The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 114
R WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Frank Tota: Still Innovating
The controversial Roanoke City School superintendent was on the
cover in December 1983. He's still shaking things up in education.
DR. FRANK TOTA, the Roanoke City School
superintendent during the turbulent 1980s
and early 1990s, is 75 now and lives in Laguna
Niguel, California,with his watercolors, his
Parkinson's Disease, his presidential commission assignment and some fond memories of
his years here.
Tota was a controversial change agent at a
time when the city's education system was at
a low point. He shook it up, made changes in
personnel and programs, enraged some of the
entrenched powers and inspired caricatures
from The Roanoker. Physically, he was easy
to draw with his Franciscan monk haircut,
his Mexican bandito mustache, his tight suits
and his regal bearing.
"The Roanoker had a lot of fun with me," he
says now. "And, frankly, I thought it was fun,
too. I was younger then and found it interesting to get different perspectives. Some people
had difficulty with the changes we made, but
we proved the students in the city were better
than anybody thought. They were as good
as those in the county and at North Cross
[School]."
Tota emphasized opportunities for poor
and minority students, helping many get
into college with programs his administration initiated. He is primarily responsible
for Roanoke's magnet schools and the highly
controversial student pilot program that was
run for a while out of Addison Aerospace
Magnet School.
Tota continues that innovative emphasis
these days as part of a national approach by
the Obama Administration, he says.
"I put in a lot of hours with that," he says.
Initially, he had worked with nearby California University's School of Education, he
says, and "I've retired a few times. We like
to travel a lot."
114 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
The 1983 story noted that Frank Tota's biggest surprise in serving as Roanoke City superintendent
was "the inordinate amount of publicity. I never expected it to be such a public position."
Shortly after he left Roanoke in 1993, announcing his retirement then, he discovered
he had Parkinson's Disease, Tota says. These
days, he works with the national foundation
and "I sell some of my paintings to benefit
them." The watercolor came in retirement, as
well. "One of the things I've always stressed,"
he says, "is that you can't just look at anybody and judge them. I had no idea I had
a talent for painting, but I gave it a try and
I do."
Tota lives with his wife of 45 years, Eileen.
They have two sons, Christopher, who lives
two hours away in California and Frank Jr.,
who lives in Maine with his wife and the
Totas' only grandchild. None of the family
remains in Roanoke.
-Dan Smith
THE
R OANOKER.COM
http://www.THEROANOKER.COM
The Roanoker - January/February 2015
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker - January/February 2015
Letters / Worth a Click
From The Editor
The Look
The Flavor
The Quiz
The Calendar
Get Outside
Dining: Four of the Valley’s Best Restaurants
On The Town
Where Are They Now?
The Source Book
Coming Home
Neighborhoods
Education
Arts & Culture
Medicine
Business
Recreation
Shopping
Retirement
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Intro
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Cover1
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Cover2
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 3
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 4
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 5
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 6
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 7
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 8
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 9
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Letters / Worth a Click
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 11
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - From The Editor
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 13
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - The Look
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 15
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - The Flavor
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 17
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - The Quiz
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 19
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - The Calendar
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 21
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 22
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 23
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 24
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Get Outside
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 26
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 27
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 28
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 29
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 30
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 31
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 32
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 33
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 34
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 35
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 36
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 37
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 38
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 39
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Coming Home
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 41
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Neighborhoods
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 43
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 44
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 45
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 46
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 47
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 48
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 49
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 50
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 51
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 52
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 53
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Education
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 55
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 56
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 57
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 58
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 59
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 60
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61A
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61B
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61C
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61D
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61E
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61F
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61G
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 61H
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Arts & Culture
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 63
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 64
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 65
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 66
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 67
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 68
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 69
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Medicine
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 71
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 72
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 73
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 74
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 75
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Business
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 77
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 78
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 79
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 80
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 81
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 82
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 83
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Recreation
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 85
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 86
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 87
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 88
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 89
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 89A
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 89B
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Shopping
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 91
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 92
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 93
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 94
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 95
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 96
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Retirement
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 98
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 99
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 100
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 101
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 102
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 103
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Dining: Four of the Valley’s Best Restaurants
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 105
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 106
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 107
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 108
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 109
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 110
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 111
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - On The Town
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - 113
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Where Are They Now?
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Cover3
The Roanoker - January/February 2015 - Cover4
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