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Columbus' Gene Harris says goodbyeJun 29, 2013 (The Columbus Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Former Superintendent Gene Harris. For 35 years she's worked in Columbus City Schools, but now that's done. Harris is a former teacher. A former assistant principal. A former principal. Now, she's a former superintendent, too. Harris, who is 60, was until yesterday the longest-serving urban school superintendent on the job in the country; she had led the district for 12 years. She said yesterday that she has no immediate plans to take another job and that, whatever her future holds, she will "always have a presence in Columbus." This is her home, she said in an email response to questions from The Dispatch. Harris went to Columbus schools and graduated from Linden-McKinley. She did not grant in-person interviews during her last week on the job. "It's bittersweet. It's bitter because (I will miss) the interaction and the opportunity to work with students, and staff and parents and really have influence on the lives of young people. It's sweet in that the rest of my life is open to still chart a new course where I can do some of the same things," Harris wrote. "I'm not sure what that's going to be, but I know that I'll be out there at some point working on behalf of families." She didn't often miss work, according to district records. Harris walks away with 75 unused vacation days, about 145 unused sick days and four personal days. The treasurer's office will pay her about $60,150 for her unused time, according to calculations provided by the department yesterday. Columbus schools spokesman Jeff Warner said yesterday that district workers have been busy helping the newly appointed interim superintendent, J. Daniel Good, get up to speed on things. So has Harris, he said. Good has acted as assistant superintendent for the past two days. "There are a lot of tears over here," Warner said yesterday. "It's a very hard time. She has given so much and she's so connected to so many people." Harris has been around long enough to see the district ordered to desegregate its schools and for dozens to be closed. She saw tens of thousands of students leave for suburban, private and charter schools. She saw the start, but not the finish, of a multimillion-dollar construction project meant to rehab or rebuild all of the district's 118 school buildings. She also saw the start, but not the finish, of investigations by the FBI and the state auditor into widespread data tampering under her watch. The state investigation has been going on for about a year. She said in an email yesterday that she never thought the investigation would take so long, but feels confident that the district has taken steps to make its records more accurate. As superintendent, Harris took Columbus from an F rating to a C. The district still has a C, although the state plans to recalculate its rating for the 2010-11 school year based on the findings of the investigation. During her tenure, the district never lost a ballot request for more property-tax dollars. One of Harris' points of pride is the graduation rate. When she took over, roughly 50 percent of students graduated. Using the same calculation method, about 85 percent of students graduated in the class of 2011, the most-recent year's data available. She said in her email that presiding over graduation ceremonies is one of her most-cherished memories; she loved them. Harris listed other accomplishments, including forging partnerships in the city, including those made with local colleges. She's also proud of having expanded preschool. She hopes to be remembered as a collaborator and an advocate for the city's children. "At the center of all my decisions was always what's best for children," she wrote. [email protected] @jsmithrichards ___ (c)2013 The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio) Visit The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio) at www.dispatch.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |