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The schools chief on Tuesday earned high performance marks from the School Board. It hasn't always been so.
By KELLY RYAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 30, 2000
LARGO -- The low point came in 1995.
Five years into his job as Pinellas school superintendent, Howard Hinesley was suddenly, perilously close to getting fired. He was criticized for having no vision, no communication skills, no interest in public input.
On Tuesday, Hinesley's comeback seemed complete. Board members scored his performance as a 4.45 on a scale of 1 (ineffective) to 5 (highly effective). An evaluation that five years ago was a contentious chore was handled in just 30 minutes Tuesday -- not exactly a lovefest, but close.
"Pinellas County would look for a long time and be hard-pressed to find a better superintendent," board Chairman Max Gessner wrote in his evaluation. "Dr. Hinesley is an excellent leader who is concerned for the academic improvement of all students."
In his 10 years running the 21st-largest district in the nation, Hinesley has weathered storm after storm -- controversial discipline cases, lean financial years, unsupportive school boards and often-contentious negotiations with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to end court-ordered busing.
Any one of those issues could have finished a superintendent.
But Hinesley is now the longest-serving superintendent of the nation's 25-largest urban school districts. Though he is appointed -- not elected -- he is the dean of educators in Florida, too, with no one in office longer.
Hinesley's supporters -- and he has many -- say he has lasted so long because he rose through the ranks of Pinellas schools. He has courted business, community and union leaders. He has pushed change, but slowly.
His critics privately call him "Mr. Teflon" and derisively refer to the district headquarters as the Taj Mahal. They say he's a survivor because he knows how to pass blame, talk out of both sides of his mouth and surround himself with like-minded employees who insulate him from controversy.
Whatever they think of Hinesley personally, his supporters and critics agree: He is a smart, politically savvy man with the charm of a born leader. And he shows no sign of soon joining the nation's superintendents who, on average, quit every couple of years.
"I've got a lot of energy," Hinesley said Tuesday. "I like working."
Hinesley, 53, arrived in the superintendent's office by way of the district's curriculum and exceptional education departments. In 1985, then-Superintendent Scott Rose named Hinesley the district's No. 2 administrator. In March 1990, School Board members met to decide whether to conduct a national search to replace Rose. With a 7-0 vote, they decided to choose Hinesley, who sat with them at the dais.
"He's creative. He works well in groups," said Rose, who was in his 10th year as superintendent when he retired. "He has a certain amount of charisma."
In the 27 years Jade Moore has been executive director of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, Pinellas County has had just three superintendents. All of their success, Moore said, rests on their ability to win over the groups they can't afford to alienate: School Board, teachers' union, PTA and the Times.
"It isn't that you shouldn't go outside and get fresh ideas, but I think the reason he has been around so long is because he is one of us," Moore said. "He is a very, very open guy."
No one does friendly like Hinesley.
Visitors are welcomed to his office with a Southern drawl hello, a handshake and a boisterous laugh. Most days, a reporter can wander the halls of district headquarters and bump into Hinesley or find his office door open. The ubiquitous Hinesley "never turns down a chance to appear at a church" and frequently visits synagogues, businesses and schools. He has regular meetings with the leaders of the teachers' union and has the ear of some Times editors.
"He's just personable and likable and he'll work both sides of an issue and get both sides saying, "Hey, Howard's a great guy,"' said Rob McMahon, president of the teachers union. "To his credit, we're not surprised by very many things that happen in the district."
Hinesley loves to gab about politics, his beloved University of Alabama and his family. His family is about the only reason Hinesley could imagine leaving Pinellas.
He grew up in Warrenton, Ga., one of those rare places that still has authentic, small-town Southern charm. Hinesley talks to his parents once a week, and they often ask when he's coming home.
"We're all very close," said Hinesley, who is married and has three adult children who attended Pinellas schools.
"They do things together that I can't do," he said. "As your parents get older, you do think about these things."
Hinesley is halfway through a four-year contract that expires June 30, 2002. He must let the School Board know by November 2001 if he doesn't want to stay -- and right now he says he does.
Hinesley earns about $151,000, with an automatic annual raise. Hinesley's raise equals the average teachers' raise, unless it's above 5 percent. Hinesley can't get more than that. He also gets a $3,000 bonus -- controversial because the board approved it without realizing Hinesley would benefit -- that he donates to charity.
For taking care of Pinellas schools 24 hours a day (his contract requires that he have a home office), Hinesley gets perks: a Buick Park Avenue, membership in four professional education groups, travel to conferences, health insurance, life insurance, 22 vacation days, 12 sick days and other benefits. The salaries and benefits aren't enough to keep most superintendents, at a time when educators face increasing pressure to raise test scores, retain teachers and openly address the achievement gap between black and white students.
Pasco County school Superintendent John Long said he hears his colleagues spend conferences sharing their strategies for preventing heart attacks. Hinesley seems immune from such worries; he sleeps at night and doesn't have high blood pressure.
Long, who considers Hinesley a mentor and friend, thinks the secret to Hinesley's success is that he doesn't take criticism to heart and freely exchanges information with the School Board. One of Hinesley's most vocal critics, board member Susan Latvala, didn't fill out his evaluation.
Board members offered this constructive criticism: Hinesley and the district must do a better job of explaining complicated issues, relaying positive school news, decrying the state's school grading system and getting ahead of public controversies. They also want Hinesley to commit to developing a strategic plan for recruiting and retaining teachers.
Latvala still thinks Hinesley doesn't involve the public enough in decisions and doesn't have the vision to guide the state's seventh-largest district. She doesn't think he has shown any willingness to change or improve.
"We have a fabulous staff, from the top down, people that want to fix problems when they see them, rather than point their fingers and blame," Latvala said. "I think that helps Dr. Hinesley."
For all the issues Hinesley faces, none looms larger than the end of court-ordered busing and race ratios in schools.
U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday approved a negotiated settlement between the School Board and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to end a 1964 court case. Ending federal oversight was not Hinesley's idea -- it was the School Board's -- but he now says it was a wise path.
Between now and fall 2003, the district has to figure out dozens of details of a plan to end traditional school zoning and begin letting parents choose their children's schools. Hinesley acknowledges it will be difficult and controversial -- but he said it is not the toughest challenge facing Pinellas County.
Instead, Hinesley is more worried about narrowing the achievement gap between black and white students and overcoming something the district cannot control: how well-prepared kindergarteners are when they arrive at school.
"How do you deal with a child coming to school who for the first five years of his life has not had any kind of preschool or anyone to read to him?" he said. "That's the greatest challenge. There are no magic answers to that."