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Friday, May 16, 2008
Mack: Best thing about Dayton was how it “embraced me”
(Mack is sworn in as superintendent by U.S. District Judge Walter H. Rice in 2002)
A lot of things looked really bad for Dayton schools when Percy Mack took over as superintendent in July of 2002.
The district report card rating was worst in the state. It was closing schools and shifting students around to save money. And a large bond issue for school construction loomed just a few months away.
But Mack had no hesitation about taking the job. It was his first shot at a superintendency and people who wanted the school district to change quickly rallied around him. Thinking back on the last six years, Mack this afternoon cited that instant support and continuing community commitment that he remembers most fondly.
“The way the people in this community embraced me as a person, not just as a superintendent — the kindness and great treament — it was key to our achievements with school district,” he said.
Mack, 57, insists he is not running away from Dayton. He said he wanted to stay but he feels the pull of family commitments in the south. His children and grandchildren live in Georgia.
“Dayton has been home for me,” he said. “The only thing that would change that would be family. My family is very important to me. Right now I have to support them. The sacrifice in moving had to be mine.”
Columbia, S.C., is a short drive to his childhood home of Savannah, Ga., and Atlanta, where other family members live. It was a very good fit, he said. The school district is a bit larger than Dayton and Mack said he felt the community there was similarly committed to improving schools.
“I’ve been blessed throughout my career to be placed in locations that fit my skill sets,” he said. “The Columbia area and the district there fit those skill sets.”
As he leaves Dayton, Mack said he recalls fondly the reform work initiated by the Kids First team of school board members led by Gail Littlejohn and the way the school boards that followed have carried on that work.
“We were all competitive in wanted the best for kids and for the district,” Mack said. “There were so many who said we couldn’t be done. We were committed to make it happen.”
What followed, he said, was widespread buy-in across the district from teachers, parents and students.
“They embraced me and my vision of the school district,” he said. “It became our vision for the school district.”
(Image credit: Bill Reinke, DDN)
NOTE: See pictures of Mack through the years in Dayton here.
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Percy Mack leaves; board to start search process
Percy Mack
Percy Mack, the superintendent who led Dayton schools from a worst-in-Ohio ranking to test score gains and other improvements over six years, will leave the district on July 1.
Mack on Friday accepted a job as superintendent in Columbia, S.C., a slightly larger school district of 23,000 students compared to 16,000 here.
Mack, who could not be immediately reached for comment, said earlier this month he was interested in the job primarily because it was closer to his native Georgia. He interviewed but was not selected for the superintendent job in Mobile, Ala., in September.
The school board in Columbia interviewed Mack and two other candidates last week. After a meeting this morning, they offered him the job and he accepted, according to The State newspaper.
School officials there did not disclose contract terms but have said they wanted to pay their next superintendent between $195,000 and $230,000. Mack makes about $140,000 in Dayton.
Dayton school board President Yvonne Isaacs said she was happy for Mack but sad for herself and for Dayton.
“This gets him as close to home as he can be without going home,” she said. “That’s good for his family.”
As for the district’s immediate future with a levy expected in November and no superintendent after July 1, Isaacs said the board would meet quickly to begin developing an action plan.
“It’s going to present a challenge for us,” she said.
Mack came to Dayton in the fall of 2001 as deputy superintendent, filling a long-vacant post as then-superintendent Jerrie Bascome McGill’s top lieutenant. Before that, he had spent his entire career as a teacher, coach, principal and administrator at school districts in Savannah and DeKalb County, Ga. He three adult children and grandchildren all live in Georgia.
When McGill retired in July of 2002, the Gail Littlejohn-led school board quickly announced Mack’s promotion to the top job. At the time, Dayton’s state report card rating had fallen to worst in Ohio as the district struggled with financial and facilities problems.
Mack took charge of the board’s wide-ranging reform plan that moved more money to the classroom while cutting overall spending. At the same time, the district began a $627 million school construction program. By 2006, the district’s scores had improved enough for it to escape “academic emergency,” Ohio’s lowest rating level.
But his luck began to change in 2007 when a financial squeeze led the board to place a 15.17-mill levy on the ballot. It lost badly and Mack had to implement $30 million in budget cuts, including more than 200 teacher layoffs. The cuts angered teachers and parents. And last fall the district’s report card rating fell back to “academic watch,” the second lowest rating level.
Isaacs said the board did not have a pre-set plan for how to replace Mack. One potential candidate is Deputy Superintendent Debra Brathwaite, who has interviewed for superintendent jobs in Toledo and Akron. Isaacs said she was not aware Brathwaite was a finalist for superintendent of Princeton schools near Cincinnati.
“That will definitely be a factor,” she said. “We will be moving quickly in the next few days to get together and look at all our options and chart a path forward.”
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Report: Mack takes South Carolina job
The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., is reporting Percy Mack will be the new superintendent there.
The story says Mack starts work down there July 1 and terms of his contract were not disclosed. Here is a post for more updates on this story.
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