Eduleadership

Raj Manhas, Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools, will be stepping down when his three-year contract expires in June 2007.

Manhas led the district through three school closure plans, only the second of which was ultimately approved. The district currently enrolls far fewer students than it did forty years ago, leaving excess capacity in many buildings. Manhas pursued school closures as a means of reducing operating and capital expenditures, a move supported by the teachers’ union. According to the Seattle Times,

Seattle Public Schools taught 97,267 students in 121 buildings in 1965. Now the district has half as many students but almost as many school buildings. It hasn’t closed a school in 19 years.

Keeping all those partly empty buildings open is expensive, and the district, based on an estimate of 11 schools and an average per-school operating cost, says closing schools would save about $4.8 million annually. link

However, the school closures were endlessly contentious, to the point that a fistfight broke out at the most recent school board meeting. Some are questioning whether the board should have given into public pressure, and whether the board will be capable of delivering decisions in the face of public opposition in the future. More closures are planned, though, as board members say they are still committed to the process.

In announcing his resignation, Manhas expressed satisfaction at the work he has accomplished during his tenure as school chief. He congratulated students, staff, the unions, and community partners for their hard work and success. He did not, however, mention the school board in any way, nor indicate that his resignation was related to the recent scrapping of his plan to consolidate four schools into two.

Manhas indicated that he is resigning both because his contract is up at the end of the current year, and because he accomplished what he intended to while in office. He also said that announcing his resignation now would give the district time to find a replacement for his post.

Manhas came into office from the Chief Operating Officer role in October 2003, after an expensive nationwide search yielded no outside candidates for the job. His predecessor, Joseph Olchefske, resigned after a multimillion dollar accounting error and other financial problems culminated in a $33 million budget shortfall. Manhas has since balanced the district budget and rebuilt $20 million in reserves, and test scores have gone up considerably on his watch.