WCSD Head Reflects on First 100 Days in Northern Nevada
Chuck Alvey, President of EDAWN, speaks with WCSD Superintendent Heath Morrison Tuesday
The year 2010 holds more change for the Washoe County School District according to Superintendent Heath Morrison, who is completing his first 100 days on the job this week. On Wednesday Morrison will speak formally about his time here, but I wanted to find out what he’s learned so far. Asked to reflect on his first four months, Morrison, who moved to Nevada from Maryland in August, said he’s optimistic, but will continue press for changes in how the district does business. “Everywhere I go, there’s great support for public education. People have high expectations for wanting a better product, but people want to be great partners in helping do this work, and I’ve been very encouraged by that,” he said.
Morrison says one of the toughest challenges will be to increase the number of kids who graduate from high school. “We’ve got a lot of good things in place, but we’ve got a lot of reasons to show that we need to change, to make sure that, if no other mark, that graduation mark has got to move. We’ve got only 55 percent of our kids making it to graduation. We can, and need to do better.”
Local businessman Paul Curtis told me he’s ready to see some changes. “We have become complacent and we need to change that. We need to shake things up,” said Curtis. He doesn’t fault previous superintendents, but says Morrison might be the right person at the right time. “We need somebody that’s ready to take charge, ready to take the bull by the horns and is ready to move the process in another direction and that’s what Heath can do at this point in time,” he said.
The district has undergone three performance audits and is in the process of implementing suggestions made by consultants. The cost of those audits was picked up by a program Morrison completed before coming to Washoe County. Nevada educators face a looming challenge in trying to qualify for national Race to the Top funds, which will require a change in state law. WCSD plans to take a leading role in that effort.
Curtis ,who is a local developer, says he wants to see public education move forward. “The reason is we owe it to the state, we owe it to the kids and we owe it to the community. We’re in an economic downturn right now. The way we’re going to get out of that is through knowledge, education and hard work. Those are the things that need to be instilled in young people at an early age.” He wants businesses who are considering moving to Nevada to see an educational opportunity, rather than a liability when they look at our public schools.