Caddo Schools superintendent goes to the head of the class

Periodically, 318 Forum’s Tony Taglavore takes to lunch a local person — someone who is well known, successful and/or influential — and asks, “What’s Your Story?”

It was the first morning, the first day, of his new job.

Principal. More than a thousand students. They would be watching. Their parents would be watching. All eyes on the new guy.

“I am a big believer in modeling what’s important. If I’m asking teachers to get out on duty, I need to be out.”

So, in the spotlight of a just-risen sun, there was Caddo Middle Magnet’s newbie, standing where everyone would see him.

“I placed myself on duty at the major bus and car line corner. Tons of traffic going every which way… The whole time I’m out there, I’m noticing everybody is just so happy. They’re waving at me. They’re honking at me. (He gives me the thumbs-up signal.) I’m waving people through the whole time.”

The honeymoon was off to a great start.

Everyone loved him. Well, maybe. But school wasn’t the only thing open.

“Finally, a buddy of mine pulls up, rolls his window down and says, ‘Burton, zip up your pants!’”

Keith Burton, recently named superintendent of Caddo Parish Schools, told me that story, and his story, during lunch at a place of his choice, the Magnolia Pit. Keith (who bravely wore a white shirt to a BBQ place) and I both enjoyed the Magnolia chicken quarter plate. He selected fried okra and pinto beans as his sides, along with cheddar beer bread. I went with fried okra, coleslaw and skillet cornbread.

“I have always loved the school environment. School is something to me that has always been the best of everything. It’s where you go to learn. It’s where you go and develop friendships. It’s where you go and develop mentors. It’s where you go and fulfill every desire.”

One of two children (an older brother), Keith grew up in Minden, went to Doyline High School and thrived in the less-is-best environment.

“I loved it. Everyone knew everyone. I think we had 36 in our graduating class.”

Keith also had a connection right down the hall, who taught at the school for 34 years.

“There’s no doubt having a mom as a teacher had its assets. I could probably sleep a little later because I could get a ride in to school with her. But also, I couldn’t get by with anything because she would know about it before I got home.”

Keith was “a solid, average student” who admittedly did not put in the work needed to reach his potential.

“Education was valued at our house. There was nothing acceptable about anything lower than a ‘C.’ Really, if you made a ‘C’ on your report card, you were probably going to get in trouble.”

When Keith wasn’t in school, he was either helping out on 90 acres of family-owned land or working at his father’s full-service gas station (remember those?). During summers, Keith would unlock the pumps at 5:15 a.m. and work until late afternoon. But nothing would ever take the place of the classroom.

“(My parents) kept saying education doesn’t necessarily mean you will grow up and make a million dollars or be successful. Education was always pointed out as what was going to provide me the opportunity to make the choices I wanted to make. It was the great equalizer around freedom. Instead of someone else telling me what I was going to do the rest of my life, education provided me that opportunity. That’s why it was so valued and appreciated.”

Not really sure what he wanted to do with his life, Keith chose — temporarily — to follow in his brother’s footsteps and become an accountant. So, Keith spent two years crunching numbers at Louisiana Tech.

“I thought I would need this job because it would pay this much, and that way I could afford my family a lifestyle I thought they would need.”

But something was missing. “It didn’t take me long to realize, why live a life that may be fulfilling financially, but be so unfulfilling in joy and passion?”

After his sophomore year at Tech, Keith took a summer class at LSUS, where the small number of students felt more like high school — more like home. He didn’t return to Ruston.

But that wasn’t the only reason Keith drove back and forth from Minden to Shreveport. There was a brunette named Tina, who “I had my eye on probably more than she had her eye on me.”

“She and I were friends and took some classes together, but we really connected in a genetics class. (The professor) was doing something with blood. This was an early morning class, like 7 or 8 a.m. Tina fainted, and I caught her. Later on, I took her to lunch, and we started getting serious after that.”

In December, they will have been married 34 years, and they have three children, all of whom are in education.

While at LSUS, Keith switched from accounting to education and earned both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree.

“(Education) was the very first class I looked forward to going to every day. I found the subject matter fascinating. It was where I was supposed to be.”

While spending 34 years working his way up from teacher to principal, to the district’s chief academic officer, to superintendent, Keith found time to officiate basketball (38 years) and football (24 years). Despite his leadership roles, Keith still got chewed out by coaches, but a little more politely.

“When they would cuss, they would always say, ‘Mr. Burton, you’ve got to …’ They would call me ‘Mr. Burton.’ ‘Mr. Burton, your judgment has to be …’ They were apologizing as they were trying to fuss at me.”

Keith, who played basketball until his “talent caught up with (him) around eighth or ninth grade,” recognizes not all learning is done in the classroom.

“You may fail English 4. You may struggle in chemistry. But the lessons you learn on the football field around the stick-to-it-ness, teamwork, the discipline it takes to do two-a-days, to be at 7 a.m. practice — and many of these kids are doing a lot of this on their own — those are lessons that if we develop that, and respect that, and nurture that, they’re going to be productive when they get into the workforce and have to be at work at 7, and they have to work with a team.”

Before being named superintendent, Keith had to wait for a long, controversial selection process to play out. During that time, he leaned on his faith.

“If someone is not a believer, I do not know how they face the challenges of today. I just don’t. I have an eternal perspective, rather than a daily perspective. There is part of my work I see as a mission. Not that I’m trying to win a child to Christ, even though, hopefully, I’m doing that by how I act and how I treat them, and the way I portray love and respect and care. We are put on this earth for more than a paycheck. We should be the light in a very dark world. Hopefully, that’s what my faith allows me to do.”

Considering Keith oversees the education of some 37,000 students, as well as being responsible for more than 5,000 employees, I figured the youthful-looking, just-turned- 56-year-old had more important things to do than visit with me. So, I asked my final question. As always, what is it about his story that might prove helpful to others?

“Prioritize what matters most. I was blessed with a family that established and lived a life that was centered around faith, family and education. If you are centering your priorities around those, then you suddenly find your time is spent appropriately. What you value is aligned pretty appropriately. How you treat people matters. … Building a life around faith, family, education and love for (my) fellow man is my secret sauce to success.”

And remember to zip up your pants.