Fulton lines up Athens school leader as next superintendent

Enrollment: 95,714

Number of Schools: 101

Number of employees: More than 10,500 full time, including more than 6,800 certified employees (with teaching or administrative certification)

Budget: $920,813,893

Student demographics: 47 percent eligible for free or reduced-price school meals; 43 percent black, 29 percent white; 15 percent Hispanic, 10 percent Asian, 3 percent multiracial

Clarke

Superintendent's salary in 2014: $176,050

Enrollment: 13,633

Number of Schools: 21

Number of employees: 2,146, including 1,152 teachers

Student demographics: More than 80 percent eligible for free or reduced-price school meals; 49 percent black, 24 percent Hispanic; 21 percent white, 4 percent multiracial, 2 percent Asian

Source: School systems’ websites, Georgia Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics

Fulton County school leaders have tapped prominent Georgia educator Philip Lanoue to be the district’s next superintendent.

Considered a politically savvy leader with a reputation as a school innovator in Georgia, Lanoue has served as superintendent of the Clarke County School District in Athens for nearly seven years, and was named 2015 National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators.

Lanoue has used his national position to speak out against the reliance on standardized tests to evaluate schools and teachers, and he has publicly opposed Gov. Nathan Deal's controversial Opportunity School District. The proposal for a state takeover of schools classified as failing will require a constitutional amendment, up for vote on the November ballot.

Fulton school board members announced Lanoue was their sole finalist Friday. The board plans to offer him the position after a 14-day public comment period. If he accepts, he will join Fulton schools May 1.

Fulton school officials say there were three finalists for the job. In accordance with Georgia law, the two unsuccessful candidates were allowed to withdraw rather than have their names released. Once the 14-day period concludes, the salary offered Lanoue would be $295,000, with a three-year term. Clarke’s superintendent salary is around $175,000.

Lanoue succeeds Robert Avossa, who left last June to become superintendent in Florida's Palm Beach County.

“I’m honored to be their leader and excited about that opportunity,” said Lanoue, 59, in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Friday. “Our focus is clearly going to be on the achievement of children … We really have to take kids to a place they never really thought they could be, or even see where they could be.”

With nearly 38 years of education experience, Lanoue has emerged as one of the leading voices in Georgia schools, widely credited with turning around the heavily-impoverished Clarke County school system by boosting test scores, decreasing the high school dropout rate and expanding the use of technology in classrooms.

Before becoming Clarke County's superintendent, Lanoue was an area assistant superintendent for the Cobb County school district from 2005-09. Before that, he served as principal for 18 years in four high schools in Massachusetts and Vermont, his home state. He began his educational career as a science teacher.

One of Lanoue’s key challenges if he’s appointed Fulton superintendent will be managing a much larger school system, which has 101 schools and close to 95,000 students; Clarke County has 21 schools and nearly 13,000 students.

Steve Dolinger, executive director of the advocacy group Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, who was Fulton County school superintendent from 1995-2002, says Lanoue is experienced enough to lead Georgia’s fourth-largest school system.

Besides his service in Cobb – the second-largest school system in Georgia – Lanoue has also shown he’s good at managing a system with diverse and changing demographics like Fulton, Dolinger said. Both Clarke and Fulton have growing populations of students whose second language is English, as well as students also receiving free and reduced-price lunches, an indicator of poverty.

“I think it’s an excellent choice. He’s an outstanding leader,” said Dolinger. “He’ll have a larger group of stakeholders but … he’s an experienced, sharp administrator who has good interpersonal skills, and I think this transition time could be fun for him and the district.”

Lanoue will replace interim Fulton school superintendent Kenneth Zeff, who has led the district since Avossa’s departure. Zeff is expected to return to his previous position with Fulton’s Division of Strategy & Innovation.

School board members say Lanoue's background and experience match what is important to Fulton parents and others, who participated in a survey in December. The results were used in the board's search for a new superintendent.

“Lanoue’s leadership experience transcends geographical regions and has included rural, suburban and urban settings,” said school board president Linda McCain in a written statement. “He has consistently brought schools and districts to higher levels of academic achievement.”

Sen. Lindsey Tippins, R-Marietta, was a Cobb County school board member when Lanoue was hired there as an administrator. “I was impressed with him when we hired him, and I’ve been impressed with him ever since,” said Tippins, now chairman of the Senate Education and Youth committee.

Like outgoing superintendent Avossa, Lanoue is widely considered an innovator who’s tried new programs and initiatives in classrooms. Under his leadership, the Clarke system has begun handing out tablets and laptops to students in grades 3-10, with plans to expand the rollout to 11th and 12th grades as well. Fulton is in the midst of a similar technology rollout, the most expansive in the state.

Bertis Downs, who has a daughter at Clarke Middle School and serves on the board of the advocacy group Network for Public Education, said Lanoue will be greatly missed in Athens.

“It’s a loss for us because he’s been a great superintendent,” Downs said. “He was a change agent and leader. He really cares about equity. He believes in making all the schools good.

“He’s really a gem, and we’re sorry to lose him. But we knew this day would come.”