DeKalb County, GA – The DeKalb County School Board announced the sole finalist to be its next superintendent.

The School Board has selected Rudolph “Rudy” Crew out of 70 applicants.

“With three decades of experience comprised of classroom and administrative experience, including as chancellor of New York City schools and superintendent in Miami-Dade County, two of the largest and most diverse school districts in the country, Dr. Crew has precisely the track record, innovative approach and skills DCSD needs to best serve and support its students,” the School District said.

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The School Board made the announcement at an April 23 board meeting.

“We heard from the community that it was paramount the candidate have deep experience as an educator, an administrator and a partner to parents, teachers and students,” Board Chair Marshall Orson said in a press release. “We are excited to not only have found a finalist who meets these criteria but also has more than a quarter-century of experience in leading school districts, including a strong track record in heading two of the nation’s largest urban districts. This positions him well to lead the DeKalb County School District, which is the third-largest school system in Georgia.”

Here is the full announcement from the School District and a copy of Crew’s biography:

The DeKalb County Board of Education today announced Dr. Rudy Crew as the sole finalist in its search for a new superintendent. The decision is the result of a five-month search that included 68 applicants and was informed by community feedback collected in focus groups and an online survey.

Dr. Crew brings decades of top-level K-12 experience to the role. During his career he has served as chancellor of the New York City Board of Education, superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and the state of Oregon’s first-ever chief education officer. Most recently, Dr. Crew has served as president of Medgar Evers College, a public college in New York City, for seven years.

“We heard from the community that it was paramount the candidate have deep experience as an educator, an administrator and a partner to parents, teachers and students,” Board Chair Marshall Orson said. “We are excited to not only have found a finalist who meets these criteria, but also has more than a quarter-century of experience in leading school districts, including a strong track record in heading two of the nation’s largest urban districts. This positions him well to lead the DeKalb County School District, which is the third largest school system in Georgia.”

During the next few weeks, Dr. Crew will meet remotely with employees, students and community members across the district, including two online town hall meetings during which the public is invited to ask questions. Georgia law mandates that school districts must give a minimum of 14 days for public input before finalizing an agreement with a new superintendent. In accordance with guidance from the governor regarding COVID-19, all meetings will be conducted virtually.

“I’ve had the rare opportunity to explore a diverse career path that led me from classroom teacher to K- 12 administrator and, most recently, to higher education. What this experience taught me about myself is the heart I really have for helping to shape the lives and educational outcomes of our younger students in a K-12 setting,” said Dr. Crew. “I’m excited to get back to that important work and DeKalb is an outstanding school district where I believe my experience will be of great benefit. The district has made tremendous strides in recent years as it successfully restored its accreditation, improved its financial situation and, most importantly, continues to elevate its academic programs and improve student outcomes.”

Dr. Crew began his career as a teacher and served as a middle and high school principal in California and Massachusetts. He went on to hold administrative positions in Tacoma, Washington, New York City and Miami-Dade County, where he is credited with helping to significantly improve student performance. At Medgar Evers, he turned around a college in jeopardy of losing accreditation and positioned it well academically, while at the same time instituting a program to support K-12 students in the area.

His innovative approach has been recognized by several organizations including the Coalition for Educational Justice in New York City and the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Ash Institute. He was named the 2008 National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators.

Dr. Crew is expected to sign a contract with the DeKalb County School District (DCSD) in May and formally assume the role of superintendent on July 1, 2020. Superintendent Ramona Tyson will continue to lead the District until Dr. Crew steps in and will coordinate with him to ensure a smooth transition. “On behalf of the DeKalb County School District and Board of Education, I would like to thank Superintendent Tyson for her tireless efforts repositioning the District for future success and for leading the District in this time of crisis,” said Orson. “She has gone above and beyond expectations during this time, and we appreciate the tremendous work she has done. We look forward to working with Dr. Crew to continue building a world-class school district that enriches the education and lives of our students and our community.”

To submit questions for Dr. Crew’s town hall meetings, call 678-676-0722 or email [email protected]. For more information and updates about Dr. Crew’s schedule, visit the superintendent search page on the DCSD website and follow its social media channels on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram

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Biography 

Dr. Rudolph F. “Rudy” Crew is a renowned educational leader and reformer who brings more than a quarter-century of experience and success to DeKalb County School District, both in and out of the classroom. He has been and continues to be drawn to leading large, diverse school districts and student bodies with strong potential for improvement and success. Throughout his 30-year career as an educator, administrator and community partner, he has always put students’ needs first, including accelerating student learning and making positive changes in the nation’s largest (New York City) and fourth-largest (Miami-Dade County) school districts with 1 million students and 353,000 students, respectively.

Unafraid to think progressively about innovation in education, as Chancellor of New York City Public Schools and Superintendent in Miami, Dr. Crew reimagined school districts for those cities’ lowest- performing schools, organizing them in virtual districts defined by student need, not geography. These initiatives leveraged research-based practices to improve student learning and are considered national models for reform.

In New York City, Dr. Crew introduced new strategies designed to improve student achievement, especially for poor and minority students. These include:

– The adoption of curriculum standards for all schools,

– Establishing the Math and Science Institute, an after-school and Saturday program to help poor Black and Latino students boost their academic performance

– Creating a Superintendents’ and Principals’ Institute to cultivate and nurture school leadership

– Creation of new mechanisms for school governance, including elimination of tenure for principals, and introduction of school-based budgeting

– Implementation of a process to screen all students for giftedness using a range of criteria

During his time as superintendent in Miami, Newsweek named 12 high schools in the county among the best, and U.S. News & World Report listed two high schools in the Top 100, with seven others named among the best. Dr. Crew’s School Improvement Zone was named a Top 50 Innovation by Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Institute, and he was named the 2008 AASA National Superintendent of the Year. He is credited with:

– Helping more than half of the county’s schools achieve “A” status

– Reducing crowding by building 29 new schools

– Creating paths for more English Language Learners and students of color and in poverty to gain college entry with improved ACT and SAT scores

– Introducing The Parent Academy, which served more than 150,000 parents and families with courses

A Poughkeepsie, New York native, Dr. Crew was appointed as Oregon’s first-ever chief education officer in 2012 and currently serves as President of Medgar Evers College, a public college in New York City.

Since his appointment in 2013, Crew has implemented programs to help increase enrollment and graduation rates at the college and lower the number of incoming freshmen who require remedial courses. In 2014, Dr. Crew launched the Medgar Evers College Pipeline, an innovative and ambitious program designed to prepare students from dozens of low-performing schools in central Brooklyn for college and professional careers.

Dr. Crew earned his Bachelor of Arts in Education from Babson College and graduated with a master’s degree and Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts. Throughout his career, Dr. Crew’s guiding principle has always been to provide the means by which all students can achieve high standards, and he has made it his mission to overhaul and strengthen America’s educational system.

“I’ve had the rare opportunity to explore a diverse career path that led me from classroom teacher to K- 12 administrator and, most recently, to higher education. What this experience taught me about myself is the heart I really have for helping to shape the lives and educational outcomes of our younger students in a K-12 setting,” said Dr. Crew. “I’m excited to get back to that important work and DeKalb is an outstanding school district where I believe my experience will be of great benefit. The district has made tremendous strides in recent years as it successfully restored its accreditation, improved its financial situation and, most importantly, continues to elevate its academic programs and improve student outcomes.”

Dr. Crew began his career as a teacher and served as a middle and high school principal in California and Massachusetts. He went on to hold administrative positions in Tacoma, Washington, New York City and Miami-Dade County, where he is credited with helping to significantly improve student performance. At Medgar Evers, he turned around a college in jeopardy of losing accreditation and positioned it well academically, while at the same time instituting a program to support K-12 students in the area.

His innovative approach has been recognized by several organizations including the Coalition for Educational Justice in New York City and the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Ash Institute. He was named the 2008 National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators.

Dr. Crew is expected to sign a contract with the DeKalb County School District (DCSD) in May and formally assume the role of superintendent on July 1, 2020. Superintendent Ramona Tyson will continue to lead the District until Dr. Crew steps in and will coordinate with him to ensure a smooth transition. “On behalf of the DeKalb County School District and Board of Education, I would like to thank Superintendent Tyson for her tireless efforts repositioning the District for future success and for leading the District in this time of crisis,” said Orson. “She has gone above and beyond expectations during this time, and we appreciate the tremendous work she has done. We look forward to working with Dr. Crew to continue building a world-class school district that enriches the education and lives of our students and our community.”

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