Meet the potential new Muscogee County School District special education director
An educator with 17 years of public education work experience in the Chattahoochee Valley is one step away from becoming the new leader of the Muscogee County School District’s special education.
MCSD superintendent David Lewis has recommended Cincrystal Poythress as the district’s next executive director of programs for exceptional students. She would fill the vacancy left by the Dec. 31 retirement of Sonja Matthews-Coaxum.
The MCSD board is scheduled to vote on the recommendation during its next monthly meeting, Jan. 18, delayed one day because of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Poythress has been principal of Beulah High School since September 2014. According to her resume, she previously worked as an assistant principal at LaGrange High School (2011-14) and Greenville (Ala.) High School (2010-11) and as a special-education teacher at Beulah (2007-10) and Smiths Station High School (2004-07).
She earned all her credentials from Auburn University: a doctorate in rehabilitation counseling and special education (2013), an education specialist certificate (2012), an education leadership endorsement (2006), a master’s degree in special education (2005) and a bachelor’s degree in criminology (2002).
“Dr. Poythress has earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in the area of special education from Auburn University that make her well qualified for the position,” Lewis said in an email to the Ledger-Enquirer. “In addition, her previous experience as a special education teacher and current role as a high school principal, successful interviews and strong references contributed to her being the unanimous choice of the interview team.”
Matthews-Coaxum worked for 30 years in Georgia public schools, including the last 27½ in MCSD. She was principal for 12 years at Fort Middle School, where she twice was a finalist for the Georgia Association of Secondary School Principals’ Principal of the Year award,. She was promoted to direct the district’s special education in June 2019.
Metrics in the department improved under her leadership, such as:
- Increased rating on state assessment from 80% to 83.3%.
- Increased graduation rate from 67% to 77%.
- Increased parent involvement on survey from 52% to 92%.
“I’m very proud of the work that our district is doing as it relates to our special-ed population and as it relates to our general education,” she told the L-E. “… I’m very proud to have the opportunity to serve families and to work alongside great teachers and colleagues and students.”
Approximately one out of every seven MCSD students (4,673 among roughly 31,700) receives special-education services.
This story was originally published January 14, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
