Maryland educator Michael Robinson has been hired as the superintendent for the Pine Bluff School District.
Robinson, 46, will replace interim Superintendent T.C. Wallace Jr., who has held the position for about a year after replacing Linda Watson, who is suing the district over her termination in April 2015.
Robinson, a native of Louisiana, visited Pine Bluff for an interview last week and was told via Skype at the Pine Bluff School Board meeting Tuesday night that he got the job. He's been instructional director at Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland for the past eight years.
Robinson said Wednesday that he has aspired to be a superintendent for the past three years.
"When I read up on Pine Bluff and looked at the district as a whole, I knew it was a place I could truly call home," Robinson said. "When I came to interview, I knew it was a definite fit for me."
Pine Bluff School Board President Henry Dabner witnessed Robinson's interaction with others during the day Robinson spent in the city.
"He listens to people and has the ability to get people to work with him," Dabner said. "I think he does a great job of communicating with staff, with the parents that he got to meet, and with the kids, which is what this is really about."
Dabner stopped short of calling Robinson a workaholic, saying the educator puts in 12- to 14-hour days. His position as instructional director would be considered an assistant superintendent in most school districts, Robinson said.
A consulting firm came up with the list of finalists. It also included Elbert Harvey, the Arkansas Department of Education's coordinator of school improvement/standards assurance; Merele Dickerson Jr., former Van Buren School District superintendent; and Larry Lewis, at-risk services, student achievement and involvement coordinator in Frisco, Texas.
Wallace applied for the job but did not make the final cut, Dabner said.
Robinson will start July 1 with a three-year contract that pays $155,000 per year. He is expected to make a trip to Pine Bluff next week. Dabner said Robinson maintains close ties to his mother, who lives in Thibodaux, La., which was part of the draw for Robinson.
Robinson said his desire to become a superintendent developed about the time his father died.
"He told me before he [passed] that God had something powerful for me to do and that something big was coming my way," Robinson said. "My mother, a retired teacher in Louisiana, has also contributed to my success. I am blessed to be closer to her so that I can visit and look after her more often."
Prince George's County Public Schools is one of the nation's 25 largest school districts and the second-largest school system in Maryland, with an annual budget of $1.8 billion, 209 schools and centers, and a student enrollment of nearly 129,000. In his current position, Robinson supervises 13 schools and more than 10,000 students.
Pine Bluff's annual budget is between $41 million and $42 million. There are roughly 4,000 students spread over nine schools. Two of those schools, Pine Bluff High School and Belair Middle School, have been labeled by the state as "academically distressed," meaning less than half of the students scored at proficient levels on state math and literacy exams over the past three years.
State law gives the state Education Board a range of actions it can take in regard to academically distressed schools. That includes doing nothing, removing the principal and teachers at a school, requiring a new curriculum, removing the school from a district's jurisdiction, closing the school and taking over the district, and removing the school board and superintendent.
At one time, there were four Pine Bluff schools on the list of academically distressed schools.
Robinson is a former elementary and middle school teacher, a former elementary and middle school "turnaround" principal and a former assistant high school principal.
Dabner and School Board member Phyllis Wilkins both said they were impressed with Robinson's turnaround experience -- bringing poorly performing schools back up to and maintaining acceptable standards.
"The main thing is getting those schools out of academic distress and keeping them out of academic distress," Dabner said. "That will be the biggest challenge."
Wilkins said it's a plus to have someone with experience in such situations.
"He has a history of working with children from low-income and minority families," she said.
Robinson earned his undergraduate degree in elementary education from Southern University in New Orleans. He received at master's degree in educational leadership from Troy State University's campus in Atlanta and received two doctorates in educational leadership from Argosy University in Sarasota, Fla.
He worked as principal at an elementary school in Greenville, Ga., and a middle school in the Prince George's County Public Schools system before becoming the district's director of priority schools and instructional director.
State Desk on 04/21/2016