Mark Bedell said he spent his drive in to his first day as the Kansas City Public School Superintendent calling the people who helped him get there.
He spent his first morning at district headquarters meeting and shaking hands with any KCPS employee he could find.
He said building trust and relationships will be his focus with employees, students, and the community.
"My job is to do something that hasn't been done here in a long time and to be here longer than three years."
Part of that trust includes enrolling his three children in KCPS schools, one at Border Star Montessori and two at Lincoln College Preparatory Academy.
"In my mind, I kind of view it as being hypocritical as the leader of a school system to ask parents and guardians to trust their kids with us when I'm not willing to trust my own kids with us," he said.
He also addressed accreditation and stability in the district.
He told 41 Action News he wants to see his children graduate from the district.
"Accreditation is critical because we know that you're not going to really have leverage in terms of being able to invite parents to trust us with their kids if we're not a fully accredited school system," he said. "So that is one of the areas 100 percent we have to focus on and I think we have to be very intentional with the work that we do."
Bedell comes to Kansas City from Maryland where he was an assistant superintendent for high schools for Baltimore County Public Schools.
Bedell stopped by 41 Action News for an interview with Cynthia Newsome during 11 a.m. newscast. Watch the interview in the video player above.
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