BY KRISTA RAMSEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Today, the average school superintendent stays in his or her district fewer than five years before moving on.

It seems worthy of note, then, that Superintendent Jim Ballinger has been with Norwood City Schools for 45 years.

Not bad for a man who's only 52.

Mr. Ballinger's commitment to Norwood started in kindergarten. Neither he nor his North Norwood Elementary classmates imagined he would one day lead the district.

An honor student and quiet leader at Norwood High School, he went off to Miami University to study and returned as soon as he could, as a student teacher.

After that, Norwood Schools had the good sense to never let him go. He moved from teacher to principal to assistant superintendent to superintendent.

In January, he will retire. In a note to friend and fellow Norwood alumnus Gen. Joseph Ralston, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he recently wrote, ''Joe, I guess it's probably time I graduate from Norwood schools.''

Some of us would disagree.

Unhappy leave-taking

Jim Ballinger is the sort of man who is not easy to lose. And the conditions of his retirement are not an easy way to lose him.

Infighting on the board of education has worn away at him. One issue led to another issue, and then seemingly to every issue. Finally, it seemed easier to go.

Conflict is inevitable, and differences of opinion are healthy. But when they push out administrators with the devotion of Jim Ballinger, they become a poor way to operate a school district.

And devotion, a highly under-rated quality, has come to be worth quite a lot on the education market.

Jim Ballinger's is the hard-earned kind, not easily replaced. It comes from miles of shoe leather, hoofing around Norwood as a kid, walking to school and Xavier University games. It comes from trying out for musicals in junior high, and being stuck in the chorus. ''I knew then it would not be my livelihood,'' he says with a smile. It comes from teaching biology and coaching seventh-grade basketball.

And it comes from being there in the hard years, taking over the superintendency in a critical financial time. In his six years as superintendent, the district passed two new-money tax levies and one renewal.

Look around the state and see how many superintendents can say that.

But ultimately, Jim Ballinger's devotion is clearest, not in what he did, but how he did it.

Hard-earned respect

He was never the flashy kind of superintendent, championing causes or leading crusades. Leadership sneaked up on him (although it resulted in his serving as president of the state and regional elementary principals' associations in the 1980s).

His colleagues call him ''an old-fashioned superintendent,'' with the deepest of respect. He was always more interested in building a school system than a resume.

He himself measures his legacy in memories of successful students, committed staff members, loyal parents. He calls them ''good people who care so much.''

He describes his style as superintendent much as he does his play as center on the 1962 Norwood basketball team. ''Steady,'' he says. ''Trying to learn the game.''

As a coach, he says, ''I tried to encourage my kids that you learn to win and you learn to lose, because you don't win everything.''

In the short run, it may appear conflict and disagreement won, and Jim Ballinger lost. But the future will show differently.

Ask his favorite spot in Norwood, and he will tell you it is the backyard of the house on Sherwood Lane where he spent his childhood. From it, he could see Carew Tower and the Central Trust Building.

''They call Norwood 'Gem of the Highlands,' and it really is a high spot,'' he says.

So was Jim Ballinger's career.

Krista Ramsey's column appears on Saturdays. Write her at 312 Elm Street, Cincinnati 45202 or fax at 768-8340.

RAMSEY ARCHIVE