Recent News Articles for Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents

Andrews tapped as next DOS Cumberland County

kjordan — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:07:56 +0000

The Crossville Chronicle

By Heather Mullinix

CROSSVILLE — The Cumberland County Board of Education voted 7-2 to begin contract negotiations with Donald Andrews to serve as the next Cumberland County director of schools Saturday.

Andrews was one of six finalists interviewed by the board April 6. The board's original timeline included narrowing the candidate pool to two for a second round of one-on-one interviews, but the board discussed the need to move quickly on hiring a new director following the interviews last week.

Andrews received nominations from Charles Tollett, 1st District representative; Sandy Brewer, 2nd District representative; Josh Stone, 4th District representative; Jim Blalock, 8th District representative; David Bowman, 7th District representative; and Vivian Hutson, 6th District representative.

James Francis was nominated by Richard Janeway, 2nd District representative; Gordon Davis, 5th District representative; and Dan Schlafer, 9th District representative.

Stone moved to negotiate a contract for the director of schools position with Andrews, supported by Bowman.

Andrews of Ashboro, NC, has 17 years' experience as a superintendent, currently serving Randolph County, NC, schools, and was honored as the Superintendent of the Year in 2005 and 2012 by the North Carolina Athletic Association. He has also served as a high school principal and assistant superintendent.

He has an educational specialist degree in educational administration and a master's degree in educational administration. His accomplishments include completing a $118 million building program and a reorganization that saved $500,000 in savings over a six-year period. He also implemented professional learning communities, lead teacher programs, evaluation instruments for principals and teachers and a response to intervention program.

Francis of Spring Hill, TN, is currently the Middle Tennessee regional coordinator for the Tennessee Department of Education. His experience includes 10 years as superintendent of the Hazard Co., KY, Independent Schools where the high school ranked fifth in the state. He was a high school coach, retiring with a 175-26 record, and a federal program director for 50 Tennessee school systems. He also authored the paper for superintendents, "Working with the Local Funding Body."

He holds a doctorate of education from Trevacca University.

Schlafer said he believed either candidate would serve the county well, but he did have concerns about Andrews, who would be coming to the state of Tennessee at a time of continued reform and change in the educational system, including changes to federal programs and state monitoring requirements. He pointed to Francis' experience, which includes serving in the Tennessee Department of Education.

"The learning curve, in my mind's eye, for someone who's already been here, done that, is astronomical compared to someone who has not had that opportunity," Schlafer said. "When I look at the myriad of changes that are coming down, with more to follow, and I look at relationships he has already established with the Tennessee Department of Education, that's why I chose Dr. Francis."

Janeway said Francis' experience in Tennessee was a plus. Andrews was a well-rounded candidate, having served in a number of positions. However, Janeway pointed out Andrews would be coming from a much larger school system in another state. The Randolph County School system has an enrollment of more than 18,600 students and more than 2,500 employees. It includes 17 elementary schools, six middle schools, six high schools and one early college high schools. Andrews notified the Randolph County Board of Education in September 2012 of his intent to retire and is currently working with his replacement there.

"My concern is how far removed he is because he's a director of schools with four or five assistants," Janeways said. "When he takes the 17 years' experience and sits down to a job with many hats, being involved more in finance, being more involved in personnel and being more involved in building, I think that could be a culture shock."

Schlafer also pointed to Francis' experience of having served as a county commissioner in Tennessee.

Davis said he was impressed with Francis and thought he was a "motivator" and was "head and shoulders above" other candidates.

However, he added Andrews was a candidate he could support and was in his top three picks.

Stone said, in his opinion, Andrews was "head and shoulders above" other candidates.

"When you look at his 17-year career, and I looked high and low to find blemishes and there are almost none, that's one thing...In a position like that, it's hard to come out unscathed and that he's been able to do that is something," Stone said.

Tollett said the board didn't specify the candidate must be from Tennessee when it instructed its consultant to bring the six best candidates.

He added the position was not a budget director, legal counsel or federal programs director.

"All of those things you can employ," Tollett said. "We're talking about someone who understands the whole system and puts it together.

"I think it's a once in a long-time opportunity to get someone with the experience of Donald Andrews," he added.

The motion to negotiate a contract with Andrews passed with Tollett, Janeway, Blalock, Brewer, Bowman, Stone and Hutson voting in favor, and Schlafer and Davis voting against.

Tollett reminded the board of consultant Wayne Qualls' advice once a decision was made to take a unanimous vote of support for the chosen candidate.

"It would seem important if the board could say it unanimously approved the candidate," he said.

Schlafer agreed and moved to approve Andrews unanimously, supported by Davis. The motion passed with all board members voting in favor.

Blalock said he would contact Andrews and begin contract negotiations. He asked board members to begin thinking about what they would like to have in the contract with the new director.

Tollett added, "Selecting the director of schools is important, but then we need to be the kind of board that lets the director be successful."

Wilson County approves contract for next director of schools

kjordan — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:22:41 +0000

The Tennessean - May 10

Andy Humbles

The Wilson County School Board approved a three-year contract Thursday for the system’s next Director of Schools.

Timothy Setterlund, 53, an administrator with Shelby County Schools, was approved by the board Monday to replace outgoing Wilson County Schools’ Director Mike Davis effective July 1, pending the contract approval.

Setterlund agreed to terms on a contract after meeting with Wilson County School Board chairman Don Weathers leading to Thursday’s vote that was part of a special called board meeting previously called. The vote was 4-1 to approve the contract at $165,000 per year, Weathers said.

Setterlund has been in the Shelby County Schools’ system 33 years, including 19½ as principal of Collierville High School until January 2012.

Since then, Setterlund has been the Shelby County Assistant Superintendent of Research, Planning and Accountability overseeing technology, federal programs, testing and accountability. His primary responsibility is chairman of the Transition Steering Committee, which is managing the merger of the Shelby County and Memphis City school systems.

Davis announced his resignation earlier this school year when his contract expires June 30. Davis has since accepted the Robertson County Director of Schools position effective July 1.

Top Jobs Opening Up in Nation's School Districts

kjordan — Mon, 13 May 2013 17:47:53 +0000

Education Week - May 13

By Jaclyn Zubrzycki

Districts across the country, including some of the nation's largest, are facing a spate of superintendent vacancies.

Schools chiefs or interim superintendents will be leaving this year or next in at least 17 well-known districts, including Baltimore; Boston; Clark County, Nev.; Indianapolis; and Wake County, N.C.

And while school officials in some places, such as Baltimore, Boston, and Oakland, Calif., have indicated they intend to continue on paths laid out by their departing leaders, the turnover elsewhere may signal major changes—and go hand in hand, in some cases, with a shift in district priorities or governance restructuring.

For example:

• In Indianapolis, the search for a superintendent comes after a school board election in which numerous visions of the district's future were floated.

• In Camden, N.J.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Prince George's County, Md., the turnover at the top is accompanying dramatic changes in governance, such as a state takeover or district merger; and,

• In Atlanta; Columbus,Ohio; and El Paso,Texas, new leaders are needed to take the helm of school systems that have been through major cheating scandals.

Whether as an indicator of change or of commitment to a path, "superintendents become the representation of what the reform [plan in a district] is about. In selecting the next superintendent in these districts, we're sending a very strong signal in terms of the direction of the district," said Kenneth Wong, a professor of education atBrownUniversity.

The search for a new leader can prompt a board or mayor to ask, "Are you pursuing the right reforms for the right reasons?" said Michael D. Casserly, the executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, in Washington.

Seasonal Churn

The number of vacancies is not in itself unusual, said Mr. Casserly. Superintendents tend to stay in urban districts for three to four years. And spring is when many leaders announce their intentions for the upcoming school year.

His organization usually sees between eight and 12 of its members searching for new leaders each year. (This year, there are 10 so far.)

Andrés Alonso, who announced last week that he will retire after six years as Baltimore's superintendent, said there has been speculation every year since he arrived that the high-profile leader would be departing for a bigger city. He is leaving instead to become a professor of practice atHarvardUniversityand to care for his aging parents.

But that churn at the top is detrimental for districts striving for improvements that take time to implement, said Daniel A. Domenech, the executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, in Alexandria,Va.

Boards searching for new district leaders have to make sure a candidate is suited to the district's particular challenges, Mr. Casserly said. Those challenges range from cyclical duties, such as contract negotiations and bond levies, to the more unusual, such as a court order or a scandal.

In Boston, for instance, a new leader will have the task of implementing the city's first new student-assignment plan in decades, said Michael D. O'Neill, the chairman of theBostonschool committee.

In Memphis, a new leader in 2014-15 must preside over a newly merged school system that includes schools from the neighboring suburban district in Shelby County.

Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Columbus, and El Paso, new leaders will need to help regain community trust after widely publicized scandals alleging or involving cheating by teachers or administrators on student tests.

Chains of Command

State- and city-level involvement in the governance of many urban districts—through arrangements like mayoral control or state takeovers—means that superintendent searches can be slowed or shaped by outside political factors.

"With mayoral involvement or state involvement [in school districts], you have a more complex government arrangement. The new breed of superintendent has to have the skill set and knowledge base and hopefully some experience in working across government agencies," said Mr. Wong.

In Boston, where Superintendent Carol R. Johnson is retiring after six years, longtime Mayor Thomas M. Menino, a driving force in school improvement efforts over his 20 years as mayor, is also not seeking re-election.

Mr. O'Neill said that the school board will likely wait until a new mayor is elected to select a permanent superintendent.

In Camden and Prince George's County, incoming leaders will be the first to navigate new governance structures.

Camden's school board had been searching for a permanent chief since last year. But a state takeover early in April puts the state squarely in charge of finding that person.

In Prince George's County, the school board already had been searching for a permanent superintendent to replace William R. Hite Jr. when theMarylandlegislature made key changes to the district's governance.

The new law shifts the responsibility for picking the board's chairman and vice chairman and the district leader—newly dubbed a chief executive officer and vested with new powers, such as the authority to close schools—into the hands of the county executive. The executive will choose the district CEO from a group of candidates selected by a state-appointed committee.

Given such varied governance structures, running a school system "takes enormous understanding of the local context," said Mr. Alonso, the departingBaltimorechief. "In many cities, there's a variability and complexity to how districts are organized. It's no longer standardized," he said.

Complex Structures

His district, New York City, and New Orleans, for instance, have reinvented themselves as "portfolio districts" emphasizing school-level autonomy. Rising numbers of charter schools complicate district management in other districts as well.

In Detroit, Indianapolis, Memphis, and New Orleans, the public school landscape includes state-run schools, charter schools, and regular public schools.

Andy Smarick, a Lawrenceville, N.J.-based partner at Bellwether Education Partners, a consulting organization, suggested that in some urban districts, the timing may be right for new leaders to push districts even further toward shrinking their central offices and decreasing the number of schools directly run by the district, among other changes.

"I think we're going to know a lot about the next decade of urban education reform by seeing who winds up getting picked to be superintendent," Mr. Smarick said.

"In places like Louisiana, places with mayoral control, … places with state-run districts, … there's a growing number of cities where it appears likely that a different type of candidate with a different type of message has the ability to take control."

But Mr. Casserly was skeptical that such changes would be widely pursued.

"There has been a diversification of public education," he said, "particularly in cities—the rise of educational management and charter organizations and the like—but I think they're jumping the gun by saying that suddenly we're on the cusp of a huge governance revolution."

In Indianapolis, however, where the state recently took over four schools and where the idea of mayoral control has been floated, some school board members are considering dramatic change.

"We're talking potentially about the dismantlement of the entire central office and reworking it into something that gives more autonomy," school board President Diane Arnold said. "We need that person that can work with us in a partnership to make that happen."

Ms. Arnold said the district's job description specifies that a new superintendent must support school-level autonomy.

Jean-Claude Brizard, who was the CEO of the Chicago schools from May 2011 until October 2012 and is now a senior adviser for the New York City-based College Board, said that leaders can support autonomy, but it requires a mindset different from the one many superintendents have had.

"I think [that kind of leadership] is harder," he said. "You don't feel as much in control."

Both Mr. Domenech—a former chief of the Fairfax County, Va., schools—and Mr. Brizard said that qualified candidates often are not interested in the demands and public scrutiny of the superintendency.

The recent indictment of retired Atlantaschools Superintendent Beverly Hall in the wake of a cheating scandal in that district has added one more layer of complexity to the task of luring candidates to the job, Mr. Brizard said.

"What's difficult about the superintendency is that you're not only an educator, you're a politician," he said. "And now—oh, my God—you can go to jail. That's a whole different dynamic."

Bonuses interest teachers

kjordan — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:38:56 +0000

The Tennessean - May 10

Lisa Fingeroot

Top teachers in Metro Nashville’s five lowest-scoring schools might earn a bonus next year, thanks to a state plan that will reward them for staying in troubled schools or give them a pay boost for moving to one.

The bonus plan is the first move in Tennessee’s efforts to shift to a merit pay system and away from the traditional teacher pay scale based on years of service and advanced degrees.

Rewarding teachers for working in troubled schools is just one of the ideas suggested by Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman last month when he presented a pay plan to the State Board of Education.

The board tentatively agreed with Huffman and will require all Tennessee school systems to create new pay plans by 2014-15. The plans must not base pay increases solely on experience or advanced degrees.

The new plan calls for a $7,000 signing bonus for teachers who transfer to a priority school and commit to staying for two years, and a $5,000 retention bonus for those already teaching in a priority school who sign up for another year. Priority schools are the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools in Tennessee. Other than Metro Nashville, priority schools are in Memphis and in the Hamilton, Hardeman and Knox County school systems.

The bonuses are available only to teachers who earn the highest possible scores on evaluations and on improving students’ test scores. Only the evaluation score will be used for those who teach subjects that are not included in standardized state testing such as the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAP.

Halfway through this school year, nearly 27 percent of the teachers in Tennessee were on track to earn the top scores needed to be eligible for the bonus plan.

“We are just receiving more information, but there is some excitement,” said Christian Sawyer, principal at Bailey STEM Magnet Middle School.

Bailey is one of the five Metro schools on the state’s priority list. The others are Brick Church Middle, Buena Vista Elementary Enhanced Option, Gra-Mar Middle and Napier Elementary Enhancement Option.

A charter school, Smithson-Craighead Academy Middle, also is on the list, but the Metro school board has voted to close it at the end of the school year. However, school officials and parents have sued in an effort to keep it open.

The plan will be financed through federal school improvement funds, according to a statement from Huffman’s office.

Sawyer says the bonuses send an important message to the students in underserved communities that they are worthy of the best education. Sawyer does not yet know how many of his teachers will receive the retention bonus because qualification will depend on test scores expected during the summer.

Metro teachers were notified of the possibilities this week during a webcast and indicated a lot of interest, said Joe Bass, school system spokesman.