Exclusive
The Dayton Daily News was the only news outlet in the room when the school board nonrenewed Lori Ward’s contract in February, and the first to report that DPS and the superintendent parted ways Wednesday.
Dayton Public Schools failed to reach agreement on a new contract with Superintendent Lori Ward, the district announced Wednesday, meaning DPS now must scramble to find a new leader by this summer.
Ward has been superintendent since summer 2010 — a period in which district graduation rates rose, but overall state test scores flattened, then bottomed out with the worst performance index of any school district in Ohio on the 2014-15 tests.
“It has been an honor and privilege to serve the students, staff, and families of Dayton Public Schools for 21 years, the last six years as Superintendent,” Ward said in the district’s statement.
Reached by phone after the 5 p.m. announcement, Ward said she wouldn’t comment further until Thursday.
“I want to say it in the right way,” she said. “I owe this community a lot, and they deserve for me to acknowledge their support the right way.”
School board President Adil Baguirov said the board wanted Ward to stay on, but “one or two minor things prevented reaching an agreement.” He would not go into detail, but added that Ward will stay through June.
“She invested her heart and mind and passion — everything,” Baguirov said of Ward. “She has done a lot of great things, but she wanted to pursue other opportunities. She is extremely confident in her team that she assembled. The district is in capable hands.”
What’s next
Most area school districts have addressed their superintendent openings, as Beavercreek, Northmont, Fairborn, Miamisburg and others have already hired new superintendents or extended the deals of their existing leaders.
Less than two weeks ago, Baguirov said the district was negotiating only with Ward, and board vice president Sheila Taylor said the district had not done any candidate searching outside of DPS, which is the state's 12th largest school district by enrollment.
Now the district faces a daunting task — trying to attract a strong field of candidates despite the lateness of the process, plus continuing struggles with test scores, poverty and staff retention.
Any new superintendent will come in knowing they have only two years to turn the district around, as the Ohio Department of Education has said Dayton schools are on track for state takeover in summer 2018 if test scores don't improve.
There are multiple current DPS employees who hold superintendent licenses, including two DPS veterans — Associate Superintendent Shelia Burton and Chief of School Innovation David Lawrence.
Baguirov said he’s not at all worried about attracting quality candidates, citing “tremendous talent” within the district, and a regional search in cooperation with the Ohio School Boards Association.
“It will take a special person to be the right person for this job,” Baguirov said. “To not to be afraid of the consequences … and the consequences are quite tremendous, because if we all fail, there will be no job for this person, and they’ll forever be covered in shame.”
Negotiations fail
Ward's contract expires June 30, and the school board voted 5-0 on Feb. 23 not to renew the deal, claiming the issue was less with Ward than the contract itself, saying it was "lacking in significant goals and incentives." The board then began to negotiate with Ward on new contract terms.
Baguirov said the board had done extensive research to write a new model contract that would be “far superior” to its previous superintendent contracts, with Baguirov calling it “the best in Ohio.”
This newspaper obtained a copy of that model contract, but pay and many of the negotiable benefits are redacted. Neither Ward nor the school board addressed how those benefits changed in the new contract offer.
Baguirov said the school board was unanimous in its decision-making. Asked that same question, board member Robert Walker said, “At the end of the day, whatever decision is made, it’s in the name of the Dayton Board of Education.”
Ward background
Ward took over as superintendent in summer 2010 after serving the district for 15 years as a classroom teacher, technology director, chief of business operations, and then deputy superintendent under Kurt Stanic. Prior to that, she earned business, education and technology degrees from Central State University and the University of Dayton, and worked for IBM for 13 years. Her daughter is a Dayton Public Schools graduate.
In her five-plus years as superintendent, Dayton Public Schools has seen significant improvement in graduation rates, jumping from 59 percent to a 72 percent mark that put it roughly in the middle of Ohio’s large urban districts in the most recent data.
But DPS’ performance on state tests stagnated for three years, then dipped badly on the new Common Core exams in 2015. Dayton’s performance index was worst of all 610 Ohio school districts, and DPS ranked third-worst in student growth.
In its statement Wednesday night, the school board commended Ward for opening the Rosa Parks Early Learning Center, creating an Office of Family and Community Engagement and the Office for Males of Color Achievement, plus developing a credit recovery program to help more students graduate on time.
The school board’s most recent evaluation of Ward, conducted in June before the last round of test scores, was generally positive, with “yes” answers to 24 of 26 questions about her performance.
The evaluation says, “The superintendent’s ability to communicate and establish relationships with external stakeholders is her greatest asset.” It finishes with, “As a board, we are fortunate to have such a leader for our district.”
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