New Merrillville Community School Corp. Superintendent Dexter Suggs said he’s been training for his new job for the past five years.
“I’ve had the opportunity to really get to know the community and the staff,” he said Friday after the school board unanimously appointed him.
“It almost felt like when Mr. Brown left, it was just like a handing of a baton,” said Suggs who served as assistant superintendent under Nick Brown who retired June 30 after six years at the helm.
Although he wasn’t aware of the distinction, Suggs became the district’s first African American superintendent. Merrillville’s enrollment of about 6,000 students is about 62% Black, Suggs said.
Board member Alex Dunlap said the job drew several qualified candidates but “Dr. Suggs just rose to the top.”
New Merrillville Superintendent Dexter Suggs poses for a photo taken by his wife, Shenia Suggs. (Carole Carlson/Post-Tribune)
Other board members agreed. “We’re excited to see where you take the district with all that positive energy,” said Bob Krause.
Suggs’ three-year contract includes an annual salary of $187,000. If the school board provides raises for teachers, the superintendent would receive the same percentage increase.
Suggs, 55, praised the school district, calling it an “academic environment in which all students feel safe.”
A native of St. Louis, Suggs came to Indiana in 1993 to teach and coach at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis. He also held an administrative position in the Wayne Township school district.
He moved on to the Indianapolis Public Schools central administration, most recently as chief of staff to the superintendent.
Controversy enveloped him when he left Indianapolis to become superintendent of the Little Rock school district in Arkansas in 2013.
In 2015, a blogger accused him of plagiarizing his 2009 doctorate dissertation from Indiana Wesleyan. It rescinded Suggs’ doctorate degree after an investigation determined the alleged plagiarism was unintended.
Suggs denied the plagiarism complaint but resigned in 2015.
In 2019, Suggs said he was upfront about the incident and included it in his resume cover letters. “It’s part of what happened,” he said.
On Friday, he again addressed the issue.
“I don’t believe you allow others to write your own chapter. I try to be a great role model to our kids. It happened and it is what it is.”
Suggs said he received a doctorate in education from Indiana State University in 2018. “Going to a totally different university and totally different program speaks to how relentless I was,” he said.
Suggs received a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and a master’s degree from from Indiana Wesleyan University.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
