Covington steps down as KC superintendent

This story was published Aug. 25, 2011.

Kansas City school Superintendent John Covington shocked the school board, district staff and the community by submitting his resignation Wednesday night (Aug. 24, 2011).

In just over two years on the job, Covington had been riding a harmonious wave between the superintendent’s office, the board and the civic community that had been missing in Kansas City for decades.

There were rifts, notably between Covington and board President Airick Leonard West, but no one anticipated Covington would suddenly walk away.

He told the board at 5:50 p.m. that he was resigning, effective in 30 days, school officials said. Board member Arthur Benson, who was instrumental in drawing Covington to Kansas City from Pueblo, Colo., said he also had resigned.

As the board’s regular meeting started at 6:30 p.m., West said the board had received but not yet accepted Covington’s resignation.

The news stunned civic leaders.

“I’m jaw-dropped,” said Urban League President Gwen Grant, who has been very involved in school issues over the years. “I had to sit down when I heard it. I was blown away by it.”

Covington’s departure “would be a heartbreaking loss,” said Betsey Solberg, who in the past has been chair of both the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Civic Council. “I am just crushed. I would hope there’s some way to salvage this.”

Covington’s decision may have been spurred by ongoing tensions with West.

On Tuesday, Covington’s chief of staff, Chace Ramey, made a Sunshine Law request for all email between West and bidders for an $85 million contract to modernize district buildings and improve their energy efficiency.

Particular emails Covington requested had already been forwarded to the administration, but Covington wanted copies of the emails “in their original form with nothing redacted (including names).”

The district had told potential bidders to have no contact with board members.

Benson declined to give a reason for Covington’s resignation, but said he had quit the board because of Covington’s action. Benson had headed the search committee that landed Covington and was the first to contact him about considering Kansas City.

“I tied my resignation to his,” Benson said. “My resignation is 100 percent him resigning. If his problems can be fixed and he stays, I’ll stay.”

Covington and West also were at odds recently over the control of contracting charter schools in the district, but both had said those issues were resolved with a policy that favored Covington.

Benson, who said he would not comment on anything said in executive session, said the conflict over charter schools was a concern but seemed to have been resolved.

“Everyone hoped and believed the problem was fixed,” he said.

The district also is currently in an accreditation review process with the state that is contingent upon the district showing progress, while its performance has continued to fall below accreditation standards.

Last week, a preliminary report card from the state showed the district meeting just three of 14 state standards — a drop from four a year ago. Districts generally need to meet at least six standards to be provisionally accredited and at least nine standards to be fully accredited.

“How is this going to tie into accreditation issues?” Grant asked. “There are a whole lot of issues where we were making progress, but now it’s all up in the air.”

Benson said that as he was leaving district headquarters, he and teachers union president Andrea Flinders crossed paths. She was crying, he said.

“The extraordinary relationship we had between the superintendent and the union president was remarkable and unique and important to our children,” Benson said.

Flinders reported to the board during the meeting that the union and the district have a tentative agreement on a new contract, and she thanked the superintendent for his behind-the-scenes work.

“I know it wasn’t always easy,” she said.

West said during the meeting that the board needed “to determine an appropriate course forward” and “needed to think thoughtfully through the days ahead to regain the momentum of the last two years.”

Though West and Covington had their differences, West had consistently praised the work of Covington and his administration and repeatedly stated that he wanted Covington to have a 10-year run as superintendent.

But it was a stoic board president who adjourned Wednesday’s meeting to take the board back into closed session. Covington was not in that meeting, and board members began leaving within an hour without further statement.

If Covington’s resignation stands, he joins a long line of superintendents — now 25 in 40 years — who left serving less than six years, 22 of them, including a host of interim leaders, serving less than three.

Covington had told his senior staff within an hour of the first, regularly scheduled closed session at 5 p.m. that he was going to resign. Staff members got an email later in the evening.

While staff did not expect the resignation, one employee familiar with the situation said the district will be in a position to make a smooth transition. Covington, if the board wants it, will continue as superintendent for 30 days. None of his cabinet is leaving, the employee said.

Board member Duane Kelly said the board had agreed not to discuss the situation. But, he said, “I’ve been here since 1962,” as a teacher and then board member, “and I’ve seen the whole parade.”

As he was leaving for the night, Kelly said board members were taken by surprise and still are sorting it out.

“No one knows what happened,” he said.

Stan Archie, a member of the Missouri State Board of Education from Kansas City, said his colleagues contacted him Wednesday evening, asking about reports of turmoil in the district.

“It would be a great concern at the state level, the kind of revolving door we’ve seen,” Archie said. “We know we’re in the middle of a major transition, and to lose the captain at this time raises some questions of leadership. ... The state has to take a look at that.”

The continuing controversy surrounding the district’s leadership could increase momentum in Jefferson City for changes in the board’s structure — or for a complete state takeover of the district, one lawmaker said.

“I’m not saying that’s what I’d support,” said state Sen. Jolie Justus, a Kansas City Democrat. “But we’re not going to be able to continue to fight off these attacks from rural Missouri, who frankly want to do this, if there continues to be this level of dysfunction. ... I’m very disappointed.”

Bill Eddy, a former board member who started the Do the Right Thing for Kids organization that watches the district, called the developments “a disaster.”

“It reinforces our position that ... we need a different governance system,” he said.

His group has been advocating for a school board that would be appointed by a panel of local leaders, instead of elected by the public.

That effort has lost steam since Covington and the current school board had been getting favorable reviews from the civic community.

“The board needs to take a good look at itself,” Eddy said. “We had a superintendent who seemed to be making a difference, but what happened?”

Eddy said it would be very difficult for the board to go out in the national market and hire a high-quality superintendent.

Covington started working in Kansas City in summer 2009. He had previously served as a school superintendent in Pueblo, Colo., a post he held for three years. A native of Alabama, he and his wife have three grown children. Covington holds a doctorate from Auburn University.

Covington had a three-year contract with the Kansas City School District, with a starting annual salary of $250,000. It was slated to end June 30, 2012, with options for fourth and fifth years.

He was the last candidate interviewed for the post, and according to board members, he gave a “phenomenal” interview. He argued that Kansas City’s school system needed to shutter buildings and slash its payroll — and that he wasn’t interested in the job if the board wasn’t ready to tackle that issue.

The board hired Covington on a unanimous vote.

“I knew from the jump he meant it,” West told a reporter a year ago. “It’s why I wanted him (over other applicants). Others told us what we wanted to hear.”

Under Covington’s leadership, the school district closed more than 40 percent of its school buildings, a move that stirred outrage among many but won over most of the civic community. The superintendent argued that Kansas City — which had seen its enrollment drop sharply over the decades — couldn’t justify the cost of keeping that many locations open.

Getting the district’s finances in order consumed most of Covington’s first two years in Kansas City. In his second year as superintendent, the district cut $68 million from its budget after eliminating jobs and contracts with outside vendors.

He also made many changes in the classroom. He has launched a reform he’s calling student-centered learning that does away with grade levels and groups students by the level of skills they have proven they’ve learned.

He revamped the way the district judges its teachers and garnered a $13 million grant to initiate a merit pay system.

“The general community has no idea how far we’ve come,” he told a reporter before his state-of-the-district speech in July. “They don’t have a clue what we’ve done the past two years.”

This story was originally published March 31, 2016 at 11:23 AM with the headline "Covington steps down as KC superintendent."