City Awaits Schools Chief, Principal

By Theresa Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 22, 2008; VA01

When Alexandria at last chooses a new superintendent, he or she will barely have time to slip into the top seat before facing a major test: picking a new principal for the city's only high school.

With the recent resignation of Mel Riddile, an award-winning principal who will leave T.C. Williams High at the end of this school year after two years at the helm, the city is left with having two of its top educator positions vacant. Some have described the school, and the school system, as a ship without its captains.

"People like a steady hand at the helm. And there isn't one," said former School Board member Sally Ann Baynard, whose daughter is a junior at T.C. Williams. "There is no hand at the helm."

Baynard was on the board when Riddile, 57, was chosen to replace longtime principal John Porter. Riddile had been working at J.E.B. Stuart High School in Fairfax County and had been named principal of the year by MetLife and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and Baynard said the school system was thrilled to have lured him. She called his resignation "a blow."

"When you only have one high school, it's not your flagship high school. It's your high school," she said. "T.C. Williams is very important to the city."

Bill Symons, Alexandria's interim superintendent, said he has discussed Riddile's departure with the School Board, and its members hope to line up potential candidates for the new superintendent to consider. The ultimate decision will have to rest with the new chief, he said.

"They need to make that call," said Symons, who is not a candidate for the position. "He or she is going to have to . . . work with them."

A timeline the School Board released for the superintendent search said the officials hope to fill the job by the end of this month. When asked for the names of the three finalists, who were scheduled to be interviewed May 9 and 10, board Chairman Claire M. Eberwein said the candidates requested confidentiality, and the board agreed to grant the request.

The board had previously zeroed in on three candidates and was expected to choose one before abruptly ending its relationship with nationally recognized consultants Ray and Associates last month.

The board is now working with Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates.

Symons said the task of finding a principal is especially difficult with the emphasis in today's educational atmosphere on testing and accountability. He added that finding the best candidate is even "more paramount" because the city has only one high school.

"It's such a demanding job, a lot of pressure, a lot of issues," Symons said. "You have to find those people who have the passion, and Mel was one of them."

Riddile announced his resignation to staff members May 14, telling some in person and also sending an e-mail.

"It is with both regret and anticipation that I have submitted my letter of resignation," he wrote. Riddile said he felt honored to have served the school district but added, "It is time to move on to new opportunities and challenges."

He accepted a job with the National Association of Secondary School Principals and will be working with principals across the nation.

"An opportunity like this only comes around once in a long while, and I felt I had to take advantage of it," he said.

Although Riddile's tenure at T.C. Williams was short, he pointed to several accomplishments. He oversaw the closing of the old building and the opening of a new state-of-the-art one. The school also moved to a closed campus policy for lunch.

And a literacy initiative was implemented across all performance levels.

"When I came here, we had no reading classes. We're up to 30 classes now," he said. He also pointed to technology advancements, with 139 fully equipped classrooms, compared with a handful before. Every student had a laptop computer, he said, but the teachers didn't have the equipment to match.

"We really took it from laptops as doorstops to necessities for the kids," Riddile said.

T.C. Williams has 2,074 students. The school's Web site says the student body is 43 percent African American, 25 percent Hispanic and 23 percent white.

Riddile said the overall goal has been to give all students the skills they need to be ready for college.

"The reality is, an 18-year-old today that doesn't have those skills is relegated to two things: a lifetime of marginal employment and second-class citizenships," he said. "They are basically shut out."

Riddile, a former linebacker at the University of North Carolina, has worked four decades as a school administrator and the last 12 as a high school principal. His tenure has not been without controversy.

In the 1980s, he worked with Straight Inc., a drug rehabilitation program for teenagers that was known for its "tough-love" approach and was the subject of lawsuits across the nation. In addition, some teachers and parents questioned his interpersonal skills.

Riddile said being a principal is more difficult today than in the past.

"They keep score on everything you do," he said. "In the old days, as a principal, if you didn't have problems, and the kids were fairly happy, you were a good principal."

Lynne Lawrence, president of T.C. Williams's Parent Teacher Student Association, said many parents were still processing the news about Riddile's departure a week after his announcement.

"Basically, I have heard general surprises and disappointment that Mel is leaving," Lawrence said. "Frankly, people haven't gotten into the nuts and bolts of what happens next."

She described Riddile as a strong leader and said she hopes his successor will see the greatness of the school and faculty. She also plans to encourage the board to give parents a voice in the decision.

It is true that the school has no captain, Lawrence said, but that's just for the moment.

"I'm sure it will get righted fairly soon," she said. "I hope."