Williamson County Schools superintendent, Dr. Mike Looney, photographed in his office Tuesday.

Looney: Complacency, funding biggest challenges facing WCS
By SUSAN LEATHERS
Brentwood Home Page
A year ago today, Dr. Mike Looney arrived at the Williamson County Schools’ central office in Franklin in the midst of a firestorm. The night before, the Board of Education had deferred a controversial spot rezoning decision – to move a small percentage of students from overcrowded Ravenwood High School to less-crowded Centennial.  

That decision put in process the district-wide rezoning process that began last spring, then took up much of the superintendent's, senior staff's and the board’s time and attention in the past several months.

Funding issues have been a key issue Looney has had to face head on since the first day he arrived. Despite overseeing the creation and presenting a less than status quo budget to the Williamson County Commission, the board has been asked to twice fund additional health-care premium costs for all WCS employees.

The new superintendent also was charged with keeping student academic achievement high – and making sure that year-over-year progress was attained.

Sitting in his second-floor office in the old county hospital that years ago was transitioned into the Williamson County Administrative Complex on West Main Street, Looney reflected on his first year in his post, one he described as “productive.”

“We’ve had some challenges that we’ve managed to overcome,” he said, but quickly added, “We have some issues that still need to be addressed. The work is certainly not done. In fact, I would say we’re just getting revved up.”

Marines built character
Looney came from the much-smaller Butler, Ala. School system, though he had earlier been an assistant superintendent in Montgomery, Ala. In addition to his educational experience and formal education, Looney spent seven years (“six months and two days”) in the U.S. Marines. “I really credit my military service for building my character,” he said. “I would take my Marine service over my doctorate” when it comes to day-to-day perseverance, he said.

Scales Elementary Principal Rick West greets Mike Looney during a welcome reception held for the new WCS director of schools last fall.

He needed that fortitude in recent months as he led staff and the board through both budgeting and rezoning. Though Butler was a declining school system as a opposed to a growing one like Williamson’s, Looney said, “surprisingly the work is similar … The business of schooling is very similar no matter where you go. The people are different … but the issues are the same.”

As to the recent rezoning process, Looney said some people may be surprised to learn his University of Alabama doctoral dissertation, which he defended right before taking the Williamson County position, was on the “acquisition, use and disposition of school facilities.” That work, paired with real-life experience in school construction, school consolidation and knowing how to plan for and acquire property for new building, he said, was all beneficial over the past year.

Like Williamson, the Butler school district did not have funding authority. However, unlike WCS, the Butler school board set its budget and the county funded it. The county did not approve it or ask for changes. “That’s been a very, very, different experience, and learning process, for me frankly,” Looney said.

He said the school board and county commission here have a strong relationship, and he added he has worked hard to develop professional relationships with new county commissioners and county staff.

An alarm bell is sounding
Soon after he arrived, the schools’ central office staff began working on the 2010-11 budget. The county requested a “status quo budget … and we ended up cutting it when they didn’t ask us to cut,” he said. “Now we have a pretty lean and mean budget, and a difficult budget year ahead of us.” Since that budget’s approval, the school board has been asked to absorb significant increases in health insurance costs. Looney said the fact that the board was able to do that also “speaks volumes” about the school board’s and commission’s “commitment to use the taxpayers’ money wisely."

"Having said that, I will also say that I think the alarm bell is sounding for Williamson County."

Of most concern to Looney as he enters his sophomore year is student achievement. He pulled out the most recent copy of statistics and rankings of the state’s public school systems. “We’ve dropped from 68^th to 84^th out of 135 districts,” he said in per pupil spending. “It now has us spending $7714 … Our per pupil expenditures have decreased because we’ve added more students but have not increased taxes.

 “I will be the first in line to say that it is decision time in Williamson County. Do we truly want to have the best schools in the state, and hopefully, the nation – or not?” he asked.

Though student achievement results have traditionally been good, “I’m very concerned about the next report,” Looney said. “I think we’re going to have pain involved with that.”

For example, the number of teacher assistants in the district has fallen from 150 to 125. “We’re reducing the number of adults that we have in buildings who work with our kids,” Looney said, “and our tests scores are going to end up reflecting that we don’t turn the corner.”

He added that Williamson County has always prided itself on high standardized test scores, but “I suspect that this year, as results roll out which will be from last year, I hope people take a pause and reflect on what our priorities are.

“While our high-achieving kids kind of carry the load, we do have a false notion that all of our kids are doing really, really well and they’re not,” he said. “We have kids who are struggling.”

Public-private partnerships ahead
Early on, Looney started building relationships with county leadership and also developed a strong relationship with county economic development leader Matt Largen. During the recent rezoning discussions, on several occasions Looney mentioned future public-private partnerships as being key to creatively helping the district grow.

Asked about those, he said “I feel we’ve done a good job of laying the framework.”

From left, Dr. David Heath, Allison Nunley, Susan Parker, Dr. Mike Looney and Tim McNeese work inside 'the cave' at the WCS central office during the recent rezoning process.

He shared that he had had a private meeting earlier that morning with a private developer in which he asked the developer to  help him secure band instruments for Hillsboro Middle School.  He said he’s been in talks with another business to help bring environmental science into one of the county’s schools.

He said parents are coming forward to offer their professional services, such as architecture, pro bono, as the district looks forward to building projects.

Lessons learned from rezoning
When asked about the recent rezoning process, Looney said “I do think that the plan we came up with is a realistic version that will prevent (additional) rezoning in the near future … with the caveat that we can expand, and build new classrooms at Hillsboro and beginning planning and building a new northeast high school.”

Second, he said no stone was left unturned in this process. “I think that’s one thing we did really well. There wasn’t a sacred cow.”

Looney added that he was encouraged and pleased with the willingness and openness of all the stakeholders to go down several dead-end roads in an effort to make sure nothing was overlooked in the process.

Of the lessons learned, he said first, “Make sure you have good, reliable data to begin with.” He admitted he was blindsided by the questions that arose on the capacity and number of lockers at Centennial High.

“There was absolutely no reason for me not to believe that the capacity at any of our schools differed from what had been reported for the past dozen of years or so,” he said. “It was a false assumption and one for which I will learn from.”

He said he also wishes he had done a better job of managing the nature of some of the public dialog – dialog he said took him by surprises.

“It got personal and, in my opinion, people crossed lines. My take away from that is to try not to position myself or my staff in a situation or environment like that, where people used their children as props; where public comment was of a nature that I found alarming to be held in front of children.

“I also learned to make sure to choose my words wisely. In this fishbowl that we exist in, sometimes statements can be misinterpreted,” he said.

Schools drive  ‘economic engine’
Looney’s own family is being affected by the new school zones. His oldest son still at home is a Ravenwood freshman this year. He is being rezoned to Centennial in next fall. His brother, who attends Woodland Middle, will follow him to CHS. A younger daughter attends Kenrose Elementary.

Their dad’s not concerned. “I’m very comfortable with my child going to Centennial. How could you go wrong? You can’t. They’re all great,” he said of the district’s 40 schools.

“At the same time, (the rezoning) has created an opportunity for us as a broader community,” he said. “We cannot rest on the status quo or where we have been as a school system.

“ It’s an opportunity to really put education back at the forefront of economic development and growth.”

Quoting Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson, Looney said,  “The mayor says it very wisely. ‘The schools are the economic engine of this community.’ I think because we have always done so well, we take it for granted. We shouldn’t, because success is fragile.”

Using the analogy of preventative maintenance on a car, Looney said if WCS and the county as a whole continue to put off much needed maintenance, the cost to repair what’s broken will be much higher down the road.

In answer to a question specifically about Brentwood – “While Brentwood’s wealth and healthy family structures provide many advantages, what challenges does the Brentwood way of life bring to the schools?,” Looney paused, choosing his words carefully.

“I think that people of affluence have to be careful not to bring with them a sense of entitlement,” he said. A better course, he said, is to bring with them “a willingness to allow the system to treat all children equitably.”

“I have seen some instances when children are accustomed to getting out of trouble, when the best thing for them would have been to suffer the consequences. That’s not just limited to school, but it impacts schooling.”

‘Controlled chaos’ relaxes him
On Tuesday, Looney looked more than a year older than he did sitting at the same table almost exactly a year earlier. But despite the challenges, he said he’s just as excited about the job today as he was when he took it.

Asked if he would consider other job offers, he replied, “I’m committed to staying if the board will have me.”

One way Looney lets go of his stress may surprise people. He skydives, often making multiple jumps in one weekend.

“It’s controlled chaos,” he said. “Obviously it’s chaotic to fall three miles.”

But as crazy as it may seem, “You can control that fall. So in some sense, it makes me feel closer to my maker, and it takes my mind off the fax, the cell phone, the emails… It allows me to let my hair down.”

Asked if it’s a family pastime, he smiled and said, “My spouse and children are supportive but want to keep their distance. They’re always worried something could happen to Dad.

“It’s extraordinarily safe,” he said, though he did have one scary experience earlier this year when his canopy didn’t open and he had to use his reserve chute – a situation not unlike being a school superintendent attending the first few minutes of a rezoning meeting before calmer heads prevail.