School superintendent picked

The Post-Dispatch has learned from multiple sources that the Special Administrative Board tonight will name Kelvin Adams, the chief of staff for the Recovery School District of New Orleans, the St. Louis Public Schools eighth superintendent since 2003.

Adams had a brief stint with the St. Louis schools in 2006-07, overseeing the district's middle and high schools and serving as the interim director of human resources. He succeeds Diana Bourisaw who left the position in July.

Adams won out over the two other finalists the administrative board brought to the city two weeks ago for what amounted to a public audition for the job. Former Providence, R.I. superintendent Donnie Evans and Eric Becoats, a high-level administrator with the Guilford County Schools in Greensboro, N.C. were the other two finalists selected in a nationwide search from a pool of over 30 applicants. Of the final three, Adams was the only candidate with previous experience in St. Louis — he supervised the district’s middle and high schools and also served as the interim director of human resources during an 11-month stay that ended in April, 2007.

He also has background working in a district, New Orleans, that is under state control. In meetings with the media and the public, Adams indicated a willingness to lead a district that co-exists with charter schools. Charters, publicly-funded schools that are governed independently, have drained the St. Louis schools of students and resources over the past eight years. Critics maintain charters threaten the traditional public education system. Adams said he would use competition from charter schools to strengthen the city schools.

Before coming to St. Louis in 2006, Adams served as the associate dean/interim dean and charter school liaison for the College of Education at Southern University in New Orleans. Addressing his management style, Adams said earlier this month that he is partial to a "quasi-governance model" that makes building principals more accountable for student achievement. "The principal is the key lever to change," said Adams, a one-time high school principal himself.

Adams, who holds a doctorate in "Educational Leadership in Administration" from the University of New Orleans, is the first superintendent hired by the appointed administrative board, which assumed governance of the district following a state intervention that removed the elected board 15 months ago. He succeeds Diana Bourisaw, who departed in July after the administrative board redefined her role and requested that she reapply for her job. Rick Sullivan, Richard Gaines and Melanie Adams maintain the designation "administrative board" grants the panel permission to involve itself more in the day-to-day operations of the district. In traditional governance, the elected board establishes policy that is then carried out by the superintendent and administrative staff. Kelvin Adams said he has no problem with the operational set-up in St. Louis. Quietly determined during his most recent visit to St. Louis, a resolved Adams told the public and media he was aware of what lies ahead in a district struggling to regain its accreditation. Despite his lack of experience handling a district, Adams said earlier this month that he is prepared for the challenge."There will be improvement, there has to be improvement, otherwise there is no need for me to be here," he said two weeks ago.

Courtesy of Steve Giegerich, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 09/25/2008.


SLPS Parents Movement to Support Dr. Kelvin Adams.