FCPS Superintendent Jack Dale to retire

Dale

Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Jack Dale plans to retire on July 1, 2013, at the end of his current contract.

“I have served an extraordinary 42 years in public education, and I am honored to have had the opportunity to lead this world-class school system,” Dale, 62, said as he announced his plans to retire on Sept. 22.

This means the school board elections this November will be all the more important, as the new board will face the formidable task of hiring a new superintendent.

“In my mind, there is no other school system that has the same level of commitment of its school board, engagement of its community and parents, and talents and skills of its employees,” Dale said. “I look forward to spending more time with my three grandchildren and family on both the East and West coasts and pursuing my personal interests as a pilot, reader, and golfer. I also hope to contribute to public education in some way. For the next year and a half, however, I will be focused on helping our new school board craft the direction that will guide our system for the next decade.”

Before becoming FCPS superintendent in 2004, Dale served as superintendent of the Frederick County, Md., school system. A native of Seattle, he started his career in education as a math teacher.

Among Dale’s accomplishments cited in the FCPS press release:His leadership in guiding the school system through “an historic budget crisis, maintaining the high quality of education for which FCPS is internationally known while creating a streamlined central office with hundreds of fewer positions and generating efficiencies throughout the school system.”

It also mentions “his leadership in closing the achievement gap among groups of students by emphasizing professional learning communities and launching the priority schools initiative, which drives additional support to those schools that need it most to reach their student achievement goals.”