to make sure everything that can be done down to the last detail.”

Sampson and DCS have faced numerous challenges over his three-year tenure. They were coming out of COVID and dealing with the loss of learning associated with those. Students have made tremendous gains over the past three years, as several failing schools have moved up to a D or even C grades by the end of the 2023-2024 school year. The 2024-2025 report cards are due out in October, and Sampson cannot wait to see what those results will be because, based on their internal indicators, the district is expected to see additional gains.

For Sampson, it’s not just about moving in the right direction, but moving with the right speed as well so that the gains are sustainable for the district.

“You know, a lot of times we talk about doing things real fast, but I like I like to do things with the right velocity. Move with the right speed, but moving in the right direction,” Sampson said. “And our pathway of growth has been in the right direction since we first started this journey together. I’m just excited about what’s happening, and it gives teachers, students, parents and the community a great sense of pride to know that, yes, my child that did that. Our school that did that. The data is there and everyone knows what that says. So we’re just super excited to have a collective team effort moving in that direction.”

For Bruno, the district’s finances are also moving in the right direction. The district has caught back up on its audits, and the district’s financial reports are up to date. State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey has signed off on all of the year-end financial statements and the current fiscal year’s budget.

One area Bruno has helped get the board up to speed has been to keep them informed about the overall health of the district.

“Just letting the board know about our financial health is very important,”  Bruno said. “When they’re not informed, things can be mis-happed, but when they know, they can let us know how we can target those different areas. I feel like it’s going to improve dramatically for everyone, uh, moving forward.”

Sampson said he believes the district is on the right path to greatness.

“We’re so much further along the way now. I really believe that,” Sampson said. “There’s not a fiber in my body that doesn’t believe Dallas County is right there on the pathway to greatness. I’m looking forward to the next iteration of scores and data. I’m looking forward to schools coming off of school improvement list… I’ve seen in the last couple of months, some of the biggest smiles put on principals’ faces. Simple things like, here’s the allocation so that we can paint our school. Several schools have been painted for the first time in years… It’s incredible.”

The full interview can be seen on www.selmatimesjournal.com.