Portland Schools Superintendent Carole Smith Leaving After Next School Year

Carole Smith, the superintendent of Portland Schools whose spring was somewhat embattled, has announced she will retire after the next school year.

I have loved being your superintendent," Smith wrote in a letter to the schools community.

"It is an honor and a pleasure to serve our
students, families and staff."

Smith has been superintendent since October 2007.

When she started, the average tenure of a superintendent was 2.5 years.

"I knew that in order to make meaningful change, I set my goal at 10 years so that I could fully commit myself to the long-term needs of the district, students and staff," she said.

"I am entering my 10th year as superintendent and today I have affirmed for the Board my intention to retire."

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It has been a tough spring for Smith from a redrawing of the boundary maps to embarrassing revelations that some district officials - though, apparently, not Smith - knew about high levels of lead in drinking eater for years before taking action.

Smith says that "20 years of state budget constraints for schools meant some priorities took precedence over others.

"Unfortunately, the unintended consequence of these successes for our students has meant a corresponding under-investment in facilities maintenance and business infrastructure."

Smith says there are many things that she is proud of having accomplished during her tenure including:

•  Our graduation rate has increased 21 percentage points in the last 7 years.
•  The Jefferson High School Middle College for Advanced Studies, in partner- ship with Portland Community College and Self Enhancement Inc., supported students to increase the graduation rate from 55% in 2011, the first year of the program, to 80% in 2015.
•  We passed a $482M construction bond, have completed seismic, roofing and accessibility upgrades on 45 schools, and are scheduled to complete work on 7 more schools this summer.
•  Construction on two high school modernization projects is now well under- way and master planning for the third has been completed, representing the first phase of district-wide modernization plans for all our schools.
•  We have launched a unique partnership with Faubion K8 and Concordia Uni- versity, 3 to PhD, that will house Faubion K8 school and Concordia’s School of Education, along with an early childhood center and health clinic.
•  We have re-established the Portland Interscholastic League, to strengthen athletic programming and target investments to ensure we begin restoring middle school athletic programs.
•  We have worked with numerous partners to renovate and turf our 10 high school tracks and fields, providing quality places for sport and community building.
•  We are bringing arts programming and access back to our students in part- nership with the City and others.

There are still hurdles before Smith over the next year.

An independent investigation into how the district handled the issue of lead is due to be completed in the next couple of weeks.