Carole Smith (born August 1954) is an education administrator in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, who was the Superintendent of Portland Public Schools from 2007 until 2016.

Earlier Life

Smith served as Executive Director of Open Meadows School in

from 1982 to 2005.

Time as Superintendent

Smith was hired as Superintendent of Portland Public Schools in 2007, to replace Vicki Phillips. For the first three years of her time as Superintendent, Smith and the School Board had set forth three Student Achievement targets; which were to increase the number of third graders exceeding State reading standards, the number of seventh graders passing the state writing test, and the number of Freshmen passing the expected number of classes, all by at least five percent. While third graders' and freshmen's scores improved in these respective areas, none of the three goals were met. Despite that, in October 2010, Smith received a highly positive report on her first three years, allowing her to continue her career as Superintendent. In 2015, Smith shifted the start of the school year from the day after

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

to the week before, citing concerns that Portland Public Schools has one of the shortest school years in the United States. Soon after her announcement, the nearby school districts in Lake Oswego, West Linn School District, and

Forest Grove A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

changed their schedules similarly. In March 2016, Smith announced a number of changes to school boundaries, due to concerns of overcrowding. In the same month, she donated an empty school building to the City for use as a homeless shelter, in return for free TriMet bus passes for high school students.

Retirement

In June 2016, Smith announced that she would be stepping down from the role of Superintendent after just one more year. However, on July 18, 2016, she announced that she would be stepping down immediately. Her announcement came shortly after a report had been released on Portland Public Schools' lead testing after the school board released a damning report showing how Portland Public Schools dropped the ball on testing water for lead, fixing problems that were found and notifying the public of test results. She was required to give the district 90 days notice before stepping down, although she had at least 90 days of unused vacation days, and in effect retired immediately. Smith denied having known about elevated lead levels until testing began in late May 2016.

References

External links

Carole Smith's Resume

"Stoll Berne Report to the Portland Public Schools Board of Education" (Lead Investigation Report)

Performance Appraisal: Superintendent Carole Smith

Letter by Carole Smith announcing her retirement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Carole 1954 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Portland Public Schools (Oregon) School superintendents in Oregon 21st-century American women educators 21st-century American educators 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators Women school principals and headteachers