Opportunities and Risk with the Departure of Madison School District Superintendent and Staff

Jason Shephard:

This week, nearly 25,000 Madison schoolchildren will settle into the routines of a new school year defined by anticipation and anxiety about big changes to come.

After eight years as superintendent, Art Rainwater, 64, will retire in June. Last week, the Madison school board moved decisively on its new top priority by agreeing on key details for the replacement search and setting a half-dozen deadlines leading to the hiring of a new superintendent early next year.

Rainwater's announcement in early January of his plan to step down has given his loyal deputies ample time to consider retirement or new jobs. In recent months, Rainwater has lost three top aides: chief of staff Mary Gulbrandsen, legal counsel Clarence Sherrod and budget director Roger Price.

Rainwater calls Gulbrandsen and Sherrod his "two closest advisers," and tried to convince both to stay for his final year. "I honestly talked to Mary probably 15 times a day," Rainwater says. "There probably hasn't been a thought that went through my head in the last nine years that she didn't react to."

More high-level retirements are expected at the end of this school year, leaving in place as few as three of nine department heads with significant time on the job. The brain drain is coupled with a relatively inexperienced principal base, especially at the city's four major high schools, and departures in other administrative positions.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at September 6, 2007 6:51 PM
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