Fulton Schools Superintendent Finalist Speaks to Patch

Robert Avossa is excited about the potential of becoming Fulton County Schools’ next superintendent and he plans to help the system enhance what it does well, while figuring out where it could use some work.

“I would be joining a great team,” he told Patch on Tuesday. “My goal would be to lead them toward excellence.”

Avossa was drawn to Fulton County Schools for several reasons. As the father of two school-aged children, the county is an ideal location to raise a young family. Secondly, it is similar in “size, scope and complexities” to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools where he currently serves as chief strategy and accountability officer.

“I felt that I could leverage my own experience [in Charlotte-Mecklenburg] within Fulton County,” he said.

Though hesitant to comment about specifics until he’s got “feet on the ground,” from what he’s seen and understands about the county so far, Avossa’s top priority would be to funnel the best practices of high achieving schools into something that could be replicated across the county.

“The challenge is: how do you develop a system of schools that is high performing,” he asked. “We need to look throughout the country to see how we can balance accountability and improve performance for all schools. There are great things happening in Fulton, we just need to leverage those good things.”

One of the biggest challenges facing Fulton County Schools right now is the formation of new district boundaries to accommodate the high school being built at Bethany Bend.

Regarding how he would handle the controversial redistricting situation, Avossa said, “It’s very premature for me to make a comment since I don’t know the local context.”

But he acknowledged that the topic of redistricting is an emotional one, regardless of where you live in the country.

“The goal is to get as close to the ‘right answer’ as possible,” he said. “No matter where you land on the side of the issue, there will always be people who disagree. The important thing is to engage people in conversation and to be transparent.”

Avossa also hinted that changes to the system budget could be down the road and emphasized the creation of a plan to do more with less.

“I want what’s best for the children of Fulton County. Folks are going to have to work together to make necessary cuts,” he said. “It’s a difficult financial time. We need to make adjustments that have as little impact upon students as possible.”

That same kind of belt-tightening has forced some North Fulton parents to pull students out of private schools and place them into the public system; however, Avossa hopes to help create a school system where public schools aren’t seen as a fall back, but instead, as a viable option.

“Generally speaking, every student should have the opportunity to get a world class education,” he said. “Our job is to prepare students for college and a career; that’s our responsibility.”

Avossa and his wife, Kellee, have yet to decide where they will live in Fulton County if the position is offered to him by the Board of Education in two weeks.

“She’ll probably have a bigger say in the matter than me,” he joked. “I’m just excited to get to know all the communities of Fulton County.”

North Fulton residents will get a chance to meet Avossa at a meet-and-greet at Centennial High School, 9310 Scott Road in Roswell, next Wednesday, April 20. A community meeting at 7 p.m. will follow a reception that begins at 6:30 p.m.