School Board Bids Deasy Farewell

By Ann K. Williams
Staff Writer

April 17 -- School officials earlier this month gave Dr. John E. Deasy a heartfelt send-off at his last board meeting before starting his new job in May as leader of Prince George’s County public schools in Maryland.

At the April 6 meeting Deasy was showered with compliments, which he returned in his good-bye speech thanking all those who supported his work before leaving the community with a final mandate.

“All men dream but not equally,” Deasy quoted T. E. Lawrence. Some dream at night, but “other men dream in the day. These are dangerous men for they know and summon the courage and conviction needed to have these dreams become real.

“We have become dreamers in the day,” Deasy told his audience. “The students in this district are counting on us to be their dream keepers.”

In a formal resolution, the board commended Deasy for his “remarkable success in raising student achievement while simultaneously closing the achievement gap,” the most noted accomplishment of his nearly five-year tenure as Superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu School District.

It wouldn’t have been possible without help from all quarters of the community, Deasy said.

“We did this as a supportive team,” he said, going on to thank a host of community and district leaders for their support.

District staff and the board set the highest possible standards, Deasy said.

“I actually fear I will never again know this level of true teamwork, honest and authentic improvement of each other’s work and camaraderie again,” he told them.

Board members returned the sentiment.

“My concern is we won’t have another superintendent that will match you,” responded Board member Jose Escarce.

Courageous, principled, relentless and focused were some of the adjectives board members and others used to compliment Deasy.

Mike Matthews, the current Interim Superintendent, joked that it was a good thing Deasy was a family man, because his wife made him stop working and leave the office at least some of the time.

He called Deasy “an amazing thinker, an amazing leader, a heck of a mentor and a close friend.”

Though the board was sorry to see Deasy go, some members said his new job as Superintendent of the troubled school district near the nation’s capitol will put him in a position to champion students’ rights on a larger scale.

Board President Julia Brownley pointed out that Deasy is going to take charge of the 18th largest school district in the country that faces “many, many challenges.”

“Dr. Deasy is absolutely the right superintendent” for the job, Brownley said. “If anyone can face those challenges successfully, I know it’s our superintendent Dr. Deasy.”

“The country is going to benefit,” agreed Board member Shane McCloud.

And Board member Emily Bloomfield wasn’t surprised to see Deasy move onward and upward.

Bloomfield said she’d always had a “sense that you have a mission in life,” adding that “many many people will benefit.”

Deasy and his family -- wife with flowers in hand -- seemed pleased, if a little embarrassed by all the attention, and when the spotlight returned to the board’s business, they left the chambers quickly to get ready to go back east.