Dr. Kelli Charles will serve as Interim Chief of Accountability, Equity, and Continuous Improvement. In this role, she will provide executive leadership across Research and Accountability, Racial Equity and Social Justice, Professional Learning, and State and Federally Funded Programs. Her work will focus on bringing these areas together around PPS priorities and strengthening the systems, supports, and accountability necessary to improve outcomes for students.

Dr. Charles currently serves as Senior Director of Special Education Services, where she has led significant efforts to strengthen systems, improve IEP quality and procedural compliance, and create greater clarity, consistency, and accountability across schools. Since joining PPS, she has led improvements to the district’s IEP systems and tools, strengthened professional learning and support for educators and school leaders, and created stronger structures for collaboration with principals, educators, families, labor partners, and community stakeholders.

Dr. Charles brings 30 years of experience in public education, with leadership experience spanning the classroom, school leadership, central office, and the Superintendent’s Cabinet. Prior to joining PPS, she served in leadership roles in Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, Houston Independent School District, Austin Independent School District, and Spring Independent School District. Her responsibilities have included curriculum and instruction, professional learning, Multilingual Education, Special Education, MTSS, student support services, alternative schools, principal supervision, school improvement, and organizational leadership.

Dr. Charles has been driven by a commitment to continuous improvement and a belief that people do their best work when there is clarity about where they are going and the conditions and support to get there. She is known for bringing people together around difficult problems, developing leaders and teams, and building partnerships inside and outside of school systems to bring additional expertise and support to the work. Dr. Charles believes improvement is not simply about identifying what is not working. It is about creating the clarity, capacity, partnerships, and conditions necessary to make it better, and then staying focused on whether those efforts are producing better experiences and outcomes for students.

Dr. Charles earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Grambling State University and a Master of Arts in Social Science from Southern University and A&M College. She completed her principal leadership preparation through New Leaders, a national nonprofit organization focused on developing transformational school and system leaders, and earned her Doctorate in Executive Educational Leadership from Houston Christian University.