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Superintendent Memo

A Message from Superintendent-elect, Dr. Marlon King ○ 5/27

SuperintendentMemoA Message from Superintendent-elect, Dr. Marlon King○ 5/27

Superintendent-Elect Recruits Key Leaders For Longevity

Building a team is always critical to the success of any organization. After the resignation of two key leaders (i.e., chief academic officer and leader of professional development) from the central office team, in addition to the vacant communications coordinator position, it is essential to create an organized structure that will increase academic success and community confidence; therefore, I will be recruiting key leaders who have context about this system and community. In thinking about the possible budget cuts, I have decided to collapse a few positions to save additional dollars that will be redirected to classrooms. Additionally, I am forming an organizational structure that will include only two deputy superintendents:


· Deputy Superintendent of Academics, Students, & Schools

· Deputy Superintendent of Operations, Business, & Communications


These individuals will divide the responsibilities of overseeing all departments at the central office. Although interim superintendent, Ray Washington, will be returning to the role of chief operations officer, he will now focus exclusively on the public-private partnership project, maintenance, and transportation departments. In contrast, the deputy superintendent of operations, business, and communications will oversee nutrition, technology, business and finance, human resources, communications and community outreach, athletics, operations 9i.e. maintenance, transportation), security, and coordinated school health.


The deputy superintendent of academics, students, and schools will oversee academics, student services and support, schools, federal programs, special education, alternative school/programs, instructional leadership, professional development, assessment and accountability, early foundations, instructional technology, and ESL.


These two positions will allow me the opportunity to work closely with the system’s 23 school principals. By creating this structure, the roles will offer us a chance to scrutinize each department for efficiency to reduce overlap in work. As I continue to assess this academic year, I will rely heavily on these leaders to help me build the organizational structure that will best suit our system.


Lastly, as I have engaged the community over the past few weeks, it is clear that the communication coordinator’s role is vital to that system. Therefore, I will be filling the position with a chief public information officer. This person will work to create paths of communication while serving as a champion for the public school system. Expect to see many of the options and opportunities highlighted throughout the system, such as the Early College High School graduates’ continued success. We must let our community and our regional neighbors know about the many significant initiatives happening in our schools. Not only will we communicate the good, but we will also communicate the areas that need to improve. Transparency is our greatest asset in building trust. Once we establish a trusting relationship with our stakeholders and beyond, the sky is the limit for our students and our school system. I am encouraged that the leadership structure I am putting in place will create a system where people will travel from miles around to join us.