Photo by Kelli Weldon

Carstarphen heads to Atlanta; AISD board names interim and begins search

Austin ISD Superintendent Meria Carstarphen formally accepted a position April 14 as the leader of Atlanta Public Schools, leaving the AISD board of trustees with the task of finding a new permanent leader for the district.

Carstarphen was announced March 27 as the sole finalist for the position in Atlanta, the APS board formally voted April 14 to hire her and she submitted her resignation effective April 23.

In a statement, she thanked the AISD community for its support during the past five years.

"No superintendent does this work alone, and I have been fortunate to work with you toward a common goal: providing a quality education for every student and a supportive environment for our dedicated AISD staff," she said.

At its April 15 meeting, the board named AISD Chief Schools Officer Paul Cruz as interim superintendent.

The board also approved a request for proposals to find a firm that can help the district in its search for a permanent superintendent.

During citizens communication, a few attendees including Alberto Gonzalez expressed interest in the board hiring Cruz as a superintendent permanently.

"We don't need a search firm," Gonzalez said. "We don't need a national search. We have a wealth of talent here in AISD, and for someone to suggest that we might be potentially rudderless does a disservice of the hardworking leadership we still have in this district."

AISD board President Vincent Torres said Cruz does not plan to apply for the permanent position.

Parent Celeste Roll said she appreciates AISD's communication to the public on the search.

"My hope is that in the same fashion the board held meetings at various local high schools with regards to facilities, the same approach would be implemented in outreach for community input regarding the next superintendent," Roll said.

Torres said the search could take as long as a year.

The board has not yet voted on whether it will conduct an open search or closed search, he said. In a closed search, the board does not have to disclose names of candidates vying for the position to the public, Torres said. In an open search the district can disclose candidates' names throughout the process or reveal finalists toward the end, he said.

"One of the things that we want to do as a board is to reach out to our community and make sure that we're in sync with the qualifications that the community wants to have in a superintendent when we go out looking," he said.

Torres said he wants the district to remain steadfast on issues including its facility master plan and budget, as well as dual-language and social and emotional learning.

Austin is stronger as a result of Carstarphen's leadership, said Drew Scheberle, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce's senior vice president of education and talent development.

"There are [about] 1,000 more students who are graduating college-ready here than when she got here, which is huge," he said.

Scheberle said he will be interested to see how the November elections tie in with the search for a new superintendent.

"I would be shocked if the board decided to go for an external candidate before the November elections," he said, noting five of the nine AISD board members' terms are slated to end in 2014.

Carstarphen spoke about the future of the district April 3 at the chamber's 2014 Education Progress Reports luncheon.

"I know the politics will be crazy. ... I know that if we just had maybe three more years we'd probably have everybody at 90 percent graduation rates, so whoever ends up being superintendent, you keep holding them to that because our people are working toward that, and we can get there," she said.

Ken Zarifis, president of local teachers union Education Austin, said a change of leadership could energize both the superintendent and the district as a whole.

"I think she'll work really well in Atlanta. ... As far as the district goes, I think this is just a great opportunity ... for the city to find a new leader that can address the challenges that we have financially, but also we need to make sure that our campuses that are most challenged have opportunities to grow," he said.

Updates from the district are available at www.austinisd.org/superintendent-search.