Dr. Ken Savage, Superintendent of Schools

cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com

The new head of the School District of Lee County is a familiar one that has worn many hats in the education realm as he’s ascended the ranks.

Interim Superintendent Dr. Ken Savage accepted the baton in June from the outgoing Dr. Greg Adkins and hopes to lead the district in a positive direction no matter how long his tenure lasts.

“It’s been a lot of work, but it’s been a real privilege,” Savage said of his time in the role thus far. “Truly, I think I’ve enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The opportunity to serve in this chair is truly the honor of a lifetime.”

Savage, 42, moved to the Fort Myers area from Ohio at a young age and progressed through the Lee County school having attended Villas Elementary, what was at the time Dunbar Middle, and Cypress Lake High School. He comes from a family of educators and has two children who attend Lee County schools themselves.

Prior to his being appointed to the superintendent position, Savage served as the chief operations officer at the district.

“It was a great opportunity to learn, and see what the board dynamic was like — how to work with the board as well as how to work in upper-level leadership in a district of our size.”

He was approved by the school board via a 5-2 vote and now oversees the ninth-largest school district in the state (32nd in the US) with more than 95,000 students.

Savage has a long history in education and spent years in various roles in Lee County Schools (Cypress Middle, Dunbar High, Veterans Park), and was named the Principal of the Year across the state of Florida in 2018 for his success at James Stephens International Academy, where he improved the school grade from an “F” to a “B” in just one year.

Savage, following his success at James Stephens, was recruited to the state level of leadership as an executive where he learned about the statewide apparatus of the education system.

“I’ve always been a part of a lot of district-level leadership work,” Savage said. “Being a school leader, you really are very close to what the work is and I’m trying to bring that perspective to my role presently and to keep that at the forefront.”

He said he asks himself, “When I was a principal, what did I want things to look like to serve all of the important work that I was doing?”

Savage said while his ascension though the district ranks take him farther from the classroom, he’s always cognizant on what’s best for the children.

“Who better than the people that are working with the kids to be driving everything you’re doing? I try to remain engaged with that,” he said.

He often has conversations with his siblings, who are district educators, on where they feel shortcomings are taking place and what the areas of improvement may be.

“I also have a lot of great relationships with administrators all across our district because I came up through here,” he said. “I try every single day to keep our schools and the classrooms and the work that’s going on at the forefront of every thought, so you don’t lose touch with it. Because when you’re away from it, it can be very challenging to keep that reality of what’s actually going on out there at the forefront — not to get sucked into the politics, not to get sucked into the district apparatus and the board, but to focus on children every day.”

Savage said the No. 1 reason he decided to throw his hat in the ring for the interium superintendent spot was to be the “chief servant” to the district, its educators, students, and community.

“The higher you are, the more you have an obligation to truly be a servant leader every single day,” he said. “I think what I was feeling as leader here, was I was concerned that we might be getting away from our core work. That the board had a lot of challenges, and the district had a lot of challenges. I really felt that I wanted to help be a part of that solution, to say, ‘Can we come together more? Can we not be as divisive as we are? Can we try and come together as a team and work a little bit more together?'”

Savage said the last thing he wants to do is strip individual school board members of their individual opinion, but that it’s on them to be an example to the community, children and schools.

“If we are a distraction, we are potentially harming the work of our important school system,” he said. “I wanted to not just be there to throw the darts at that, but to really be part of the change.”

So, what things does Savage see for operating as a cohesive unit?

“I think it starts with everyone looking in the mirror,” he said. “You can’t control anyone else. Control is not the answer. But we have the ability to influence each other, and we do have the ability to control ourselves. I encourage every single member of our governance team — and I have to be true to this myself and be disciplined — to try to influence positively so we can build up a sense of trust, we can have a level of maturity and professionalism that sets an example for others and I think every individual person can constantly reflect and say, ‘Am I personally helping make this better, or am I making it more challenging?’ I think we all have to kind of have to answer that question for ourselves.”

Savage said his goals for the district as interim superintendent is to be constantly listening and inquiring on the status of each individual institution.

“Everyone has a different perspective. So I think part of it is to really do a better job getting out and talking to people,” he said.

Putting those words into action, Savage reported that he’s met with every (scheduling conflicts aside) principal in the district to hash out what their needs, wants, and desires are and to help decide where areas of improvement lie.

He also has the goal to visit every school in the district over the first 100 school days to engage with front-line staff.

“You name it, I want to be out there with the people,” Savage said. “Because they’re coming off of a very difficult time, and that time is still ongoing with the pandemic. It’s still in progress.

“I want to know how people are doing. What’s working, what’s not? Maybe not even just what they say, but how they say it. I want to bring that back to our board and our team. I call it ‘The Listening Tour.’ That’s the most important goal.”

The second major piece of the puzzle comes down to district leaders as a whole, and how they are working day in and day out on making a positive atmosphere for students and education.

With local cases of COVID-19 trending upward, Savage said, “There is nothing more pressing in my mind than the pandemic. And I think until it’s over, it will be.”

Savage said he will continue to engage with local medical experts, as well as those on a state and national level.

“We keep an open line of communication with the Department of Health, our local health care providers, to try to get the best advisement that they can give us.

“This is something we’re all having to grapple with. It’s a constant learning process. At the end of the day, safety is the most important thing.”

Savage said more than 1,000 are currently enrolled in Lee Virtual School, and that the number may climb.

“It’s wonderful to have that option for families, so that at least if they are feeling too scared and they don’t want to come back or feel the optional mask and some other pieces are enough, that at least they do have another option. But we’re never going to stop trying to make things as safe as we possibly can.”

As far as the “interim” in his title, Savage said, “I have to approach it mentally the same way as if I was here for (years), which is to lead every day. That’s what I focus on.

“I’m excited to hold the baton while I have it, and I’m excited to hand it to the next person. And my hope is by the time that time period comes, when I had the baton, the district is better than I found it today.”

The current school board has chosen a national hiring firm, Ray and Associates, Inc., to present them with potential candidates of which they will vet and eventually, make a final decision. District officials have said they expect the decision to take six to nine months.

Some of the areas in which the rubric will focus on to determine the firm of choice to help with the permanent superintendent search include broad range of expertise and services, experience in bringing diverse candidates, budget and pricing, process including each step and clarity of role and expectations, stakeholder engagement — specific to the board and specific to the community, expertise specific to district and size and consultant lead on the search.

“Being Lee County’s superintendent right now is probably the privilege of my lifetime,” Savage said. “I don’t think I’ll ever feel as proud for any job that I ever have. I have not really thought about the permanent piece of it. I think for me, out of respect for our board and the process, my feeling is that we have a national search, and we honor that approach. If the day comes where (they ask if I wanted the role permanently) then I will strongly consider the question; right now I’m just enjoying the privilege of leading every day.

“I care more about being a part of this community and being in my home, then I do about being in this role. I respect this role and I will give it everything I have every day that I’m in it.”

–Connect with this reporter on Twitter: @haddad_cj