ACPS Superintendent Morton Sherman Resigns

FROM ALEXANDRIANEWS.org

Staff Report
alexandrianews.org

Superintendent Morton Sherman (Photo: Wayne Hulehan)

Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Morton Sherman resigned today ending months of speculation about when and how Sherman and the new Alexandria School Board would part ways. The School Board has scheduled a special meeting tonight at which they were expected to ratify an agreement with Sherman about his departure.

Sherman announced his resignation to ACPS principals and senior staff in an email earlier this afternoon. The entire letter follows:

August 29, 2013

Dear Colleagues, Students, Friends, and Neighbors,

I have had the good fortune to be a public school superintendent for over 25 years in some of the most wonderful school districts in our country. And, I have enjoyed nearly every minute of that time serving the children of America.

My five years here in ACPS are among the most rewarding and emotional I have ever experienced. Some of you have poked fun at me for sending emails at 3 am, others have embraced (physically, emotionally, and intellectually) the sacred cause we have shared, and others have engaged in lively conversations about the work we have taken on. To all of you, thank you.

For personal and professional reasons, it is time for me to move on from ACPS. As a young man, I listened often to the Byrd’s rendition of a bit of Ecclesiastes and have long recognized its wisdom:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Our work together has been exhilarating and challenging. We have accomplished a great deal. Most importantly, we have grown and learned together how better to educate the remarkable students of Alexandria.

The list of accomplishments is long as is the work remaining to be addressed. There is a short list at the end of this note of what has been achieved, but lists of programs and data do not capture the essence of what makes ACPS so wonderful. For behind every program or piece of data there are caring and dedicated staff members who work tirelessly to assure the success of each and every student. What I believe, in fact what I know, is that we have put in place systems and programs so that our students will benefit because of the work of the staff who breathe life into written proposals and data charts.

I look forward to volunteering my time in the months ahead to national organizations, foundations, universities, and other areas which are so much a part of my passion to serve children and their families.

Even more important, I expect to spend more time with our four grandchildren because as you know, family is always first.

Wishing all of you lifetimes of happiness, good health, peace, and love.

Mort Sherman
A brief list of accomplishments as we have worked together:
- developed comprehensive strategic plan (received NSBA Magna Award)
- created K – 12 curriculum
- revised teacher and administrator evaluation sytems
- renewed T.C. Williams High School from persistently lowest achieving to nationally ranked on Washington Post Challenge Index
- increased preschool classes sevenfold
- implemented AVID and IB
- created new systems of accountability
- aligned strategic plan with School Education Plans and Professional Learning Plans
- created Individual Career and Academic Plans for all secondary students
- lowered and maintained low elementary class sizes
- developed and implemented inclusion and autism plans
- teachers received raises each year of the recession
- implemented High School Satellite program at one of the local shopping malls
- revised secondary alternative education model
- created new middle school model
- managed nearly 30% student enrollment increase
- restructured adult education so that emphasis is on a high school diploma; for those who wish to receive a GED, we received a grant to connect their learning to job preparation
- personalized and customized approaches have been introduced through STEM and an International Academy
- added over 25 classrooms to existing facilities
- created the lowest high school student/counselor ratio in the region, perhaps the country
- moved the health clinic on campus at T.C.
- started new school building at Jefferson-Houston
- implemented senior experience, student advisory committee, student representative to school board
Sherman’s relationship with the Alexandria School Board has been rocky since the Board took office in January, 2013. At the first meeting the Board questioned Sherman about his decisions regarding the education of students in the City’s Sheltercare Program and Sherman’s creation of The Alexandria City Public School’s Educational Foundation. The Board ultimately reversed Sherman’s changes to the Shelter Care’s education model and tabled all discussion about the Foundation.

The previous School Board extended Sherman’s contract through June, 2015. That contract guaranteed a buy-out worth $750,000. Sources tell AlexandriaNews.org that, after months of negotiations, they will pay Sherman around $325,000, which includes salary, deferred compensation and payment for unused leave.

The Board will appoint an short-term acting superintendent from among ACPS senior staff immediately while they search for a more long-term interim superintendent.