Columbus schools superintendent Talisa Dixon not pressured to leave, board president says

Columbus City Schools Board of Education President Jennifer Adair told The Dispatch on Monday that the board had not asked Superintendent Talisa Dixon to retire and said Dixon would "absolutely" leave the district in a better spot than when she took the reins of the state's largest district in 2019.

“The decision to retire is Dr. Dixon’s. It just kind of developed over time. It wasn’t like there was a moment in time where she was like ‘I’m done,'" Adair said.

Dixon, who is only four months into her second three-year contract, announced Thursday that she will be retiring at the end of the current 2022-2023 school year, which ends June 30.

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“I respect her decision,” Adair said. “I think as leaders, it’s sometimes difficult to reflect on yourself and say what’s best for me? What’s best for who I lead? And sometimes the hardest thing to do is let go of the thing you love.”

As to why Dixon is retiring, Adair said, “I haven’t asked about what the thing was, but that’s a personal choice."

Dixon has been having discussions with the school board about retiring since late summer or early fall, Adair said.

“She came in, and we had some discussions with the whole board,” she said. “We’ve been having a lot of executive sessions lately (after school board meetings).”

Under Dixon’s leadership, Columbus City Schools teachers went on strike for three days in August as the school year started — the first time since 1975. Adair said she has not specifically asked Dixon how much the strike was a factor in her decision to retire.

“I know that for all of us, going through (the strike) was difficult and challenging,” Adair said. “The whole situation was stressful. Coming out of COVID-19 was stressful.”

Adair said “there’s not really stress points” between the school board and Dixon.

“If you look at the current state of what educational leadership is, it’s just a stress point period,” she said.

In addition to dealing with the strike, Dixon was the superintendent when COVID-19 shuttered schools in 2020 and has faced ongoing busing issues this school year.

“Considering everything we went through, I’m pretty sure she had been thinking the pressure apparently got enough,” said Regina Fuentes, spokesperson for the Columbus Education Association, the nearly 4,500-member union that represents teachers, librarians, nurses, counselors, psychologists and other education professionals.

Fuentes said Dixon would be remembered for the strike.

“We would like a seat at the table for selecting the next superintendent," Fuentes said.

Adair said Dixon improved the district by developing a Portrait of a Graduate in December 2019 that focuses on equipping every student in the areas of adaptability, communication, creativity, critical thinking, global empathy and technology.

Columbus City Schools scored low on the state's latest school report cards that were released in September, however. Out of a five-star system, the district received two stars in its achievement rating and one star each in its graduation and early literacy ratings. The district received three stars in the progress and gap closing ratings.

Columbus wasn’t the only major urban district to receive one-star ratings. Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo and Akron all received one-star rankings for the graduation component. Cleveland, Akron and Toledo also got one-star rankings for the early literacy component.

Angela Chapman named interim Columbus City Schools superintendent

Although Dixon will not retire until the end of the school year, the district announced Friday that Angela Chapman will become the interim superintendent of the state’s largest school district and its approximately 47,000 students effective Jan. 1.

“We really want to ensure that there is a sense of stability," Adair said. "Change in management can be hard no matter what type of organization you are in. Dr. Chapman is part of the cabinet. She is part of a lot of the decision-making that goes around here. She’s got the respect of her colleagues, and she’s ready to carry us forward. She knows what we are doing.”

Read Dixon's letter: Retiring Columbus City Schools Superintendent Talisa Dixon's letter to the community

Timeline:A look at Talisa Dixon's tenure as superintendent of Columbus City Schools

Dixon brought Chapman, who is the chief transformation and leadership officer overseeing school administrators and academic leaders, to the district in 2019. Dixon, who is paid $262,520 annually, will become an "educational administrator" for the remainder of the school year.

“Dr. Dixon will remain on staff in order to help in that transition, and there’s a lot of knowledge and things that she has contributed to over the years, and a period of two weeks is not enough to do that responsibly," Adair said. “Dr. Dixon will be here to support as needed. And we feel that will happen more frequently in the front end and allow Dr. Dixon some time to figure out what is next for her and consult on specialized projects that she has been involved in.”

Columbus City Schools will conduct a national search for superintendent

Columbus City Schools will hire a search firm and conduct a national search for Dixon's permanent successor, Adair said.

But it won't be the only major Ohio school district looking.

Cleveland Metropolitan School District also is seeking a new superintendent as its CEO, Eric Gordon, is leaving at the end of the 2022-23 school year.

“We have some competition here in Ohio, so we really want to put our best foot forward so we are the premier urban district in Ohio,” Adair said.

The board’s goal is to have a new superintendent for the 2023-24 school year, Adair said.

“But saying that we want the right person,” Adair said. “We know it’s really important to take our time. It gives us some space and time to really get what’s best.”

mhenry@dispatch.com

@megankhenry

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus City Schools superintendent not asked to leave