Triplett Named as New Superintendent for Sedalia 200 School District

Steve Triplett was named the next superintendent for the Sedalia 200 School District on Friday.

Current superintendent, Brad Pollitt, announced in December that he would be retiring at the end of the 2017/2018 school year. Pollitt has been superintendent at Sedalia 200 since 2013.

On February 9, Pollitt held a press conference at the Pettis County Courthouse where he announced his candidacy for representative for MO-52 District in the 2018 election.

Pollitt’s retirement becomes effective June 30, and Triplett takes over the district’s reins on July 1.

During the announcement held at the Sedalia 200 District office, Mr. Triplett was surrounded by Sedalia 200 board of education members, district administrators, and family.

Sedalia 200 Board President Dr. Jeffrey Sharp, said there were 26 external candidates and 2 internal candidates. The board selected five candidates to interview, with Triplett emerging as the new superintendent.

Triplett began in the district as a teacher and coach at the high school, then moved on to serve as assistant principal at the high school from 2001-02 and 2008-09, assistant principal at Sedalia Middle School from 2002-08, principal at Smith-Cotton Junior High from 2009-11 and principal at Smith-Cotton High from 2011-13 before his promotion to the Central Office as assistant superintendent in 2013. He thanked many mentors along the way, including Brad Pollitt, Martin White, Bill Nicely, and his father, Homer.

Some of Triplett's key considerations as new superintendent include working to keep students and staff safe, and maintaining the best teachers for the district's more than 5,100 students.

Triplett indicated one of his first goals is to hire a qualified assistant superintendent and to fill the curriculum director position that will be vacated at the end of the current schoo year, with the retirement of Carla Wheeler. He also wants to continue improvements in literacy and raising scores on tests such as MAP and ACT.

Triplett said he looks forward to working with the community to put a strategic plan in place that will address future facility needs.

“These are exciting times for our community and I’m excited to be a part of the future of our school system,” Triplett said. “We continue to grow our enrollment and with new industry coming to town we see that trend continuing. Mr. Pollitt is leaving some big shoes to fill but, God willing, we will only keep improving Sedalia schools for the children of our community.”