RSD Chief of Staff Kelvin Adams named Superintendent of St. Louis schools

ST. LOUIS -- Kelvin Adams, an executive for the school district in New Orleans, was chosen Thursday to lead St. Louis public schools, becoming the beleaguered district's eighth superintendent since 2003.

Adams will get a three-year contract. Terms were not immediately announced. He was expected to be in St. Louis today. St. Louis school district spokesman Patrick Wallace said "I believe he is going to start in mid-October." Adams has never been a superintendent but was the only one of the three finalists to have previously worked in St. Louis. He is currently chief of staff for the state-run Recovery School District, which operates and oversees most New Orleans public schools. His selection was approved in a unanimous vote by the three-person state-appointed board that oversees the district.

"Even though he does not have that experience, I am satisfied he can do the job here that needs to be done," board member Richard Gaines said. The district received 35 applicants for the position. In addition to Adams, other finalists were Eric Becoats, co-interim superintendent of Guilford County Schools in Greensboro, N.C.; and Donnie Evans, a former superintendent in Providence, R.I.

Adams couldn't be reached for comment Friday. But earlier this month, Adams said the St. Louis job presented a "unique opportunity." "It's a district that's ripe for change," he said. "It's ripe for reform."

In New Orleans, Adams is the second-in-command behind Recovery School District Superintendent Paul Vallas, who runs the roughly 12,500-student district. He is a well-liked central office administrator and a former principal of Marion Abramson Senior High and Fannie C. Williams Middle School. He has spent virtually his entire career in New Orleans, except for the brief stint in St. Louis in the 2006-07 school year when he served as executive director of human resources. Adams, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of New Orleans, graduated from John McDonogh Senior High.

Prior to the announcement, Vallas had said publicly that Adams was his top choice as a successor. Vallas' two-year contract expires on June 30. State Superintendent Paul Pastorek, however, has said Adams is "on the list and a presumptive favorite."

St. Louis Special Administrative Board member Rick Sullivan praised Adams as a "hands-on" administrator who has played a key role in helping to revitalize the New Orleans district devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. "Everything we found, the man has an unblemished record," Sullivan said.

The St. Louis district, the largest in Missouri with about 28,000 students, is similar to the post-Katrina landscape in New Orleans. In Missouri, the state took control in June 2007 to try and turn around the district long troubled by budget problems and poor academic performance. While the state board runs the district, an elected board still exists, though with no real power.
Unlike St. Louis, the Orleans Parish School Board, which governed the entire system before the state takeover in 2005, retained some governance power and controls five directly-run schools and oversees a dozen charter schools. In St. Louis, a three-member board appointed by the governor, mayor and president of the city's Board of Aldermen governs the district. In Louisiana, the state school board controls policies for public schools statewide, which diminishes its attention to New Orleans.

In St. Louis, Diana Bourisaw began as superintendent in 2006 before the state took control. As a result, the new three-member Special Administrative Board decided to advertise the position and asked her to reapply. She declined, and left the job in July. Interim superintendent John Wright did not apply for the permanent position. Peter Downs, president of the elected school board, said none of the three finalists were acceptable. "They should turn around and ask Bourisaw to come back, and if she says no, they should ask Dr. Wright to stay on, and ask an experienced local educator to take the job," Downs said.

Courtesy of Jim Salter, The Associated Press, Friday September 26, 2008, 7:36 AM.


SLPS Parents Movement for Dr. Kelvin Adams.