Polk: Lessons learned from previous superintendent will help her avoid high turnover rate in OKCPS job

New Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Jamie Polk said lessons learned from working for, and watching, her predecessor will be important if she is to avoid the high turnover rate that’s plagued that position for the past four decades.

One of her primary goals, she told The Oklahoman in a wide-ranging interview, is “to build on” the legacy left by former Superintendent Sean McDaniel and to do for others what he did for her.

“It’s hard to get from good to great if you’re always starting over (or) keep starting over,” Polk said. “(My goal is to) just build upon (it) and then we’ll get to the greatness that this city deserves from, I’m going to claim, the largest educational institution in the state of Oklahoma. I know Tulsa is beating us, but only today, not tomorrow.”

Since 1985, the district with about 33,000 students — once Oklahoma’s largest and now the state’s second-biggest — has had 17 superintendents. Only two of those lasted as long as six years, and the latter of that pair, McDaniel, left the district June 30 after unexpectedly announcing his resignation in February. Polk officially succeeded him on July 1.

McDaniel hired Polk as the district’s assistant superintendent for elementary education in 2019 after she’d spent 25 years working in the Lawton Public Schools district. The OKC board’s chair, Paula Lewis, said on the day the board approved Polk’s promotion to superintendent that Polk “was a leader from the beginning” of the board’s search process “because she’s been a leader here for five years.”

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State Rep. Forrest Bennett, D-Oklahoma City, noted the political aspects of being a big-city district superintendent and believes Polk will rise to the occasion.

“It’s hard to not be impressed with Jamie,” Bennett said. “She’s sharp, engaged and personable. The job of a superintendent … is a political job. You have to manage expectations, inspire the workforce, and then you have this service component with the staff and kids. I think she’ll be a knockout in all those areas. She is going to be incredible and prove the board right in their decision pretty quickly. Future generations of OKCPS students will benefit because she’s there.”

Polk credited McDaniel for pouring trust and leadership abilities into members of his executive team and said his having done that will help ensure stability for the district as it moves forward without him.

“When Dr. McDaniel resigned, it was real important for us to have continuity,” Polk said. “Everyone knows our history in regards to the number of superintendents coming and going. He hired me and brought me here, so I’m forever grateful. He did six years, one of the longest tenures possible.

“But there are people (here) that … have seen multiple superintendents. That continuity was important — not only the continuity of someone to be in this spot, but for the vision to continue. We all know once you restart (with a new leader), those resets, everyone is looking, ‘Where do I fit in? What’s my role? Please note that was very important, because I would still be an employee here also. That’s what I needed, which is why I did my homework.”

Polk seeks to continue stability her predecessor brought to OKCPS

McDaniel’s achievements included the implementation of the district’s “ Pathway to Greatness ” program, which closed 15 schools and reconfigured 17 others in 2019.

That plan also included an element that has allowed every district student in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade to be equipped with an electronic device to connect them to the internet, according to the district’s website. Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) centers also have been placed in every district elementary school. All of the district’s elementary schools also now are staffed with a counselor.

McDaniel also successfully pushed for voter approval for a $955 million bond proposal — the largest in Oklahoma history — in November 2022. Polk now is charged with implementing projects authorized by that vote.

But the level of stability McDaniel brought to the district — which is acknowledged by both supporters and detractors — could prove to be his greatest legacy. Before McDaniel, the last Oklahoma City district superintendent to last as long as six years on the job was Arthur Stellar , who held the position from 1985 to 1992.

McDaniel’s four immediate predecessors lasted five months (Rebecca Kaye, an acting superintendent), 19 months (Aurora Lora), two years (Rob Neu) and 10 months (Dave Lopez, an interim superintendent). How does Polk avoid falling into that cycle?

“I can’t necessarily focus on that aspect of (it),” Polk said. “What’s most important to me is the empowerment of others. If it does (happen), please note my role today is to ensure the leadership capacity in others (who) can step right in. So that has been what has transpired in regards for me to step in and for others also to step in.

“That’s what we have been working on. So often, that’s not a shiny something that you are able to put out in the public, when you are actually building leadership capacity in others. But when we’re in a situation such as this, you can see the leadership has been able to rise to the occasion. Hats off to Dr. McDaniel.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Polk: Lessons learned from previous superintendent will help her avoid high turnover rate in OKCPS job