Cheryl Watson-Harris is grateful for second chances.
Watson-Harris, currently second in command with the New York City Department of Education, was a contender for the DeKalb County School District's top job until the school board announced Rudy Crew as its lone finalist on April 23.
When Cruz was not hired, Watson-Harris received a call from the district about meeting with the board via video conference about two weeks ago. She was announced as the board's second finalist Thursday afternoon.
"I sincerely wanted to be the superintendent," she said Friday in a call with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I was disappointed when I didn't make it through the first time, and was elated when I was afforded this the second time around.
“I know that I’m ready for this position and I will work tirelessly for the scholars and the community of DeKalb.”
Watson-Harris must first wait 14 days from being announced as a finalist, as mandated by Georgia law, before the board can extend an offer for the job. The district will host a town hall featuring Watson-Harris on at 6:30 p.m. June 11, to be aired live on the district’s website and public access station. Questions will be collected beforehand from those interested in Watson-Harris’ plans for the state’s third-largest school district, with about 99,000 students.
“We believe she will do a tremendous job working for our children,” school board Chairman Marshall Orson said in announcing Watson-Harris’s selection.
Watson-Harris said she’s ready to dive head-first into pressing concerns around school re-entry in the fall, after school buildings were closed in March due to the coronavirus. Her office in New York is leading plans there to develop a guide for going back to school in the fall.
She also said she is prepared to deal with any funding shortfalls, with state officials telling school districts to anticipate cuts of about 14%from their state funding. For DeKalb, that equates to about $76 million. Any shortfalls from tax collections have yet to be determined. Watson-Harris said she’s learned over the years “how to make a dollar out of 15 cents.”
“Even if the dollars are not there,” she said, “the quality of education and support we provide our families won’t be reduced.”
She also has been taking stock of the DeKalb school district’s story, but is waiting until she is on the ground to make serious assessments.
"From all of my research and spending time in DeKalb, it appears to be an incredibly, beautifully diverse community with a rich history," she said. "There's also room for growth. I'm really looking forward to arriving there ASAP and digging into the specifics and building and supporting a team building on the successes of the district and responding to some of the challenges."
If selected, Watson-Harris will be the district's sixth superintendent in 10 years. She also has never led a school district, despite spending her career in some of the nation's largest. She would inherit a district still reeling from allegations of financial mismanagement that recently lost its credit rating from Moody's Investors Service after having not completed a financial audit in 2018. Residents have called for a forensic audit.
Watson-Harris said she intends to be transparent in addressing the district’s woes.
“That means being clear about your vision and your values as a school community, having articulated goals and an action plan,” she said. “Providing regular updates on progress toward those goals. If there’s a challenge, making sure you’re sharing that with the community so there are no surprises. We’re all on a journey together. Any school system is going to have challenges they are going to face, but there’s a clear plan about doing so — and with regular communication.”
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