When Phyllis Edwards became City Schools of Decatur superintendent 2003, she visited one of her predecessors, Dr. Carl Renfroe, who was in an assisted-living home and nearing the end of his life.
Renfroe wanted to boast about the high school’s latest SAT scores — he’d cut out several articles for Edwards — and he wanted to talk about his time in the Navy and show off his collection of aircraft carrier paintings.
But for Edwards the real message, unspoken, rang loud and clear. “You come in as the new person,” Edwards said, “and you have a lot of creative ideas. You bring a fresh pair of eyes to the job. But it’s not just about you. It’s about fitting into the community you’re entering, and about standing on the shoulders of those who have built what you have now.”
If Edwards ever meets her own successor, that’s a big part of what she’ll impart.
Edwards announced her resignation Tuesday after 12 years, a period that began with what for many remains a painful reconfiguration of the city’s schools. During her tenure enrollment nearly doubled, the first new school in nearly 40 years was built and ultimately there was unparalleled academic success throughout the system.
She not only transformed the school system,” said Bruce Roaden, a CSD principal since 2006, “she transformed the whole city. We now have people moving into Decatur for the schools. That certainly wasn’t the case when I came here.”
When Edwards arrived enrollment was 2,500 and had been more or less in decline since metro-wide integration hit in the early 1970s. By Edwards’ own reckoning 25 percent of fourth-graders were leaving the system and going to private schools.
“We were a system of schools, not a school system,” said former board member Valarie Wilson, who served both with Edwards and the previous superintendent, Ida Love.
Marc Wisniewski, whose board tenure nearly coincides with Wilson’s, agrees with this assessment.
“When Phyllis came,” he said, “a lot of teachers complained she was taking away their creativity, their independence. But she established a consistency, a firm foundation throughout all the schools. She set standards and expectations, while allowing for creativity on top of that.”
Last year’s Decatur High seniors scored a composite 1583 on the SAT, giving Decatur the highest system-level score in the state (Decatur High is CSD’s only high school), while the school itself ranked 30th statewide among 414 schools. Both the score and 98 percent participation rate were high-water marks, of which Renfroe no doubt would have been proud. Decatur schools’ overall score of 87.3 in the Georgia College and Career Ready Performance Index ranked sixth in the state.
Several people interviewed said it was far too soon to talk about a search for Edwards’ successor, which could take at least six months, much less potential characteristics in a new superintendent.
There’s no question about what the new person faces: a school system whose enrollment of 4,336 will nearly double again by 2020, to 7,300 without annexation and 8,145 with it. Depending on projections and annexation, CSD is looking at anywhere from $94 million to $139 million in renovation and new construction over the next five years.
“Our challenge is not delivering a great education,” said Annie Caiola, the youngest board member at age 34, whose children are 4 and 6. “I have every confidence we’ll continue to do that. Our biggest question is where and how we’ll deliver it. We don’t have enough classrooms, or the land to build them on.” Mayor Jim Baskett has called CSD’s building needs “a crisis.”
Caiola and Wisniewski agree, although with differing perspectives, that Edwards’ successor must be an unequivocal team player.
“There’s no doubt we’re in a challenging situation,” Caiola said. “But that doesn’t rest solely on the superintendent. It’s on the school board, the city commission, all of us working together.”
“You need somebody very strong, somebody with fire in the belly for that job,” Wisniewski said. “But given that, the board’s got to be very careful here, because they need to choose somebody they can work with.”
For her part, Edwards believes versatility — she calls it multi-tasking — is crucial.
“In a small system you don’t have a lot of assistants,” she said. “You have to be able to switch gears and understand a lot of different things. It goes without saying you need to know the financial end of it. But you need to learn transportation, building and design and all facets of leadership instruction.”
It’s still uncertain how long Edwards will stay on the job, though it will be at least through the school year. She turns 64 in May and eventually she and her husband Stephen Edwards will return to Palm Coast, Fla., where she taught and was assistant superintendent for 21 years.
If she ever meets her successor there’s no question of the most important advice she would give.
“Whatever decision you make,” Edwards said, “ask yourself how it affects the student body as a whole. Not the students through an adult’s eyes, but the actual students. Your primary responsibility is the safety of students, and delivering to them high-quality instruction.”
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