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Oakland School District Superintendent Tony Smith speaks during an Oakland Unified School...
From the Education Report blog
OAKLAND -- Oakland Unified School Superintendent Tony Smith announced his resignation today after nearly four years marked by a fractious school board and precarious finances.
His resignation will be effective June 30.
But Smith said the challenges he faced as superintendent didn't factor into his decision to resign. Rather he and his family are moving to be near his wife's ailing father.
"Kathleen and I have decided to move closer to family in Chicago so that we can be there to help and so that our daughters can spend time with their grandparents," he wrote in a letter posted on the OUSD website.
"The decision to leave at this time is very difficult. However, my commitment to my family first means this is the right decision at this time."
Hired July 1, 2009, Smith is the first superintendent to resign of his own accord in 50 years.
"I feel very privileged to have been part of bringing quality and stability back to Oakland Public Schools," he wrote in the letter dated April 4 address to OUSD Trustee David Kakishiba.
The board will take up the matter at its April 10 regular meeting and begin the process of filling Smith's seat.
Continuity will be important.
The board will be looking for someone to move the district's strategic plan forward instead of setting the schools on