James to Rank Service at Top: Next Akron Schools Chief Wants Satisfied ‘Customers’

By John Higgins, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

Mar. 14–Akron’s next school superintendent, David W. James, has already identified his top priority when he takes over on Aug. 1 — customer service.

Parents have more choices about where to educate their children than in the past, and James wants to make sure he’s not losing students because parents feel overwhelmed by a bureaucracy that talks down to them.

“You can have the best academic program in America, but if you have no students to take advantage of it, what good is that?” he asked.

The 46-year-old James, who’s currently the school district’s executive director of business affairs, sat down with the Akron Beacon Journal in his office for almost an hour last week to talk about the experience he’ll bring to the job when he replaces Sylvester Small, who’s retiring on July 31.

James said parents, i.e., the customers, should get answers to their questions without a lot of jargon or buck-passing.

“A lot of times I get phone calls because they’re just passing people from one department to another, and they never answer 1 percent of their question,” he said.

James also wants to bridge the gulf between highly educated professionals and often-less-educated parents by getting his staff to speak in plain English when dealing with parents.

“Sometimes you have to leave that (jargon) at the door and try to relate to parents and communicate where they can understand what you’re talking about,” he said. “Sometimes we have folks who won’t do that.”

Teachers should know that James expects their support in the customer-service mission and their cooperation in maintaining high standards.

“No one is saying that teachers are bad people,” he said. “Do we have some bad ones? Sure, and our job is to root them out. And you know, the teachers’ union should be a partner in that because it’s their reputation at stake, as well as mine and the whole school district’s.”

Although the school board has given no indication that members would like a residency requirement for employees, James would prefer that teachers live in the district, as he does. He also has two children — a sixth-grader and a third-grader — in the Akron Public Schools.

“I’m not saying that (teachers who don’t live in the district) care any less for our kids,” he explained, “but I think it does say something when you live in the same community where taxpayers are paying your salary to live and work. I just think it makes a better community overall. I think you get people who are truly committed.”

Speaking of taxpayers, James hopes he can put off asking them for more money.

However, in November the district’s five-year forecast showed a projected deficit of nearly $30 million in fiscal year 2011, which more than doubles the following year to almost $72 million.

So is another levy request coming?

“Well, we need to keep that at bay as long as possible, and for a couple of reasons,” James said. “One, I think we need to give the governor a chance to see what he can come up with to try and fix this whole funding issue. And then we need to see what we can do to prove to the public that we are spending money wisely.”

James would like to see the district play a bigger role in the area’s economy and in preparing a local work force.

As an example, he pointed to the middle schoolers who graduate from the new science, math and technology school that is expected to open in the fall of 2009. They will need either a specialized high school or specialized high school program.

James would like to see that new school or program include curriculum for jobs in health and medicine, in support of the emerging biomedical economic development promoted by the city.

“Maybe at that high school, we can have a health-careers type of school where kids can learn some of the entry-level jobs that might be able to get them into the hospital or get them into college where they’re interested in doing more medical training,” he said.

James also would like to see the business community get more involved in exposing kids to new opportunities.

“We need mentors for kids, probably as young as sixth grade, when they first enter our middle schools,” he said.

James joined the Akron Public Schools in 1992 as an environmental program manager and became executive director of business affairs in 2002.

In 2004, he took over direction of the district’s $800 million school construction project from retiring Deputy Superintendent Donna Loomis.

The construction project is about half completed, and James will have to hand it off to a successor and find a new business-affairs director.

Meanwhile, he’ll be participating in a four-year alternative licensure program to obtain a permanent superintendent’s license.

“In the old days, the only way you could get a superintendent’s license, you had to tack it onto a teaching certificate,” he said. “Wisely enough, the Ohio Department of Education realized that there were other people who are just as qualified to run the top spot in the school district, even though they weren’t teachers.”

Small has agreed to be James’ mentor in the process, which includes taking continuing-education classes.

“We’re going to do this first two-year period and see how that works,” James said. “It’s my desire that (Small) do the whole four years.”

He said Small has volunteered his time as mentor.

“If he’s giving up his time, I think he should be compensated for that,” James said. “But I don’t think it’s anything that’s very extravagant. That’s something I think the board president will end up working out with Dr. Small.”

The board also is working on negotiating a contract with James that should be completed soon and will be open to public review.

John Higgins can be reached at 330-996-3792, 800-777-7232 or jhiggins@thebeaconjournal.com.

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