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Husk Sustains high hopes Statesman Journal, Clarksville, TN ~ Tracy Loew  CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Superintendent Sandy Husk's last full school day in Clarksville-Montgomery County was punctuated by cheers down the hall from her quiet office. Academic coaches -- one from each school -- tallied up assessment scores, then erupted in excitement as school after school showed improvement. The scene was similar in buildings throughout the district, as principals received word of their scores. "I used to think 100 percent (passing) was not attainable. But I don't now," Rossview High School Principal Frank Myers said. Test scores in the 27,000-student Tennessee district have risen significantly during Husk's five-year tenure as superintendent, and last year all of the district's schools met achievement targets under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Salem-Keizer School Board members say that record was one of the reasons they chose Husk to replace retiring Superintendent Kay Baker. Husk takes over leadership of the Salem-Keizer district next week. Colleagues say Husk is data-driven, likes to plan and believes in communication and openness. They applaud her leadership and innovation. Most of all, they say, she has a passion for students. "You're going to appreciate that passion," Myers said of Salem-Keizer. "It's infectious with her." Taking on troubles Clarksville-Montgomery County teachers, parents and administrators say they noticed a drastic change when Husk arrived in July 2001. "Before, our test scores weren\'t too good, but everybody was happy," said Beth Unfried, principal of Kenwood Elementary School. "She started asking really tough questions." Now, student achievement is at the center of everything the district does, Unfried said. Husk said her first few months in Tennessee were chaotic. That year, just like Salem-Keizer, Clarksville-Montgomery County faced a huge budget shortfall and new demands of the federal No Child Left Behind law. And the district -- where a quarter of the students come from military families -- was grappling with after-effects of the Sept. 11 attacks and the start of the Iraq war. The school board also had bought out the contract of its previous superintendent six months early. "The district had a lot of previous trauma and stress," Husk said. "There was a lot of conflict as he exited the district." But observers say Husk met those challenges. "We have faced some really ugly times. She came in real positive and kept that the whole time. She was very responsive to what the community wanted," said Linda Medina-Griffy, principal of Kenwood Middle School. "Throughout it all she refused to look shaken, and she refused to sling mud," Medina-Griffy said. One of the first things Husk did was to reorganize the central office. At the community's request, she eliminated 15 out of 48 positions in central administration and eight of 74 support staff jobs in order to save programs serving children. Husk also immediately tried to improve the historically rancorous relationship between the seven-member school board, which controls the district's operations, and the 22-member County Commission, which controls the district's funding. And she began introducing research-based, data-driven changes aimed at improving student performance. "She's been so instrumental in bringing our district to the point of excellence," parent Cathy Kolb said. "If we could figure out a way to keep her, we would." A communicator Parent Jamie Austin said she noticed an immediate improvement in communication when Husk arrived. "In the past, everything was hidden. Now communication is just wonderful," Austin said. Husk encouraged parents to start the Parent Information Network, or PIN, run by Austin and other community members. PIN members attend all district meetings and events and issue regular reports via a 3,400-member e-mail list. PIN also regularly surveys its members and communicates the results to Husk. "She's very open to suggestions," Austin said. "We recently switched from six-week to nine-week grading. PIN got input from our readers and feels like they had a huge part in that." "We're sad she's leaving," said Maria Elliott, a PIN parent reporter. Husk improved the district's relationship with the media as well. Before she arrived, it was "like pulling teeth" to get information, said Amy Jackson, a former radio reporter. "Now they welcome public scrutiny," Jackson said. "She's phenomenal. I think incredibly highly of her." Union officials also speak glowingly of Husk. "We have a real good line of communication with her. It hasn't always been that way in our district," said Linda Jolly, president of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Education Association. Husk set up teams to work through problems and brought in outside mediators, Jolly said. As a result, the union has not filed any grievances on the contract during Husk's tenure, said Alice Spicer, union director for Clarksville-Montgomery County. "We were averaging multiple grievances prior to her coming on as director," Spicer said. "She is the only director of schools in Tennessee with this type of open-door policy." "She looks at us like we're equals. She's been available," said Carolann Kinney, a family and consumer studies teacher at Kenwood High School. "I felt like she held us as a family." A planner Faced with the closure of an inner-city school because of declining enrollment, Clarksville parents pitched the idea of turning it into the district's first magnet school, focusing on math, science and technology. Husk backed the idea but invested a year to research the right way to do it, said Laura Borden Black, who now is principal of the 2-year-old Moore Magnet School. "Dr. Husk allowed us to develop a plan, to get the right people in the building," Black said. "She does not jump into something without a plan and without it being research-based. She's got millions of strengths, but that's the one that we in the schools all appreciate." Husk developed the district's first "strategic plan," and reports back to the community twice per year on progress the district is making toward meeting the plan's goals. "We were all in on the plan, helped develop the plan," Black said. "That's something we had not had before." Last year, Husk allowed Brenda Archie to begin the HOSTS program, or Helping One Student To Succeed, which pairs below-level readers with community mentors. Archie has taught 20 years at Byrns Darden, which has the district's highest poverty rate. "She's not one to jump into changes immediately. She makes sure they are going to be done right and work," Archie said. An innovator Moore Magnet School kindergartner Chynyfa Slayden proudly pointed out the long line of stars on her reading chart. "There should be more. The teacher can't keep up with me," she said. Chynyfa is part of "Headsprout," a pilot project for a computer-based reading program that tracks kindergartners' skills as they learn to read. "This pilot program strictly came to us through Dr. Husk," said Laura Borden Black, the principal at Moore. Husk has a reputation for seeking out innovative programs and luring them to her district. Husk said that much of Clarksville-Montgomery County's recent success can be traced to her association with the Stupski Foundation, a Mill Valley, Calif.-based nonprofit group that helps districts with strategic planning. The foundation has worked with the district for three years on areas such as strategic planning, accountability, curriculum and teaching. It provides money and expert help. Clarksville-Montgomery County was one of 15 districts nationwide selected to work with the organization. Husk said she hopes to continue working with the Stupski Foundation when she comes to Salem-Keizer, although she\'s not sure the foundation will allow it. Among Husk's other initiatives: Launching a districtwide literacy initiative, using the same reading book for all elementary schools. Installing full-time literacy coaches at each school. Using data to improve teaching. Gaining ISO 9001 certification, an internationally recognized standard for business efficiency. The district is one of 10 nationwide to earn the certification. Developing benchmark tests in math, science and language arts, given in third through 10th grades, to monitor student progress. Such tests are used in many districts, including Salem-Keizer, but were new to Clarksville-Montgomery County. "It lets us know exactly what we need to do," said Phyllis Ervin, the assistant principal at Rossview High School. Chief academic officer B.J. Worthington said that, although the district has focused a lot of its resources on kids who are not achieving, it has not done so at the expense of higher-achieving students. "The top bar is going up," Worthington said, pointing to test-score data showing that all students are improving. A leader Husk says she tries to create, "a team atmosphere that makes it fun to come to work." Employees say she has accomplished that goal. Kenwood High School Principal Hal Bedell said that before Husk\'s arrival, high school principals would not even speak to each other. "There used to be fierce competition," he said. Now principals meet once per month and attend two conferences each year. "Now there's camaraderie. Now we're working together," he said. "She's surrounded herself with really expert people, and she lets them lead," Bedell said. "She might be the best leader I ever worked with." "In my 12 years as a board member and 26 years in the military, this is the most highly trained, highly skilled staff I've seen," school board member Horace Murphy Jr. said. Christy Batts, executive director of the Clarksville Chamber of Commerce, said Husk is a leader in the community as well. "She was in the room when we heard a report that Fort Campbell would be increasing their staff," Batts said. That meant a sudden influx of new students into the district. "She pulled together the leadership to go to the federal government and say we need funds. She got $4 million," Batts said. Sallie Armstrong, the curriculum and instruction director, said, "She's provided the best time of my career." Unusual governance Perhaps Husk's only failure, observers say, has been an inability to change the funding system, which pits the County Commission and the school board against each other. The school board oversees district spending, but the county commission controls funding. Still, that relationship has improved. Last month, Husk arranged for all of the candidates for County Commission seats to meet with school board members to learn more about the district. "I've lived here all my life, and I don't ever remember the school district and county commission sitting down and communicating like this," parent Austin said during the meeting. School district employees say Husk's legacy is that things will be just fine when she leaves. "A lot of times when a superintendent is leaving, they leave on a bad note," said Jolly, the union president. "That's not the case here." "She's left us a protocol on how to work through the tough times," Medina-Griffy said. "We'll be OK. She has trained us well," Unfried said. The district's Parent Information Network surveyed members about what they wanted in Husk's replacement, Austin said. "Quite a few responded, 'We want a clone of Dr. Husk.'" |
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