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WJCC Appoints New SuperintendentBy Amber Lester Kennedy Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Steve Constantino
Steve Constantino, who currently serves as deputy superintendent of Cobb County schools outside Atlanta, will start the position on Feb. 1. He was awarded a three-and-a-half year contract at a base salary of $170,000. Scott Burckbuchler, previously the division’s assistant superintendent of finance, has acted as superintendent since May. The position was vacated last spring by Gary Mathews, who left the division to become the leader of Newton County, Ga. schools. Prior to making the appointment, board members praised Constantino for his focus on family engagement. Denise Koch said that surveys and forums had shown her that the community wanted to feel engaged and welcome in schools. Constantino, the author of three books on the subject, said he was struck by WJCC’s inclusion of family as educational partners in the division’s mission statement. “I’ve said for many years as an educator that if we as educators could successfully educate every child by ourselves with no help, we would have done that,” he said. “Families are the first and most influential teachers of children.” Constantino, 52, has served in the executive administration of Cobb County schools since July 2008. Cobb County is the second largest school system in Georgia, with 107,000 students and 114 schools. While there, Constantino has overseen six area assistant superintendents, as well as the Human Resources, curriculum and instruction, special student services, student support, transportation and athletics departments. Their budgets total more than $300 million of the district’s budget. During his time in Cobb County, Constantino has developed a comprehensive district-wide strategic plan that encompasses a framework for student learning and the operations of the school system. He also developed an academic plan to target the division’s weaknesses in meeting Adequate Yearly Progress benchmarks; his plan resulted in significant gains in achievement for the racial and socieconomic subgroups. Last year, 91 percent of Cobb County schools made AYP, compared to 86 percent in 2008. The district’s graduation rate also rose from 83 percent in 2008 to more than 87 percent in 2010. Constantino earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the State University College of New York at Potsdam and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Administration from the State University of New York at Cortland. In 2002, he received a doctorate of education in educational leadership and policy study from Virginia Tech. He began his career as a band director and is a former director of fine arts for the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central Schools in New York. He is not new to Virginia; from 1995 to 2003, he served as principal of Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas and eventually went on to teach education as a full-time professor at George Mason University. It was at Stonewall Jackson that he was first exposed to the idea that family engagement can influence student achievement. He made Stonewall Jackson his laboratory, he said, experimenting with ways to encourage families to become involved in their children’s education. During his tenure, Stonewall Jackson High School’s International Baccalaureate program had 87 percent of its students scoring at or above the world mean on IB exams. He was also named the 1997 Principal of the Year by the Virginia State Counseling Association and was the 2000 recipient of the Washington Post Distinguished Educational Leadership Award; that year, Stonewall Jackson was named one of the nation’s “Top 100 high schools” by Newsweek magazine. Constantino hopes to implement the same process of family engagement to WJCC, saying he hopes to take it to the “premier level.” He has written three books on the topic: “Making Your School Family Friendly,” “Engaging All Families” and “101 Ways to Create Real Family Engagement.” Constantino’s wife, Peggie, is a director of special education who is completing her doctoral degree. They have a grown son. Between now and February, he told the board and audience Tuesday, he plans to make several visits to Williamsburg to begin building relationships, listening to the community and learning about the division’s needs. “The challenge is to create continuous improvement in a time when resources are dwindling,” he said. “We can do that and we will do that with strategic thinking and strategic planning.” Constantino’s appointment draws a six-month national search to a close. In May, the board hired the Virginia School Board Association for $10,000, plus fees, to conduct the search, which brought in 26 applications. Those 26 were narrowed down to seven candidates, which were further narrowed to three finalists. Acting on the advice of the VSBA, the board did not release the names of job applicants, but Burckbuchler confirmed in September that he planned to apply for the job. In October, Burckbuchler reorganized the administration to eliminate his previous job as Assistant Superintendent of Finance. Instead, he divided several separated offices into two main departments: Academic and Student Services and Administrative Services. As Acting Superintendent, he oversaw human resources, operations and finance. Now that the superintendent job is filled, he will step into the new role of Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services.
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Comments
However, I thought it was in poor taste that the board did not thank Dr. Burckbuchler for serving at acting Superintendent. While I agree that he did not have the right qualifications for the permanent position, he was appointed by them and they could have done the polite thing and at least acknowledge his service. It was very awkward to watch him sitting there on the dais with his head down while they heaped praise on his replacement. Like I said, I didn’t watch the end of the meeting and they may have shown him respect then, but I think they could have handled the situation better.