Learn about finalists for Washington County Public Schools superintendent job
The two finalists for Washington County Public Schools superintendent recently talked with Herald-Mail Media about why they want the job, their backgrounds, and challenges the community wants addressed.
The Board of Education was scheduled to meet in closed session twice last week to discuss their next possible superintendent. The timeline for hiring Superintendent Boyd Michael's successor calls for doing so by early June. Michael's retirement is effective July 1.
The board has closed and public meetings scheduled for Tuesday. While the public agenda doesn't include an announcement about a new superintendent, that does not mean one won't be made.
The finalists for superintendent are retired Howard County (Md.) Public Schools Community Superintendent Theo L. Cramer and Frederick County (Va.) Public Schools Superintendent David T. Sovine.
Howard County schools had 57,325 students and 8,561 employees this past school year, according to the school system's website. The Frederick County system had 13,919 students and the equivalent of 2,376 full-time employees, according to its website.
Washington County Public Schools had an estimated 22,000 students and 3,500 employees, according to an email from school system spokeswoman Erin Anderson.
More on superintendent finalists: Washington County school board announces two finalists for superintendent
More on Boyd Michael: WCPS Superintendent Boyd Michael announces his retirement, effective July 1
Cramer, 57, said he was a community superintendent in charge of a third — or 26 — of the Howard County district's schools. His job entailed school management and instructional leadership for those elementary, middle and high schools as well as a special education center.
After working for Howard's school system for four years, he said he retired in 2021 to focus on preparing for the next phase of his career, which included pursing a superintendency. By retiring, he said he wouldn't have to divide his loyalties between his job and the school system for which he was seeking a position.
Cramer said he thinks Washington County's school system is "amazing" and has worked in a school system with a similar demographic, St. Mary's County Public Schools in Southern Maryland.
With 30 years in the field, Cramer said he thinks his background and experience are a fit for addressing the school system's challenges — as listed in a recent stakeholder survey.
Sovine, 54, has been superintendent for Frederick County schools for 11 years. He said there are points in a professional career where he wants to continue to grow and that motivates him. Washington County has a strong reputation for being a high-performing system and he wants to seize the challenge to partner with the community to make it one of the top school districts in the state and nation, he said.
Sovine said he grew up in the small town of Hurricane, W.Va., west of Charleston, and was the first in his family to go to college. He attended a job fair at nearby Marshall University and was offered a teaching job in the Richmond suburb of Chesterfield County, Va.
In his first year teaching he was recognized with the Sallie Mae Teacher Award for being one of the top 100 new teachers in the nation, according to his biography at the Frederick County school system. Sovine said he was teaching health and physical education at an elementary school and coaching high school football at the time.
He was named Virginia Department of Education's superintendent of the year for Region IV in 2018, according to published reports.
Sovine has a doctor of education from the University of Virginia. He also is an adjunct professor and a regional coordinator for educational leadership at James Madison University.
Cramer has a doctorate in educational and organizational leadership for K-12 education from the University of Pennsylvania.
Cramer said he grew up in Orangeburg, S.C., which is south of Columbia. He earned his bachelor's degree from South Carolina State University. He said he came to Maryland to start his career teaching social studies at Suitland High School in Prince George's County, Md.
He was executive director of human resources for Prince George's schools from 2014 to 2017. Before that, he was executive director of student services and academic support/College and Career Readiness for St. Mary's schools, according to his LinkedIn page.
Teachers union reps praise both candidates
Colleen Morris, president of the Howard County Education Association, said she worked with Cramer a lot. She described him as patient, thorough, fair and attentive.
Morris said Cramer is "really good at relating to people and not just making them feel heard, (but) hearing them and using that in his decision-making power" even if you didn't always like the answer.
Jay Deck, UniServ director for the Frederick County Education Association, said the association would be "very disappointed" to see Sovine go if he gets the Washington County job.
"He has been extremely willing to work with our union on issues," meeting with union leadership monthly, Deck said.
Deck called Sovine "straight-forward" and credited him with bringing the Frederick County school system "along in leaps and bounds."
Neil Becker, president of the Washington County Teachers Association, said he met Cramer and Sovine last week during stakeholder meetings as part of the superintendent search process.
The interview process is confidential. But Becker said he's confident Nebraska recruitment firm McPherson & Jacobson did a "good job of vetting candidates and doing a thorough process in their search for a qualified candidate."
Addressing local school system challenges
Both candidates met with various local stakeholders last week as part of the superintendent search process.
Among the issues stakeholders want the next superintendent to be aware of, per the search consultant's feedback study, are getting students caught up on learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic's fallout, mental-health issues, staff diversity and the county's minimum budget support for the school system.
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Sovine mentioned a few ways Frederick County schools are addressing students' mental-health and behavioral issues as well as teacher recruitment without using local tax dollars.
That includes having teachers touch base with students periodically throughout the day to better understand students' learning readiness and build relationships. The school system also is using temporary federal aid from the pandemic to hire more behavior specialists and psychologists, Sovine said.
Third, officials are exploring making space available in schools in case students with therapists through Valley Health need a timely professional visit in the school rather than waiting for an appointment, he said.
The school system also is partnering with a nonprofit to help students who are interested in becoming teachers obtain low-interest college loans in exchange for returning to teach locally.
Cramer said he did recruitment work for Prince George's and St. Mary's school systems.
He said "recruiting is recruiting. I think if we present all the wonderful things Washington County has to offer, I think Washington County is an appealing place to be."
Cramer noted that recruiting high-qualified and diverse teaching candidates is part of Maryland's Blueprint legislation for education and will be a focus for the next superintendent.
The superintendent search process
The school board hired McPherson & Jacobson LLC to help with the search for Michael's successor. The firm received 19 applications, including internal candidates, according to an email from school system spokeswoman Erin Anderson, providing information on behalf of the school board. The email does not say how many of the candidates were internal.
Professional background and experiences were reviewed, as were the "candidates' written responses to questions specific to the selection criteria" the board established, the email states. The consultants also looked at feedback from stakeholders as they considered the candidates' qualifications.
The field was then narrowed to nine candidates who were invited to submit videos of themselves responding to provided questions, while consultants began a thorough vetting process. That included detailed reference checking.
Five candidates were recommended to the school board with the board inviting three for finalists' interviews. One candidate chose to withdraw, leaving Cramer and Sovine as the finalists, the email states.
Washington County Republican committee opposes superintendent finalists
Last week, the Washington County Republican Central Committee posted on its Facebook page a message saying the county's "Republican Party is urging" the school board to reject the two finalists. The statement also urges residents to contact the seven board members to encourage them to reject Cramer and Sovine as finalists because they "are not suitable" to serve the students and employees.
Central Committee Chairman Jerry DeWolf said the county's Republican Party is essentially the central committee, which by consensus decided on the message.
Asked what the committee's key points of concern were, DeWolf said both candidates "seem to be deeply rooted in progressive liberal ideology, pushing hard equity training, diversity training." He also mentioned critical race theory.
Other sources describe critical race theory as centering on the idea that racism is systemic in U.S. institutions. The theory is a way of analyzing U.S. history through the lens of racism.
DeWolf said he interprets phrases like equity training and diversity training as euphemisms and are similar to critical race theory, in that he understands them as efforts to make people who are white or light-skinned feel they have to "pay a price" or feel "responsibility for past transgressions in our country."
The committee's statement specifically shares an image of "We Can't Lead Where We Won't Go" by Gary R. Howard, a resource Frederick County schools used that includes a line about the 21st century tea party movement. DeWolf also shared a Winchester Star article about a Frederick County Board of Supervisors member raising concern about the tea party line in the book in early 2021.
The line, according to the article, refers to white supremacist hate groups and ends, "but there is also the Tea Party version that masks its racism with the guise of patriotism."
Sovine said that resource was not a primary one for the adult equity task force, which had multiple resources, and school system officials talked to concerned residents about where the line was in the resource. When the concern was raised, the school system ceased its partnership with Howard, he said. The task force had been using Howard resources for about three or four years.
Asked if he has issues with the tea party, Sovine said "No," that he works in a "highly conservative community," and that this country was founded by people with different perspectives.
Sovine said critical race theory is not taught in Frederick County schools. When he refers to equity, he said he's talking about making sure all students are provided with rigorous instruction and supports when needed.
There are students who come from situations with limited resources and who might not be as successful as they could be, he said. When students don't understand the coursework the first time, educators have a responsibility to adjust those supports to accelerate students' growth, he said.
"Ultimately, that builds a stronger community," he said.
Sovine said that in Frederick County, African-American and Hispanic students are meeting or exceeding reading and math standards of learning tests in comparison with all other students.
Cramer said he hadn't seen the local Republican committee's post, therefore he wouldn't comment on it.
If he's selected superintendent, Cramer said he won't comment on "everything out there on social media," but he'd "gladly meet with people and have conversations."
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Learn about finalists for Washington County schools superintendent job
