Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 23, 1993 TAG: 9301230026
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
EX-PETERSBURG SUPERINTENDENT FINALIST FOR JOB
A Richmond school administrator who until last September was superintendent of the Petersburg school system is one of the three finalists for the Roanoke school superintendent's post.A source who asked not to be named confirmed Friday that Willis B. McLeod, associate superintendent for Richmond City Schools, was a finalist.
Roanoke School Board members have kept quiet about their search for a successor to Superintendent Frank Tota, choosing not to release the names of any finalists until a news conference Monday.
The Roanoke Times & World-News also has learned that all the finalists are men. Two of them, including McLeod, are black.
McLeod could not be reached for comment.
Board members had said urban school system experience was one of the top qualities they would be seeking in a new superintendent.
Though she declined to comment on the finalists, board member Wendy O'Neil said the board wanted a superintendent who was sensitive to a "broad spectrum of backgrounds and needs - someone who can help tap the talent that's alive in each of our children regardless of their background."
In Petersburg, McLeod inherited a school system that was plagued by low faculty morale and grumblings about the quality of public education, according to news coverage in The (Petersburg) Progess-Index.
Among his achievements in Petersburg, the newspaper reported, were McLeod's leadership in establishing an in-school child care program for high school students who had young children.
He also was active in the Chamber of Commerce and played an active role in the search for Petersburg's chief of police, The Progress-Index reported.
During his tenure in Petersburg, McLeod was often mentioned as a candidate for school jobs elsewhere. He was a finalist for school superintendent positions in Virginia Beach in 1991 and St. Louis last year.
McLeod was credited with turning the school system around. When he came to Petersburg, the school system had the highest dropout rate in the state and was suffering from a negative image.
"Dr. McLeod came at a time when we needed a person to pull the community, faculty and staff together around the school system," Perry Massey, chairman of the Petersburg school system, said Friday. "He was able to do that. It's his style."
Massey said the relationship between McLeod's predecessor and the Petersburg City Council had become "somewhat strained."
"As a result, we had not had an increase in our budget in three or four years," Massey said. "Dr. McLeod was able to get an increase of $500,000."
When McLeod first arrived, the city's dropout rate was the highest in the state, at 13.5 percent. The rate before McLeod's departure was 7.2 percent, The Progress-Index reported.
In a Progress-Index story, McLeod attributed the drop to programs such as the "Yes Shop," which allowed students to earn money while they learned a skill or craft. Other programs, including a Youth Motivational Workshop and a role model program that paired students with civic leaders, helped boost potential dropouts' self-esteem.
The Petersburg school system has an enrollment of 6,000 students, 95 percent of whom are black, Massey said. The system has one high school, one middle school, a sixth-grade school and six elementary schools.
McLeod holds a bachelor's degree from Fayetteville State University in North Carolina and a master's degree and doctorate from the University of Virginia.
McLeod's career has included work as a teacher, principal and administrator.
He was an assistant superintendent in New Orleans from 1977 to 1978. In 1978, he became an associate superintendent of Guilford County schools in Greensboro, N.C. He later served as superintendent of Northampton County, N.C., school system before assuming the superintendent's post in Petersburg.
Of the state's 136 school superintendents, seven are black, according to the Virginia Association of School Superintendents. The seven are in Richmond, Petersburg, Hampton and Surry, Sussex, Nelson and Charles City counties.
The Roanoke School Board has spent the past month paring down a list of 42 applicants. Earlier this month, the list was narrowed to nine semifinalists.
Each of the nine was interviewed in Roanoke two weeks ago. The board selected three finalists last Tuesday.
The finalists have been invited back to Roanoke for second interviews - on next Thursday, Feb. 1 and 4. Their visits will include meetings with various community groups.