Richland 1’s new superintendent meets critics, promises transparency (+ video)

The new superintendent of Richland 1 held his first substantive community meeting Wednesday, fielding questions about standardized testing, the arts, gangs, poverty, and his approach to establishing more transparency among parents, community, the board and his office.

Craig Witherspoon proved to be mostly nimble in his responses, acknowledging he was still getting up to speed in many arenas but willing to listen closely as he navigated the running of the 24,000-student school system.

“I’ve been here two days, so I don’t have all the answers,” he told several hundred people at Eau Claire High School auditorium. But the former Birmingham, Ala., schools superintendent said, “I think I ask some pretty good questions.”

And he might have scored some early advantage with parents when he announced the district is ending MAP, or Measure of Progress, testing. The MAP tests are electronically administered and scored to measure growth of students’ progress, but many parents lament the amount of classroom time devoted to the task.

Lila Anna Sauls, the president of St. Lawrence Place, a housing community that helps homeless families become independent, said her own five children, as well as the 54 children she supervises at the nonprofit community, are worn out from taking tests.

“We all have a love/hate relationship with data,” Witherspoon acknowledged. “We are taking some things off the table,” he said. “I would agree there is too much testing. We have to ask what are we testing for.” He said he was unsure what program might replace the MAP program.

Witherspoon acknowledged he arrived with some baggage, after a tumultous tenure in Birmingham, where he tangled with that city’s school board, survived two potential firings, and watched as the state took over the schools, rendering him a figurehead superintendent. He resigned in October although his contract ran until 2018.

Townes Denemark, a parent who rallied others to question the board’s top choices for superintendent and urged the seven-member board, unsuccessfully, to expand the search, told Witherspoon there still was work to be done to lift a veil of secrecy that seems to overlay the school board and the district.

When parents asked for more opportunities to meet the candidates, “We all got the same response, it was almost humorous,” Denemark said. “You have a wonderful opportunity to bring transparency to the district.”

Denemark said she would fully support Witherspoon now that he is in place.

“We wanted to meet you,” she said. “I don’t want you to think we absolutely don’t care.”

Witherspoon said he believes the school board members recognize there is an issue. “They hear you,” he said.

Callison Richardson, who directs education partnerships with the United Way of the Midlands, urged Witherspoon to tackle the wide economic disparities that exist in the district. While Richland 1 has its share of high-achieving students and award-winning schools, there are deep pockets of poverty, homelessness and transient families.

“We have so much poverty in Columbia and in Richland 1,” she said. “There are a lot of students who do not have a good experience.”

Witherspoon, who will be paid a salary of $214,240 said he is willing to “look at some brutal facts,” whether it involves gang activity in schools or poverty.

He fielded questions for more than an hour and said he will host several more town hall-style meetings in coming months. He also said he plans to institute a weekly blog or similar venue to keep the community informed.

Schoo board chairwoman Cheryl Harris said she hoped the meeting, and Witherspoon’s openness and accessibility, represented “an opportunity for a new beginning.

“We do need to clear the air,” she said, noting that the selection process had been a “tedious journey.”

This story was originally published March 25, 2015 at 7:00 PM.