Major school systems across the U.S. have a problem holding onto long-term superintendents for a variety of reasons, including local politics, high expectations for improvement, and ambitions among leaders who are always looking for a different challenge and bigger paycheck. Finding the right combination among candidates of toughness, smarts and commitment is difficult. Here’s a list of the men and women who’ve worked as public school superintendents in metro Atlanta districts, some of them as interim superintendents, since the start of the 2005-06 school year. In some cases, the superintendent was in the job beforehand.
ATLANTA
Beverly Hall – July 1999 to June 2011.
Erroll Davis – June 2011 to June 2014.
Meria Carstarphen – July 2014 to present.
COBB
Fred Sanderson – December 2005 to June 2011.
Michael Hinojosa – July 2011 to February 2014.
Chris Ragsdale – February 2014 to present.
DEKALB
Crawford Lewis – October 2004 to May 2010.
Ramona Tyson – May 2010 to August 2011.
Cheryl Atkinson – August 2011 to February 2013.
Michael Thurmond – February 2013 – June 2015.
R. Stephen Green – July 2015 to present.
FULTON
James Wilson - June 2005 to May 2008.
Cindy Loe – June 2008 to May 2011.
Robert Avossa – April 2011 to April 2015.
Kenneth Zeff - April 2015 to present.
GWINNETT
J. Alvin Wilbanks - March 1996 to present.
Fulton County school board members have launched a national search for a new superintendent, though leaders aren’t ruling out the interim replacement as a major contender despite his lack of experience educating children.
If Kenneth Zeff, who has served as interim superintendent since Robert Avossa stepped down as superintendent in June, were appointed chief of Georgia’s fourth-largest school district, he’d be part of a growing trend: school boards choosing superintendents with business acumen and policy backgrounds over those who have taught students, served as principals and worked their way up to become district administrators.
Fulton board members plan to create a list of skills and characteristics they'd like to see in the next superintendent. They are seeking input from teachers, parents and other community stakeholders via a survey available on the district's website. The survey will remain online until Dec. 31, and board members will review results in January. So far, 1,200 surveys have been submitted, according to board president Linda McCain.
The Fulton board's attorney will conduct a national search for superintendent candidates meeting the criteria the board lays out. School board members hope to have a permanent superintendent appointed by this summer.
Gary Ray, with superintendent search firm Ray and Associates, said urban districts in particular often want superintendents with strong business backgrounds. Large urban districts typically employ thousands of educators and other staff. One of the largest employers in metro Atlanta, Fulton’s school system employs 14,000 people, nearly 6,000 of them teachers. Close to 96,000 students attend 100 schools in the district.
“These are tough jobs and … a lot of medium-sized, non-urban districts are paying candidates pretty good money to stay where they’re at,” Ray said. “There’s a smaller pool of folks wanting to look at those urban jobs, and therefore that opens up the potential opportunities for people that might not come up the traditional ranks.”
But education experts say a lack of education background and experience can potentially hamper superintendents in winning the support of educators and parents.
Sid Chapman, president of the Georgia Association of Educators, which has close to 35,000, members statewide, said having an education background is very important for superintendents leading large districts.
“There’s a balance that’s needed,” Chapman said. “It’s a two-sided coin. There are those who have education backgrounds, but once they get over into supervisory role, they kind of forget where they were in the classroom.
“The downside of it is if you are someone who’s never experienced that, then you wouldn’t understand where teachers are coming from or how it feels to educate a child … that this is about something greater than just financial statements.”
McCain says board members “owe it to the community to go out and look at every potential candidate we can find. We think we’ll be a very attractive location for a lot of superintendents or people who want to be superintendents.”
Zeff “stepped into a different role and he’s very devoted to Fulton County schools, and we appreciate he was willing to take on a role as interim, which is never easy,” McCain added. “He is working very hard for all the kids and staff. We appreciate the effort he’s putting in at this time.”
Other board members have also praised Zeff’s performance so far: “Most certainly I think he (Zeff) has a chance as much as anybody else,” said Fulton board member Catherine Maddox.
For his part, Zeff declined to comment about the search for a permanent superintendent. “It wouldn’t be appropriate … to speak about his possible candidacy,” said a district spokeswoman in an emailed statement.
Before being tapped to replace Avossa — who stepped down in June to accept the superintendent's position in Palm Beach County in Florida — Zeff was Fulton's chief strategy and innovation officer. Board leaders said they chose him to take over primarily because Zeff was instrumental in developing Fulton's charter system governance model, which allows for more school choice and greater flexibility and governing power for parents and schools.
Zeff's one-year contract as interim superintendent ends May 31, 2016. He's making a base salary of $225,000, plus other benefits.
Other nontraditional candidates with backgrounds in business and the military have served successfully in superintendent roles, school observers say. The Cobb County school system, for example, earlier this year named Chris Ragsdale as its permanent superintendent. Like Zeff, Ragsdale has a business background and served as interim superintendent before school board members appointed him permanent superintendent.
Former superintendent Michael Thurmond in DeKalb County did not have extensive education experience when he was called on to stabilize the struggling district. Former Atlanta Superintendent Erroll Davis was also a nontraditional choice selected to lead that district past an infamous cheating scandal.
School board members and parents say replacing Avossa won't be easy. Considered a politically savvy leader with a reputation as a school innovator in Georgia, Avossa helped build Fulton's reputation as one of the top-performing districts in the state. During his 4-year tenure, the district saw its graduation rate and standardized test scores improve, among other achievements.
Parent Diane Jacobi, who has two high school students in Fulton County, says she believes the district is on the right track and doesn’t need to change dramatically under a new superintendent.
“When you’re changing superintendents … you want to bring in somebody that is not going to go and turn everything around. When you have huge disruption, it’s really hard on our teachers and our students and parents. That’s not to say a superintendent shouldn’t come in and be able to do certain initiatives. But they have to be thoughtful and not necessarily a complete 180 from what’s been working.”
“There’s always room for growth, and there’s always areas where things can probably be better.”
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