Dr. Wardynski Resigns

Huntsville Superintendent of Schools Dr. Casey Wardynski announces his resignation at press conference Sept. 14, 2016 at the Annie Merts Center. (Bob Gathany/bgathany@AL.com)

(Bob Gathany)

Nobody saw it coming.

It took less than 48 hours for Huntsville City Schools Superintendent Casey Wardynski to tell the school board he was resigning, to announce it to the public, and then to have his resignation accepted.

The man who'd become a lightning rod for criticism was gone, leaving school officials and the public to piece together the reasons behind his abrupt exit.

At a hastily-assembled press conference on Sept. 14 - a few hours after he'd told his school board he planned to resign - Wardynski announced his resignation effective at 5 p.m. the following day. Under questioning from the media, he also disclosed a romantic relationship and forthcoming marriage to Karen Lee, the CEO of a private school paid to handle discipline problems for Huntsville.

At a special called board meeting the next day, the school board voted 4-1 to accept his resignation.

A self-professed "fixer," Wardynski ushered in wave after wave of reforms during his five-year tenure with Huntsville City Schools. His brusque, decisive management style earned him a fair share of critics. On the other side, the school board and most of Huntsville's community leaders have spoken publicly about the much-needed accountability he brought to a school system once in serious financial trouble.

By all accounts, his swift departure was unexpected in every quarter - including among those in the school system who worked closely with him.

Mixed legacy

Wardynski said at his press conference that he felt the timing was right for his departure because the school system was in a stable financial position and he was pleased with the improvements made in school discipline, an area of community concern last school year.

"If a leader is going to change out, the time to do it is when things are running right and things can be sustained," he said.

In June of 2011, the school board voted 3-2 to hire Wardynski as the system faced state intervention due to poor financial management. Within months, Wardynski began replacing central office administrators, announced the closure of Butler High School and rolled out his plan to remove textbooks from classrooms and provide a laptop or tablet for every student.

A growing chorus of critics dogged him as the school system implemented wide-reaching changes - including new zone lines, teacher reassignments and an overhaul of the disciplinary code - to end a federal segregation lawsuit from 1963. Wardynski's support eroded among black Huntsville leaders and other factions dissatisfied with what they perceived as a non-collaborative, top-down management style.

The school board itself has faced criticism for rarely voting against Wardynski. Last month, Huntsville elected two outspoken critics of Wardynski to the school board.

"One of the things weighing heavily on him was that so many people were fighting and that wasn't helping the children," said board president Laurie McCaulley, who was defeated in the District 1 board race by newcomer Michelle Watkins. Watkins testified against the system during a federal desegregation hearing and had tense encounters with Wardynski during citizen comments at school board meetings.

"He felt like if he was the center of the fight, he could remove himself. I know it was not an easy decision for him."

Walker McGinnis, board representative for District 4, also thought the outspoken criticism Wardynski faced factored into his resignation.

"You've got to have people pulling together to get anything done," said McGinnis. "He saw a real problem with (the amount of negative attention he attracted). That's why I think he went ahead and resigned."

Wardynski himself did not mention his critics when he announced his resignation, but did say he wanted more time to address things in his personal life, including grieving the loss of his wife last December and his upcoming marriage to Lee.

Beth Wilder, board representative for District 2, said she thought he may have been considering resigning and "thoughts of resigning may have been initiated by the death of his beloved wife, Sue."

At the press conference, Wardynski announced his intention to marry Lee in December "and have a life." At the time he acknowledged that a relationship with the owner of a company that has a contract with the school system could have led to questions about a conflict of interest.

"As a superintendent, it's always important to be above reproach," he said. "If I was to marry Ms. Lee while I was superintendent it could become an issue. So that would be a problem."

What is Pinnacle?

Karen Lee (Pinnacle Schools photo)

Lee founded The Pinnacle Schools, a Huntsville-based company that offers private and alternative schooling for troubled teens and a residential treatment program.

In January 2012, The Pinnacle Schools was approved by the Huntsville school board to operate RAISE, an alternative school program for middle and high school students that would replace The Seldon Center, the system's longtime alternative school on Holmes Avenue. The contract was renewed in 2014 for another three years.

Huntsville City Schools has paid The Pinnacle Schools at least $5.7 million since 2012 to accommodate up to 125 students in the RAISE program each year and five at Pinnacle's Elk River residential treatment facility. By the time the contract comes up for renewal in 2017, the total payout will be at least $6.9 million. Those numbers do not include additional costs to the school system when it refers more than 125 students at a time to RAISE. That cost is $950 per extra student per month.

A new Pinnacle program

Wardynski's resignation announcement came a day before a regular school board meeting during which an invoice for The Pinnacle Schools was up for approval for payment.

The bill was for implementation of a new Pinnacle-managed program in Huntsville City Schools, but school board members knew little about it.

Sometime around April 2016, The Pinnacle Schools launched a six-week pilot program at Huntsville High School called Assignment for Positive Progress (APP). The APP program was designed to serve students who had been adjudicated - the juvenile justice equivalent of convicted - of certain crimes and who were returning to school after spending time at a state juvenile detention facility.

"You're talking about kids who have been charged with homicide, violent crimes, even rape, and the law says because they're under 17 you have to allow them back in public schools" within 30 days of their release from the juvenile detention facility, said McCaulley. "APP was designed because the 30-day window may not be sufficient for some kids."

The APP pilot program operated inside Huntsville High School, where APP students were kept in a separate classroom and assigned a behavior specialist, a social worker, an academic teacher and other supports.

"At the time I had a general understanding of the need for and purpose of the program," said Wilder. "I'm not sure where the idea (to launch the program) originated. It is consistent with the goals of our Positive Behavior and Intervention Support services."

The school board did not have to approve the APP pilot program because the school system's administration - headed by Wardynski - can allocate funding up to approximately $200,000 without board approval, said board member Elisa Ferrell.

During the pilot program, some parents expressed concern that troubled kids who had spent time in state youth detention facilities were now on campus at Huntsville High. One Huntsville High parent submitted a concern recorded by the system's desegregation advisory committee on April 5: "Pinnacle in Huntsville High School?? Disaster waiting to happen. Where is the logic with this?"

In an April 4 letter to parents about multiple topics, Huntsville High Principal Aaron King said, "We are not moving the Pinnacle Program into Huntsville High School. The Pinnacle Program will continue to provide Credit Recovery options and serve our students who have been expelled from Huntsville City Schools."

Sometime over the summer break, Wardynski began dating Lee. At the time he considered the ethical implications of that decision, he said.

"I have talked to ethics attorneys and I shared with responsible authorities with the school system when I felt that it was an issue," he said.

When school started in early August, the APP program launched in all six high schools, with one APP class per school. New Century Technology High and Lee High share one class because they're located on the same campus. The number of students served by the program is unclear.

In late August or early September, Wardynski told board members that he was dating Lee but did not mention marriage. The next day, said McCaulley, the board contacted its attorney, J.R. Brooks, to ask if Wardynski's relationship constituted a conflict of interest or could violate state ethics laws because Pinnacle had a contract with the school system.

Brooks would not comment on any meetings with Wardynski or the school board, citing attorney-client privilege.

Soon after, an invoice arrived from Pinnacle, billing the school system for the six-week APP pilot program at Huntsville High and one month (August) of operating APP in the district's six high schools.

On Sept. 12, McCaulley, as board president, and Elisa Ferrell, as board vice president, met with Wardynski for a board agenda meeting, as they always do on the Monday before a scheduled Thursday board meeting.

At the meeting, Wardynski asked McCaulley to put Pinnacle's invoice for the APP program on the agenda for Thursday's meeting. He mentioned again that he was dating Lee.

"We had a full discussion in the agenda meeting, with a lot of exploratory questions," said McCaulley. She and Ferrell said the agenda meeting was the first time they'd seen Pinnacle's request for compensation for APP.

"We knew that because (the compensation request) was on the agenda it would be discussed publicly (at the board meeting)," McCaulley said. "He asked for it to be placed on the agenda so he knew quite well it would be discussed publicly."

Two days later, Wardynski told his board members he was resigning. He would not be giving the three months' notice outlined - but not required - in his contract.

Five years

Board member Mike Culbreath cast the lone dissenting vote the next evening when the board voted 4-1 to accept Wardynski's resignation. He said later that he didn't like how quickly Wardynski left.

McGinnis said Wardynski's quick departure surprised him, too.

"I was very close with Dr. Wardynski. I thought the world of him," he said. "Used to, we'd go out and look at movies together and stuff like that.

"In five years he did a great job," he said. "But he just got tired. It happens. Most superintendents now don't last but two or three years. He lasted five."

The board voted to appoint longtime Huntsville educator Tom Drake as interim superintendent.

Later, during the board meeting, Drake struck the Pinnacle compensation request from the agenda. The move was greeted at the meeting with applause.

The board has since launched what McCaulley called an "intensive review" of the APP program. She and Ferrell have asked that the results of the review be presented at the board's next meeting on Oct. 13.