by Jackie Nunnery
During a summer school board meeting when Lancaster superintendent Dan Russell announced Kelvin Evans had been hired as the director of human resources and equity, there were murmurs of recognition in the audience. Many fondly remembered Evans from his previous role as dean of students at Lancaster Middle School until 2016.
The middle school, he was told when he started in 2012, had many challenges. “But I love a challenge,” Evans said. “I had to do some tough things. Sure, we disciplined, but we also changed the atmosphere.”
The most important step then “was building relationships with the kids. I wanted the kids to know they could trust me,” said Evans.
He would sit in the cafeteria during breakfast and lunch, just listening to them. He found as he built relationships with the students, the parents would follow. “When the parents started coming in, we could talk more about…