Without a director, Metro Schools’ officials anticipate next step

Department of Education Assistant Commissioner Connie Smith says Metro Schools needs "stable, tried-and-true, practiced, effective leadership.” File

It’s been 10 months since Nashville had a permanent director of schools in place.

While the leadership of Interim Director Chris Henson has been widely considered successful, Nashville’s public school district has now been without a permanent leader for almost a year, and many are ready to see the next step.

There is some disagreement as to whether a short- or long-term hire will be most beneficial for the district. Specific candidates for the job are due to be presented to the school board Dec. 2, and the caliber of the professionals who apply may help foster more of an agreement in terms of contract length.

In the meantime, virtually everyone can agree a hire should be made soon.

Connie Smith, the Department of Education assistant commissioner who has played a pivotal role in orchestrating changes at Metro Nashville Public Schools, said last week that hiring a director will play a big role in helping continue turning around the district.

Smith has said repeatedly that it takes three to five years to turn around a school district, meaning that it will be about that long before school performance statistics show the results of big reforms.

In a recent City Paper interview, she said it would take three to five years to turn around Metro Schools — that is, once a director of schools has been hired.

“The school system is leaderless,” Smith said. “We need stable, tried-and-true, practiced, effective leadership.”

Some school board members say that having a permanent director of schools in place would be of help in knowing how successful state efforts at the school district have been. Over the summer, Smith and the DOE prompted a reorganization of district central offices affecting teaching and learning, in addition to a shuffling of individual school leaders — principals and assistant principals — between schools.

The changes marked the beginning of a six-month trial period. That trial period technically comes to an end this winter. Several board members have stated publicly that they would like an update on progress from Smith, and as such, Smith has been asked to to attend a board meeting in December to provide an update on the success of the changes.

But board member Steve Glover is one who believes a permanent director would help the board assess the changes made.

With all the “moving parts” within the school district, Glover said, evaluating the full scope of changes made by the state will be challenging.

“We’ve been without a captain for awhile now, and I don’t know if we’re on course or not,” Glover told board members at a recent work session with director search consultant Bill Attea, of Illinois firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates Ltd. (HYA).

Plans are being made for the Board to more effectively evaluate the progress of the district — in addition to the director of schools — than what has been done in the past.

Mark North, chair of the board’s governance committee, is working to see that the board is strategic about its receipt of timely reports on topics related to district success, including graduation statistics and performance of student subgroups having trouble meeting benchmarks set by federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) laws.

Such reports are currently received throughout the year, but timelier delivery of those reports could lead to a more thorough supervision of the director on the part of the board, and a stronger potential for leadership from the board as a whole, officials hope.

Former Director of Schools Pedro Garcia left the district in January, just prior to a board evaluation that was widely expected to reflect negatively on him. Since that time, Henson — who worked full-time as the district’s financial chief during Garcia’s tenure — has led on an interim basis.

Henson remains popular with teachers and district staff, and has been praised by school board members and leaders throughout the community. Henson has said that members of the district’s finance department have worked to fulfill some of the duties Henson was responsible for prior to his work as interim director.

Board members unanimously authorized a $7,500 per month raise for Henson for as long as he serves as interim director along with his financial leadership duties. But the fact that the district has been paying Henson to serve, effectively, in two positions simultaneously was expected to offset somewhat the approximately $216,000 resignation package secured by Garcia.

The reorganization’s six-month trial period was intended to be a budget-neutral restructuring of key officials. While state leaders have worked to keep themselves apprised of progress, officials say few big changes occurred after the close of the summer.

Since the changes were made, Smith has been promoted within the DOE from the role of executive director to assistant commissioner. Her role has been expanded, but it still includes accountability, and she remains the point person for changes at MNPS.

Smith has monitored progress during the trial period by “checking up weekly from afar,” she says. She speaks regularly with Henson as well as with Metro assistant superintendents, and is sometimes in communication as often as every day.

But the state made its big changes over the summer, Smith said, and the DOE has primarily limited its involvement to monitoring. Smith said she has been kept more busy this fall by other school districts in the state who have just entered “corrective action” status under federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) laws, the legal status held by MNPS when Smith first became extremely involved at MNPS during the 2007-2008 academic year.

“We’re watching [Metro]. We’re being collegial,” Smith said. “We allow the people we put into place to do their jobs. …We’re not on site. We’re not teaching kids.”

The state DOE has an unprecedented level of control at MNPS due to the district’s status under NCLB. Metro’s public school district, as a whole, is currently in “Restructuring I” status after repeatedly failing to miss certain performance benchmarks for schools and students.

If the district continues to miss benchmarks this school year, it will reach the legal status of “Restructuring II.” That would give the DOE the legal right to remove the current director of schools, as well as any individual board members. Smith has publicly stated that she believes the district will not advance to this level.

Nonetheless, plans are being considered for what would occur if the district does advance to “Restructuring II.” DOE Commissioner Tim Webb confirmed last week that his department is looking at statutes and policies affecting the appointment of Nashville’s mayor as trustee of the district.

Mayor Karl Dean, for his part, has said publicly that he wants to be prepared in the event that he is called upon to fulfill that role. While he said he does not have a detailed plan in place for how a transition would be carried out, he did say that it would not involve Dean himself serving as director of schools.

Instead, the director would report to – and likely be selected by – the Mayor’s Office, changing the accountability structure of the district.