Alton Frailey's track record overseeing successful schools and his commitment to students convinced the board of Cincinnati Public Schools to hire the Houston educator as its superintendent.

        Mr. Frailey, an assistant superintendent in a suburban Houston, Texas, district, was given the job Friday after a secretive whirlwind two-day interview process.

Cincinnati's new school superintendent, Alton Frailey (right) is introduced at a press conference Friday. At left is school board President Rick Williams. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        Mr. Frailey, 41, impressed the Cincinnati board with his determination to work with teachers, parents and the community. He pledged to continue the education reforms laid out by his predecessor, Steven Adamowski. Board members were further persuaded by his ability to serve on the school board of a second, and much larger Houston-area district while working as assistant superintendent at Spring Branch Independent schools.

        Some Cincinnati community and business leaders were surprised by the quick decision but most said they would support the new school leader.

        Mr. Frailey's hiring has ramifications outside of the city. The superintendent job is crucial to the region's economic future because schools train the 21st century workforce.

        Cincinnati's seven-member school board came together in a rare unanimous vote Friday to hire Mr. Frailey after meeting him for the first time Thursday.

        “Everything he talked about, he always brought back to results for children,” said board President Rick Williams.

        Mr. Frailey becomes the second African-American to lead Ohio's third-largest school district, and the first African-American man to do so. He succeeds Steven Adamowski, who left in August after four years of often-controversial reform efforts for an academic post in St. Louis. Mr. Frailey takes the helm about eight weeks before the district asks voters to approve a $480 million bond issue for the largest school construction plan in the city's history.

ABOUT ALTON FRAILEY

Age: 41    Wife: Anissa    Children: Alana, Anderson, Austin    Employment: Has been with Houston's Spring Branch Independent School District 12 years; Started as a principal and took the assistant superintendent post this year. Oversight areas include athletics, communications, community education, government relations and major gifts.    District: 32,000 students on 46 campuses and a $265 million budget    Salary: $132,000    Education: B.S., Elementary Education, 1983; M.Ed. in Educational Administration, 1985

        Mr. Frailey was named after a lightning-quick two-day interview process held in private meetings. Mr. Adamowski was hired after a public, months-long, multi-step process that revealed the names of several top contenders for the job.

        This time, little more than demographic information was revealed about the other finalists, despite several public records requests by the Cincinnati Enquirer and other news outlets.

        A 19-year career educator, Mr. Frailey comes from the ethnically diverse 32,000-student Spring Branch District where more than half the students are Hispanic. He was named assistant superintendent less than a year ago after moving up through various administrative posts since joining the district as a principal in 1990.

        Details about his salary and when he'll start work in Cincinnati have not been decided.

        News of the hiring surprised community members, business leaders and teacher union officials. They had no information on other finalists. That left some questioning whether the board did its homework in researching the candidates.

        But Mr. Frailey is undaunted and said he can't wait to come to Cincinnati.

        “What I've seen is that there is a commitment to really looking ahead and doing whatever it takes in this community,” he said during a press conference Friday. “That's very attractive to me in that we're not going to be confined by just traditional means but (will) look at whatever we need to do to help serve our students.”

        The board made its decision after closed-door interviews with five candidates Thursday and Friday. A sixth finalist pulled out before coming here.

        The finalists were brought to the board by an executive search firm, Milwaukee-based Proact Search Inc. Board members said they had no idea who the candidates were before Thursday. They said they were confident the search firm brought them quality candidates based on criteria they outlined with community input.

        Board members, several of them with wide grins, said Friday they were impressed with all the finalists but were bedazzled by Mr. Frailey's plans to work with teachers, staff and the community to improve student achievement, while keeping students' interests at the forefront.

        “He's really focused on results,” board member Harriet Russell said.

        Mr. Frailey will fill the superintendent vacancy in the 42,000-student district at a critical time. In addition to the Nov. 5 bond issue, the district just this school year opened five smaller, overhauled high schools as part of a major reorganization of the district's lowest-performing high schools.

        The health of the city's urban core also depends on safe, effective schools that can attract families and stabilize neighborhoods that have been losing population to suburbs. Cincinnati's school district is trying to improve its image but still faces a dismal graduation rate of just 58 percent.

        “My fervent hope is that he's the right guy,” said Cincinnati Bell President Jack Cassidy, whose company operates a partnership with Taft High School in the West End. “We sure need the help.”

        Some school officials and community leaders have questioned whether the district moved too fast.

        “I'm at a loss of what to say because, as we know, this was a closed process,” said Sue Taylor, president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers. “Citizens and teachers were shut out of the process.”

        Ms. Taylor stressed that teachers will work with the new superintendent and are excited to have a new leader.

        The school district Mr. Frailey is leaving is smaller than the Cincinnati district, with 32,000 students and a $233 million budget. It has a mix of wealthy and poor families, where half the student population is Hispanic and 35 percent is white. African-American and Asian students make up 12 percent of the student body.

        Spring Branch officials recently hired Yvonne Katz as superintendent. She is guiding the district through a major restructuring. Mr. Frailey, who did not apply for the Spring Branch position, recently had been given a new title and new responsibilities, which included community and government relations, community education, athletics, strategic planning and telecommunications.

        Before that, he had been an area superintendent, leading the elementary and middle schools in one quadrant of the district, for three years.

        Mr. Frailey also serves as a board member for the neighboring Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District. That district's superintendent, Rick Berry, said Mr. Frailey was uniquely qualified as a board member because he also lends a perspective as an administrator.

        Mr. Frailey's colleagues, contacted Friday, describe a man loved by students, active in his church, and committed to improving education.

        “I knew that Alton wanted to become a superintendent,” Ms. Katz said. “Alton is ready for this; he's very capable of it. He has a long education career and served in several districts. He'll bring a wealth of information from an administrator's point of view and from a board view... He's very well-liked, highly respected by parents and peers.”

        His accomplishments include helping his school district pass a $250 million bond issue. Cincinnati leaders said that experience is welcome as parents and volunteers launch the city's campaign for its $480 million bond issue.

        Mr. Frailey's salary was $132,000. While district officials are still working out contract details, Board President Williams said he'll have a salary comparable to the $181,000 Mr. Adamowski made.

        Mr. Frailey will be just the fourth African-American superintendent in Hamilton County's history and the second to lead Cincinnati schools, which has a student body that is 71 percent black. The first black superintendent was Lee Etta Powell, who served from 1986-91. Ms. Powell's contract was bought out.

        Hiring the district's first African-American male superintendent may be a step forward, but it's more important that he is an educator, say observers.

        “I think it matters a great deal that he is African-American coming to a district of mostly black students,” said the Rev. Damon Lynch, Jr., former president of the Baptist Ministers Conference. “But my main concern is that he is an educator as opposed to someone who is too business-oriented. I know he has to deal with all facets of our community, including the business industry, but the children need to know that he cares whether or not they can read or write. He has to be able to get into the low-income neighborhoods, mingle with kids and parents and feel their sensitivity.”

        Victoria Straughn, chairwoman of Concerned Citizens for Justice, an activist group that supports the boycott against downtown Cincinnati, wants to critique Mr. Frailey's background and what he has done in school districts under his leadership.

        “Just because it is a black face doesn't necessarily mean that he is the right person,” Ms. Straughn said. “I certainly think choosing an African-American male is a step in the right direction because that is one of the things the black community has been asking for. It could be a real plus if his approach to public education can relate to the black family, especially our black male students who are not doing too well. Maybe he can change the downward trend of our black male students.”

        At Walnut Hills High School, students, parents, and educators emphasized the importance of the November bond issue. Other priorities for Mr. Frailey, they said, were building maintenance, school autonomy, and the teachers union contract, which expires in December.

        “I would expect that the superintendent definitely believes in individual schools charting their own destinies,” said Walnut Hills Principal Marvin O. Koenig. “And recognizing that the onus of success lies within the school level. That's sometimes at odds with bureaucracy.”

        John Sheldon of Westwood, whose daughter, Jane, is an eighth-grader at Walnut Hills, said, “I was sorry to see Steven (Adamowski) go. But I think we need the levy to pass in November, so he needs to make sure about that. Without the money, you can't get the job done.”

        Greg Hamilton, an African-American 11th grader from Evanston, was encouraged that the new superintendent is black. “It's a building block,” he said. “It's positive for everybody.”

        Mr. Frailey earned his bachelor's degree and master's in education at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. He began his teaching career in 1983, and became assistant principal at Lamar Elementary in Goose Creek, Texas, in 1987. He joined the Spring Branch district in 1990 as principal of Westwood Elementary School and worked his way through administrative posts until becoming an area superintendent in 1999.

        He also serves as district representative to the state legislature and is president of Willowbridge Homeowners Association.

        He and his wife, Anissa, have three children: Alana, 11; Anderson, 8; and Austin, 5.

        The Fraileys are members of St. Maximillian Kolbe Catholic Church in suburban Houston.

        Tom O'Neill, Allen Howard, David Hofmeister contributed.

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