Decatur chooses Iowa school administrator as superintendent


Name: David Dude

(pronounced DOO-dee, though he says, “my brother gave up trying to correct people, so he pronounces it the way it looks.”)

Age: 41

Wife: Amanda Edwards, married 16 years. Long before her husband applied for the Decatur superintendent post Edwards, who plans on attending a seminary, had Decatur's Columbia Theological Seminary as one of her top three choices.

Early Background: Grew up in southwestern Michigan and Tempe, Ariz., but has spent all but one year of his adult life in Iowa.

College: Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Graduated cum laude with a B.A. in in mathematics and secondary education. Ph.D. in Education Policy and Leadership Studies from the University of Iowa.

Professional Experience: Spent 11 years teaching high school math, then one year as chief technology officer In Kansas City, Mo. He's been with the Iowa City Community School District nearly five years, four years as chief operating officer. He led the district's facilities master planning process in anticipation of its growth over the next decade.

After a nearly five-month search, Decatur’s school board announced Friday morning that David Dude, chief operating officer for the Iowa City Community School District in Iowa, will be the district’s next superintendent, only its 10th since 1902.

A fifth of the 85 applications for the post were from superintendents, but the board settled on Dude, who’s never been a superintendent.

“I am confident,” said board Chairman Garrett Goebel, “that we’ve found the right leader for City Schools Decatur.”

Dude, 41, is scheduled to start work Nov. 2, one day before city voters decide whether to approve a $75 million bond issue. Uses of the money would include doubling classroom space at Renfroe Middle and Decatur High Schools. Part of it also could go toward building a new elementary school, a new 4/5 Academy and possibly a new early childhood learning center.

During a phone interview Dude emphasized that regardless of the referendum’s outcome his first actions will include meeting with civic groups and community leaders.

He said of working with the city government, “I’m not too worried about that. Here in Iowa City I deal with five different (cities), and sometimes it seems like I’m herding cats. It’ll be nice,” he said, “only having one city. I think I’m pretty good at building those relationships and figuring where the city and the school district can work together.”

Dude comes from a system with close to 14,000 students compared to Decatur’s 4,658. But like Decatur, Iowa City is growing rapidly, opening one elementary school this year with two more on the way. Dude said the district is also building its third high school, the first since the 1960s.

Decatur’s enrollment is projected to swell to 6,500 by 2020.

“I think we have a lot of similarities with Decatur,” Dude said. “Not just the growth, either. This is the home of the University of Iowa, so like Decatur we have a highly educated community, with a lot of involved parents who are also educators and experts in various fields.”

He said, “My wife and I have three young kids, ages 9, 6 and 4, and we don’t take relocation lightly. We look at Decatur as a place where we want to raise our family, and where all our kids will graduate from.”

Dude will replace Phyllis Edwards who’s been superintendent since July 1, 2003. She’s taking a job with the Georgia School Boards Association, where she’ll work for GSBA executive director and former Decatur school board member Valarie Wilson.

When Edwards took over, Decatur enrollment was around 2,500, its lowest in at least 60 years. But during her tenure the system not only grew, but also gained a soaring academic reputation.

On the most recent Georgia College and Career-Ready Performance Index measure of schools and districts, Decatur’s system had an overall score of 87.3, ranking it sixth in the state. Georgia’s overall score was 72