Adamowski

        As Steven Adamowskireturns to his office today after interviewing for the top school position in Nashville, Tenn., Cincinnati Public Schools is reminded that he has already outlasted the average tenure for an urban superintendent.

        Standards-driven education, politicized school boards and tough accountability measures all contribute to an average tenure of 2.5 years among urban school superintendents nationwide, said Judy Seltz, associate executive director of the American Association of School Administrators. For all superintendents, the turnover average is five to six years.

        In the Tristate, at least eight districts have replaced superintendents in the past school year.

        Dr. Adamowski has been superintendent of CPS since May 1998.

POSITIONS FILLED

These Tristate school districts hired new superintendents in the past year:   • Butler County: Fairfield.   • Clermont County: New Richmond.   • Hamilton County: Finneytown, Sycamore.   • Warren County: Little Miami, Springboro.   • Northern Kentucky: Covington, Southgate.

        For school districts, high turnover can be a curse or a blessing. Constantly replacing superintendents can derail high-profile projects and jeopardize reforms. To parents, turnover is a sign of instability. The impact even trickles down to the business community, which can have difficulty marketing the city's schools.

        “Most of the things a superin tendent can get done can happen in six years, not two to three years. It's really chaotic,” said Dr. Thomas Glass, professor in the department of leadership at the College of Education of the University of Memphis and author of several reports on the state of the superintendency.

        Others say change can be good.

        Fresh ideas and perspectives come with fresh faces, said Sylvia Hill, chairwoman of the local school decision-making committee of Woodward High School.

        “It might slow down the progress,” she said. “But our city will survive.”

        Cincinnati has enjoyed lengthier-than-average superintendencies for an urban district. J. Michael Brandt, the previous superintendent, had a seven-year tenure. His predecessor, Dr. Lee Etta Powell, stayed five years.

        Dr. Adamowski said last week he has no reason to leave Cincinnati. He said he accepted the invitation to apply for Nashville's director of schools following a request from E. Gordon Gee, chancellor of Vanderbilt University. Dr. Gee, a former president of Ohio State University, is the head of Nashville schools' superintendent search advisory committee.

        But his Nashville trip has worried some in this community.

        Cincinnati is in the midst of a radical reform movement, and some fear a change in the top job now could jeopardize progress and cause further flight to suburban schools.

        The 42,000-student school district is labeled in “academic emergency” — the lowest of four school district rankings by the state — and many are looking to Dr. Adamowski to improve achievement.

        Teachers say a change now could present problems.

        “It would mean a large deficit, a large void in the district in terms of leadership,” said Sue Taylor, newly elected president of the schools' teachers union. “But whether the superintendent stays or goes, there will still be a dialogue of revision, remodification and refinement of the reforms.”

        The key, she said, is that any leader establish a trusting relationship with the teachers.

        Dr. Adamowski has also worked with the business community on numerous projects, such as a partnership between Cincinnati Bell and the school system to turn Taft High School into an information technology institute by summer's end. A departure now would raise questions about the continuation of those projects.

        “Turnover matters in anything,” said John Pepper, Procter & Gamble chairman. “It takes time to see results — four to five years — whether in schools or in a company.”

        Many business leaders see Dr. Adamowski as a change agent charged with improving the reputation of CPS, which can then draw businesses, employees and homeowners into the community.

        Kroger chief executive officer and chairman Joseph A. Pichler said Dr. Adamowski has overseen improvement in the district's test scores.

        “That's a selling point to (new) people moving in and it's also a selling point to people coming back to the city,” he said.
       

Uncertainty an obstacle

               Covington Independent Schools, a 4,500-student urban district in Northern Kentucky, has experienced high turnover in its top spot.

        Superintendent Jack Moreland, hired in March after serving in an interim role, oversees a district in turmoil, with a state education watchdog group having found “troubling” and “problematic” cases in which students were not given proper instruction or services.

        Col Owens has worked with four superintendents and several interim superintendents in his nine years as an education board member in Covington.

        “Sometimes the transitions can be very welcome; sometimes they can be controversial,” he said. “When you have a lot of turnover, it creates unsettlement and anxiety (among the staff).

        “It's much harder to succeed when you have that kind of uncertainty.”

        Small districts — though characteristically enjoying longer superintendencies — aren't always immune.

        Ed Stewart, a newly retired teacher from the 1,100-student Williamsburg district in Clermont County, said he has seen firsthand the problems turnover can cause. Williamsburg is about to get its fourth superintendent in five years.

        “We've had no direction,” Mr. Stewart said.

        The district also is facing financial problems and is under fiscal watch by Ohio Auditor Jim Petro after a mix-up caused $700,000 to be budgeted twice.

        Tom Durbin, the district's high school principal who will officially take charge as superintendent Aug. 1, said he intends to bring stability and fiscal management.

        Cincinnatians, meanwhile, are upbeat while they await word on the future of their schools' leadership.

        “You never, ever hang your hopes on one person,” said CPS board member Catherine Ingram. “You hang your hopes on a whole leadership team to take you in the right direction.”

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