District Administration - November 2012 - (Page 51)

eventually narrowed down to two: Hite and Pedro Martinez, then deputysuperintendent in the Clark County School District in Clark County, Nevada, which serves Las Vegas. However Martinez dropped out of the running after he accepted the position as superintendent of the Washoe County School District, Nevada’s second largest school district. Ramos says Hite was ultimately chosen because of his confidence, experience and collaborative leadership style. The search team was impressed when Hite referred to himself as a “servant leader,” a strong leader with the ability to listen, communicate and hold others accountable. “Bill is a great communicator,” Ramos says. “He has a way of communicating clearly without oversimplifying.” Ramos also says that the search team was impressed with Hite’s experience. “He managed large budget gaps of his own in Prince George’s County and balanced that budget while improving student performance,” Ramos says. “At the end of the process, we felt that Bill was a good fit for Philadelphia and we were a good fit for him.” Hite was officially announced as the new superintendent on June 29, and under a five-year contract, will be paid an annual salary of $300,000. Preparing for Challenges Born in Richmond, Va., to a father who was a transit company employee and a mother who was a department store clerk, Hite was the first in his family to attend college. He played football at Virginia Tech, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in education, and went on to earn his master’s degree from the University of Virginia and a doctorate at Virginia Tech. An avid reader and Virginia Tech football fan, Hite, the father of two daughters whose wife Deirdre Francis-Hite is an administrator at Georgetown University, recently became a grandfather. Hite also enjoys music and traveling, but says his new job will likely leave him with little free time. “The budget situation will definitely be keeping me up at night,” he predicted. Hite says that he first discovered his love of education when he started his career as a softball, football, and wrestling coach at John Randolph Tucker High School in Richmond. He went on to serve as a middle and high school principal and eventually as director of middle school instruction for the Henrico County (Va.) Public School System. He worked as deputy superin- tendent in Cobb County (Ga.) School District in Atlanta before joining Prince George’s County in 2006 as an assistant superintendent. Prince George’s County is Maryland’s second largest school district with 135,000 students, and is a predominantly poor district in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. with challenges similar to Philadelphia. When Hite took over as superintendent at Prince George’s in 2009, he slashed $150 million from the district’s budget each year for three consecutive years, froze salaries, cut 1,300 positions and ordered furloughs. But Hite also managed to maintain a good working relationship with the district teachers’ union, the Prince George’s County Education Association (PGCEA), despite the significant cuts. In a media statement, PGCEA president Kenneth B. Haines said the union enjoyed a collaborative relationship with Hite and was saddened to see him leave. “The board of education, Dr. Hite’s executive staff, and the PGCEA leadership team worked hard to place student achievement at the center of every debate,” he said. In his time at Prince George’s County, Hite beefed up support for the district’s lowestperforming schools and improved staff development for teachers and principals through a partnership with the Univer- At AMY Northwest, a grade 6-8 school, Hite listens to a teacher discuss a lesson during a recent visit. Right, Hite meets with and discusses plans with Principal Marco Zanoni of AMY Northwest. www.DistrictAdministration.com November 2012 51 http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - November 2012

District Administration - November 2012
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Flipping the Script in K12
Sustainable Professional Development
Brave New World of Teacher Evaluation
Philadelphia’s “Servant- Leader” Superintendent
Enhancing School Access Control
New Products
Professional Opinion
New Directions

District Administration - November 2012