Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 27, 1991 TAG: 9103270349
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NEAL THOMPSON/ EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A committee searching for a new superintendent approved a list Monday night of 10 semifinalists. The list was not made public, but The Boston Globe obtained a copy and printed the 10 candidates' names Tuesday.
Candidates will be interviewed beginning this week and three to six finalists will be chosen by mid-April, Boston school officials said.
"I'm personally not surprised. It's not the first inquiry we've had," said Roanoke School Board member Velma Seif. "Frank has done an exemplary job with our school system. So, I think nationally the word is getting around."
"If Boston has contacted Frank Tota, that speaks highly of Frank Tota and the things he has done for the city of Roanoke," said School Board Chairman James M. Turner Jr.
But it doesn't appear as though Tota has any plans to pack his bags.
Tota did not apply for the Boston job; the committee approached him. And the Globe reported that two other candidates top the list.
Tota was out of town attending a workshop and could not be reached for comment. But Tota's secretary, June Nolley, reached him Tuesday and confirmed that Boston officials had contacted him.
Tota, 52, begins his 10th year as Roanoke's superintendent in July and has two years left on a four-year contract - a package that makes Tota one of the state's highest-paid superintendents and allows him to retire at age 55.
Turner said there was a reason for that lavish contract.
"We wanted to give him a contract that was such that he would want to stay here," Turner said. "We don't want to lose him. The School Board wants to keep him in Roanoke."
Seif agreed. "As a School Board member, I realize there are other divisions that are willing to pay him more," she said. "This, of course, was my thinking when we were discussing his contract."
It's not the first time Roanoke has faced losing Tota.
In 1986, he applied for the superintendent's job in the Charleston, S.C., school district, which was three times bigger than Roanoke's. He was named one of two finalists but dropped out at the last minute.
Tota is one of five superintendents being considered for the Boston job. The others head the school systems in Houston; Oakland, Calif.; Colorado Springs; and Kansas City. The other five candidates are two current administrators and one former administrator in the Boston school system and assistant superintendents in Milwaukee and Dallas.
The Globe reported that the Houston and Oakland superintendents topped the list.
Boston School Committee member Juanita B. Wade said the 13-member committee, which is Boston's equivalent of a Virginia school board, has been split over whether to hire someone from within the system.
She supports one of the seven outsiders. "I look forward to having someone who's not from Boston, who owes nothing to anyone," she said.
"Racial divisiveness has always been in the forefront of every issue. . . . I know I'm looking for someone who can really shake that up," Wade said.
Wade said Boston politics have historically interfered with the success of its schools. So, the new superintendent must be "willing to stand their ground if and whenever necessary."
"It's a battle," she said. "It's not an easy job."
Eighty percent of Boston's nearly 57,000 students are minorities.
Boston schools have been run for 13 months by acting Superintendent Joseph McDonough, a former deputy superintendent who replaced Superintendent Laval Wilson in February 1990. Wilson, who was constantly battling the city's School Committee, had his contract bought out by the committee.
by CNB