Lawrence expected to be named Dayton Public Schools' next superintendent

Feb. 19—Longtime Dayton native David Lawrence is expected to be named the next Dayton Public Schools superintendent.

The Dayton Public Schools Board of Education will vote on a resolution Tuesday night that would remove the interim tag from his title and name him the superintendent, the Dayton Daily News was told Monday afternoon.

The other candidates in line for the job are Alesia Smith, chief of schools at Cincinnati Public, and H. Allen Smith II, school system leader from Mansfield, Texas (outside Dallas).

Lawrence said Monday he had expected something to be announced but had not been told about the resolution yet.

"I want to thank the community in advance," Lawrence said. "They were amazing in terms of the outpouring of support."

Former superintendent Elizabeth Lolli left the district in July 2023 to take an interim superintendent position at Lakota Local Schools in Butler County. Lawrence, who was the district's business manager last year, has served as the interim since that time. He has hired back many former district employees and focused on changing the culture of the district.

He graduated from Paul Lawrence Dunbar in 1984 and taught at several DPS schools during his career, where he was a principal and previously served as the chief of school innovation for DPS. While he was chief of schools, he led the district to get an A grade in value-added, one of the ways the state previously scored state report cards.

He was the chief academic officer for the Dayton Regional STEM school, where he led the district to a top 20 spot for academic performance in Ohio.

This school year, the district has seen an increase in third grade reading test scores compared to last year and a decrease in chronic absenteeism. He has created more opportunities for families to interact with him at town halls.

He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Cincinnati in finance, along with two master's degrees and a Ph.D. from Antioch University Graduate School of Leadership & Change. His master's degrees are in Educational Leadership and Educational Philosophy, and his Ph.D. is in Leadership and Change.

The Alma Group, an education consultant group out of Chicago, was paid up to $75,000 to help the district find the finalists.