New superintendent Q&A

He runs daily. He doesn’t drink coffee or tea, but plenty of water. He has spent the past four years in a red state but the 14 before that in a blue state. He has a doctorate in education from Harvard.

Maybe Sheldon Berman was made for Eugene?

The superintendent of the 99,000-student Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Ky., was named by the Eugene School Board on March 16 to replace departing Superintendent George Russell.

The 62-year-old Berman starts July 1 but will be in Eugene several times before then to meet with Russell and school board members, and begin the task of learning a new district.

Berman, who was hired over two other finalists, Darlene Schottle of Kalispell, Mont., and Michael Munoz of Des Moines, Iowa, will inherit a district whose enrollment and finances have steadily declined in recent years.

The Eugene district, looking at a $24 million budget shortfall for the 2011-12 school year, is closing four elementary schools, expanding class sizes and laying off teachers — just how many depending in part on whether voters pass a city income tax for schools on the May 17 ballot.

Plus, the district soon will begin compensation-concession negotiations with employee unions.

Berman served as superintendent of the 2,800-student Hudson Public Schools in Hudson, Mass., from 1993 to 2007, and was named Massachusetts Superintendent of the Year in 2003; he says that in a 10-year period in Hudson he reduced average class size from 24 to 18 students.

But he had a controversial four-year stint in Louisville, arriving just two days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the district’s school busing and desegregation plan was unconstitutional. Berman shepherded a new school-assignment and busing plan that was based on students’ family income and education levels instead of on race.

Many were unhappy with the plan. Last November, the Jefferson County Board of Education decided not to renew his contract.

The Eugene School Board was impressed enough with Berman, however, to hire him as the one who might lead the district out of its financial quagmire. Berman, who will visit here on April 15 and April 16 for a school board retreat, agreed to the challenge, even though the salary he will earn here, not yet finalized, will be substantially less than the $273,000 he earned in Louisville.

In a telephone interview from Louisville this week, Berman addressed some questions on his tenure at Louisville and how he might deal with the Eugene district’s problems.

Question: Are you afraid of the budget crisis you are inheriting?

Answer: “No. I don’t think fear is ever a motivator or good for quality decision making. I’ll be meeting with George Russell and as many others as I can (to find out) what are some short-term solutions and what are some long-term solutions. George has already sent me a copy of the budget.”

Question: How do you keep class sizes down?

Answer: “You focus your resources on that as a specific strategy. It’s really that simple. Obviously, you can’t win grants (to do it), so you focus your general budget to get your class sizes as close to the goals that you want as you can. And it takes time. You keep building it teacher by teacher. You add one or two teachers at a time, and you keep building it. I have to do a lot of analysis and listen to people as to where they are with instruction. I have to get a better sense of all that.”

Question: Did you fear your Louisville baggage would cost you a chance at the Eugene job?

Answer: “I think anybody who looks thoroughly at what I’ve done, the ‘baggage,’ is not that sizeable. … We live in a very difficult time. I’m very proud of what I’ve done here (in Louisville). I’m very pleased that the (Eugene School) Board looked beyond the surface, at the depth of the work that we’re doing. It said to me that they are a very thoughtful board, and they did their homework.”

Question: Did you fear your age might be a liability, and how many years do you plan to serve before retirement?

Answer: “I’ve got a child going into eighth grade, who will not only be going on to high school but to college. So I’ve got a lot of work ahead. I feel like I’m in my 40s. I run every day. I was a competitive fencer for 25 years. My father is 93. I would like to remain stable. I want to see my child through one high school in one district. If I like the community, I’d like to stay on. Frankly, I would have stayed (in Louisville) if I had the opportunity. I’m not someone who jumps from job to job. I like doing a job well. Eugene feels like the right match.”

Question: Is it hard to accept such a sizeable pay cut?

Answer: “You don’t know what that is. We don’t have a contract yet. This was a good opportunity for me while I was here (in Louisville), and I appreciate that. Salary has never been the most important thing to me. What’s important to me is the match and whether I feel it’s a place I can make a difference.”

Question: What accomplishments are you most proud of in your four years in Louisville?

Answer: “This is an urban district. And in an urban district, we’ve been able to create changes quickly. The urgency in an urban district is so much greater. We were able to take the opportunity and make a significant difference. We have 10 persistently low-achieving high schools. We’re in the process of dramatically turning those programs around. In poor neighborhoods, the rate of care has gone up dramatically. We’ve been able to look at: How are we going to care for students? And how are we going to get the community to surround them and give them the support they need? And we’ve been able to do that.”

Question: What do you regret most about Louisville?

Answer: “I actually think that this has been a great run here. I think there was a difference in expectations with what the board values. I wish I’d had a little more foresight to see the issues with the student-assignment plan and the busing.”

Question: Were you a victim of racism or politics?

Answer: “I don’t want to answer that. I don’t want to go there. You’ll have to get that from someone else. I have no qualms with what we’ve put down for a foundation here. The key question is whether they’ll be able to build on it. I’ve learned a lot here. There are great educators in this district. And it’s been wonderful to collaborate with them on moving the district forward.”

Question: What did you know about the Eugene School District and its reputation before seeking the job?

Answer: “Any community that has a major university, you have a significant advantage in collaboration. And the University of Oregon is an outstanding university. And I always heard that Eugene was an innovative (school) district. And I’m seen as an innovator.”

Question: Some consider you a diversity guru — do you embrace, reject or qualify that image?

Answer: “I do believe very strongly in diversity and the values of diversity. Our culture and our world is becoming very diverse. And that’s the kind of educational program that I’ve been able to foster with a staff that promotes student academic growth and personal development. The kinds of things we’ve put in place here … there’s been a lot of work in the instructional programs. You come to a district, and you take on a task. I expect I’ll initially be taking on a lot of trying to tackle the budget.”

Question: What will your focus in Eugene be when it comes to school choice and alternative schools?

Answer: “I really want to look at that. In Hudson, we were open to school choice and students could transfer (to other schools). Here (Louisville), we’ve expanded the choice system significantly. I like choice because it gives parents choices, and it gives schools the ability to focus on specific programs. I’ll have to do more analysis. When you have alternative (schools), you want to be careful that they are effective alternatives and will serve students well.”

Question: Are the Eugene district’s best days behind it?

Answer: “You can never have that perspective. I would never come to a district with that perspective. I hope people will take real pride and say, ‘This was the best of times for us.’ ”

Question: What’s the first thing you’ll do on July 1?

Answer: “I hope to begin a long process talking to people; spend a lot of time listening and see where people think the district is going, where they want it to go and where it might go, and finding out what’s really important and begin putting together a plan.”