Superintendent of Schools

Dr. Judith Campbell

Dr. Judith Campbell is a native of Kansas City, Missouri. She began her work as a special education teacher over 24 years ago. She continued in various positions as: a general education classroom teacher, a resource teacher, an administrator and an adjunct professor in Tampa, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri.

Dr. Campbell is currently the Deputy Superintendent of Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, where she is honored to serve and support approximately 22,000 students and 4,000 staff. In this position she continues to serve as a mentor, trainer, and coach.

Dr. Campbell has worked to master the craft of connecting with and motivating children. She is passionate about supporting and encouraging other people and educators to do the same. She holds firm to the belief that it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do; we must start where we are and use what we have to enhance the good in everyone.

Dr. Campbell holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Kansas, a Masters of Arts & Teaching in Special Education with an English Language Learners endorsement from the University of South Florida, an Education Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University, and a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis from the University of Missouri, --Columbia.

Dr. Campbell enjoys spending time with family and friends. She is a firm believer that there is a story and a purpose inside each and every one of us.

Carol Levers

Carol Levers was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she grew up under an Apartheid Regime. Her family filed for political asylum and was able to immigrate to the U.S. in 1989.  It was in that same year she began volunteering part-time at the West Wyandotte Library in Kansas City, Kansas.  

In 1992, Carol and her family were eventually granted political asylum. A year later, Immigration and Naturalization Services issued her family permanent residence in the United States. In August of 1999, Carol passed the Naturalization Exam, and later that year, she was sworn in as a United States Citizen. 

Throughout the long process of becoming a U.S. citizen, Carol tirelessly worked to get her education. She earned her Associate’s Degree at Kansas City Kansas Community College in 1993. She would later attend Park University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Human Resource Management. Carol earned her Master’s in Library Science from Emporia State University in 2001.  

Carol has been very active in her community. She served two terms as president of The KCK Women’s Chamber and two terms on the KCK Area Chamber Board.  She spent over 17 years on the KCKCC Endowment Board and the organization’s Foundation Board.  Carol also served as the Chair of the United Way of Wyandotte Board of Directors. She was also part of the merger committee for Wyandotte County and United Way of Greater Kansas City and continues to be a Trustee for the combined organizations.  

In 2010, she became the first woman and person of color to become the Director of Libraries for the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library system. In that position that she still holds today, Carol manages five public libraries, three mobile libraries and 40 school libraries.   

In 2011, she received an Outstanding Recent Graduate Award from Emporia State University. She was inducted into the KCKCC’s Mid-America Education Hall of Fame and received “The Legend of Diversity” award from the KCKCC Intercultural office. In 2020, she received the Volunteer of the Year award from United Way of Wyandotte County.  

Dr. Jakyta Lawrie

Dr. Lawrie is a lifelong resident of Kansas City, Kansas. She attended Eugene Ware Elementary, West Middle School, and F.L. Schlagle High School. Dr. Lawrie’s love for the community and desire to empower young people led her to a career in education. She also served the Wyandotte County Unified Government on the Board of Zoning Appeals Committee as well as the Education and Training Diversity Committee. She also serves as a Representative of the Economic Opportunity Foundation (EOF) Board of Trustees and Parent President for the EOF Headstart Parent Board.

At KCKPS, Dr. Lawrie has held various positions, such as Parent Liaison, Paraprofessional, Long-term Substitute Teacher, Preschool Teacher, Homebound Teacher and Special Education Teacher. She has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Avila University and the University of Phoenix, teaching courses in Special Education and Math.

Dr. Lawrie served as a District Administrator in Special Education for five years in the Kansas City Public School District (KCPS), where she developed and implemented programs focused on improving teaching and learning for students with disabilities. She also dedicated her time and resources to parent empowerment and advocacy for meeting the individual needs of students.

She earned her Doctorate’s Degree and Education Specialist’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Saint Louis University, Master’s Degree in School Leadership from Baker University, Master’s Degree in Special Education from University of Missouri-Kansas City, and a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Park University. She also studied at Howard University (HBCU), DeVry Institute of Technology, and Harvard University Graduate School of Education, where she attended and was selected as a Convener for a group of district leaders across the U.S. in their School Turnaround Leaders Program.

She is currently a member of the Council for Exceptional Education, the Council of Administrators for Special Education, the Kansas Association for Special Education Administrators, and the Wyandotte County Leadership 2000 Class of XXI. Dr. Lawrie is also an honoree of the KCKPS’ 2007 Reasons to Believe Alumni Honor Roll.

Dr. Lawrie is committed and proud to serve her community as the Executive Director of Special Education, where “KIDS First” is the mission and the vision is to empower ALL youth with exceptionalities to live up to their full potential in school and in her community.

Samrie Devin

Samrie Devin joined KCKPS in March 2022.  She has experience in all aspects of Human Resources, and has created efficiencies in staffing, designed effective onboarding processes for all employee groups, organized highly attended recruitment fairs, and facilitated problem-solving work groups to meet district strategic goals. 

Before joining KCKPS, Ms, Devin was the Executive Director of Human Resources and Elementary Principal for Lawrence Public Schools.  She began her career as an elementary teacher in Olathe School District, and then moved to Junction City, KS to continue the majority of her teaching and elementary principal career.   

One of her proudest accomplishments was opening an elementary school in Fort Riley, KS, serving over 700 military-connected students.  Ms, Devin grew up on many military bases worldwide and learned how to adapt to change and value different perspectives.   

Ms. Devin holds a Master of Science degree in Educational Leadership from Kansas State University, a Master of Arts in Elementary Education from MidAmerica Nazarene University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Morehead State University. 

She is married to Daniel, and both are proud parents of two sons and four grandchildren.   

Steve Lilly

Steve Lilly has 30 years of experience working at all levels of public education. Prior to Mr. Lilly’s position in the Kansas City, Kansas School District, Lilly served as the Superintendent in the McLouth School District for eight years.  

Mr. Lilly comes from a family of educators. His father is a retired Superintendent, his mother is a retired a K-8 Principal, and his sister is currently an Elementary Teacher. Mr. Lilly received his Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management from Kansas State University, then went back to school at Emporia State University, where he completed his teaching certification in Special Education and Business Education.  Mr. Lilly received his Masters in Physical Education from Pittsburg State University, where he also served as a Graduate Assistant Basketball Coach.  He obtained his certification in Building Leadership from Newman University and his certification in District Leadership from Wichita State University.

As a teacher, Mr. Lilly taught Special Education, At-Risk, Physical Education and Math at the middle, high school and collegiate levels.  During his time as a teacher, he also served as a basketball coach at the secondary and collegiate levels.  Mr. Lilly began his career as a teacher and coach in the Kansas City, Kansas School District and served as the Head Basketball Coach at Wyandotte High School prior to being named the basketball coach at Independence Community College.

Mr. Lilly began his career as an administrator in the Augusta School District as an assistant middle school principal and, later, head middle school principal.  He is an active member of numerous educational organizations and has been selected to participate in KASB’s Leadership for Tomorrow.  He also recently received the Alumni Educational Distinguished Service Administrator Award from Pittsburg State University.

Mr. Lilly and his wife have three active children, Tristyn, Maisyn and Jake.

Edwin Birch

Edwin Birch leads the school district’s Communications and Marketing team. As the Executive Director, Mr. Birch is an experienced communications and public relations professional who takes pride in telling the District’s stories and promoting the District’s vision, mission, and strategic priorities through the various communications platforms. 

Mr. Birch has more than 20 years of experience providing effective public relations and communications leadership. Prior to his current role at KCKPS, he served as the Public Information Officer for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas (UG). During his employment at the UG, he was responsible for media relations, social media, the government’s website, event planning and announcements related to groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings for major economic development projects, and upgrading the government’s local tv channel, UGTV.

Before joining the UG in 2008, Birch worked for what was then the Kansas City, Missouri School District as the Director of Public Relations. Under his leadership, the Public Relations Department received awards from the National Schools Public Relations Association (NSPRA) for their website design, District newspaper, and other communications publications.

At KCKPS, his communications and marketing team has received a total of 19 awards from NSPRA and KanSPRA in three years. 

Mr. Birch is a native of Kansas City, Kansas, and has worked in television news as an executive producer at KMBC-TV 9 and Metro Sports at Time Warner Cable and as an assignment editor at WDAF-TV 4 while attending college.

Mr. Birch holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Kansas.