Williams' resignation as superintendent accepted
By Mary B. Pasciak
NEWS EDUCATION REPORTER
Published:
August 17, 2011, 1:18 PM


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Updated: August 17, 2011, 4:01 PM

The Buffalo Board of Education voted, 7-2, today to accept the resignation of Superintendent James A. Williams, effective Sept. 15, under terms previously agreed upon.

Board President Louis J. Petrucci said the Board will appoint an interim superintendent at a meeting next Wednesday. Several board members have said they would like to see Amber Dixon, who oversees accountability in the district, appointed to the interim post.

"Dr. Williams has been here for the children of the City of Buffalo for the past six years," Petrucci said, adding, "I would like to stress the positive impact he's had on the community."

The superintendent cited academic and athletic accomplishments during his six-year tenure in Buffalo, including increases in English and math scores for elementary students and the district's entry into Section VI athletic competition. Williams said he plans to continue working, but not as a superintendent.

"I'm looking forward to moving onto other things in my life," he said.

Board members said they were not allowed to disclose the terms of his separation agreement until it becomes publicly available in seven days.

The board last week took an initial step to terminate Williams' contract under its no-fault clause. Under that provision in his contract, he would have been entitled to $110,000, or six months' pay, if he were terminated.

It is not clear whether he will still receive such a lump sum as part of the separation agreement that comes with his resignation.

Petrucci would not comment specifically on that, but noted that the agreement would be subject to the approval of the city's control board, which must approve any district expenditures over $50,000.

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Audio: To hear what Williams had to say, play the clip to the left or download it here and take it with you

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Williams' tenure as superintendent was a rocky one, beginning when he hit town in 2005 and was immediately involved in a battle with the unions representing teachers and administrators in the Buffalo Public Schools.

At the end, he was still in a fight, this time with the School Board, parents groups and with some of the same figures in the business community who brought him here to tame the unions and reverse the district's fortunes. And not only did the lot of Buffalo's students not improve, by some key measures, it got worse.

The Williams' superintendency was a six-year fight with no winner.

Almost immediately after his arrival, he went head to head with the unions. In short order, Williams called teachers union president Phil Rumore a liar and threatened to take Rumore into an alley and beat him up.

Administrators union president Crystal Barton accused Williams of making racist comments against African-American principals.

Six years later, both unions remain without a new contract. The two are still operating under contracts negotiated more than a decade ago.

In recent years, Rumore and Williams had worked out a solid working relationship, with the two talking often about district issues. But in the past week, Rumore has reversed course, calling for the superintendent to step down or for the board to fire him.

The issues during Williams' tenure have not been limited to the unions. During his first few years in Buffalo, Williams' tenure was marred by a number of high-profile incidents.

A year after he arrived, the district hired a Maryland firm, ResulTech, to run Buffalo's alternative high school. Two years later, it became apparent that the $6 million the district spent on the program had not been a solid investment.

The school board fired ResulTech in December 2008, and the program there was deemed an expensive failure.

Williams came under fire for the way he handled allegations of improprieties surrounding a student suspension at McKinley High School. Critics said his response was typical, as he tried to keep the situation from becoming public.

The superintendent also was roundly criticized for ignoring allegations that an aide had molested a child at Discovery School.

And accusations of favoritism erupted at City Honors, calling into question the way the administration handles admissions at its top high school.

For a couple of years, things quieted down. At the elementary level, math and English test scores continued to improve.

In the last year or so, though, Williams has come under fire for a number of problems.

He jeopardized $42 million in federal grants to turn around failing schools by refusing to move the principals out of three schools. That prompted then-state Education Commissioner David M. Steiner to come to town and meet privately with Williams, who then announced he would follow federal guidelines.

Since then, Williams has drawn criticism for doubling the size of his central office staff during years when teachers and other union staff were cut. This summer, board members balked when he tried to add an administrator while more than 100 teachers got pink slips.

He has on several occasions withheld key information from board members either entirely or until the last minute.

Severe student attendance problems continue to plague the district.

Buffalo's overall graduation rate just dropped 6 percentage points, to 47 percent.

The district's parent group in May called for a one-day boycott of the schools, largely in protest of Buffalo's 25 percent four-year graduation rate for black males. The parents have been careful not to criticize Williams specifically. Instead, the parents are demanding structural changes in the system.

When the Board of Education evaluated him this spring, they gave him a 3.18 on a scale of 1 to 5. On June 1, Williams announced he would retire in a year, saying his decision had nothing to do with the board's evaluation.

Since his announcement, both Williams and the board have been widely criticized for negotiating a buyout of the deputy superintendent's contract. Folasade Oladele was given a year's pay and benefits, while her contract guaranteed her only three months' pay.

In recent days, district officials have been working to hash out a revised buyout for Oladele — one that is said to be much more modest than the $215,000 package the board initially approved in June.

The state's release of test scores this week showed Buffalo has essentially flat-lined on English and math in elementary and middle school.
mpasciak@buffnews.com