By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
OCT. 4, 2019 | The most pressing educational difficulty Gwinnettians face is that sometime in the future, Alvin Wilbanks will face retirement from his position as school superintendent. While we look forward to Mr. Wilbanks’ continued service, we recognize this as a major potential vacancy in our future.
Mr. Wilbanks, now age 77, has for 24 years been the Gwinnett superintendent of schools, giving yeoman years of service second to none. The system has been honored extensively as the best school system, not only in Georgia, but on two occasions as the best in the entire nation among large schools systems.
The pressing immediate problem will be who can succeed him and carry on this high-level of educational attainment. That person faces a daunting task of following such an accomplished leader.
This succession is also complicated by the fact that Gwinnett currently has two (of five) new school board members in their first term of office. And in the 2020 election, the other three school board seats will be in play. Beginning in 2021, Gwinnett could have a majority of its five board members as relatively new members.
Wilbanks
Before 2018, Gwinnett’s school board had not had a new board member in 20 years. The continuing leadership of these five persons was outstanding, guiding our system, supporting good policies, and providing Mr. Wilbanks with solid support.
We can only hope that the board will continue to be as sound and solid as it has been previously. Having an experienced board without any continuing ramifications and hubbubs creates good results. (We can see the opposite of that in nearby Atlanta, where its school board unceremoniously fired its superintendent this summer without transparency, after her five years in improving that system, which sorely needed it. No one wants a situation like that to develop in Gwinnett.)
We in Gwinnett know that we have a large system. We are constantly amazed that it runs so well. Remember, that many times the system enrolls students with no proficiency in English, and successfully guides and graduates those students with high achievement. That’s because the system has good leadership, good teachers, good facilities, good students and good outcomes. We all want this high-level of achievement to continue.
Take a look at just how big our system is. It has:
- 141 school facilities, including:
- 80 elementary schools
- 29 middle schools
- 23 high schools
- 9 special entity facilities;
- More than 22,000 employees;
- 1,830 new teachers hired for 2018-2019;
- 1,980 school buses safely transport more than 130,000 students twice a day; and
- Is the third largest transporter of students in the U.S.
Gwinnett’s schools aren’t excellent by accident. It took hard work on the part of lots of people. It also took the understanding by the voters of Gwinnett that its schools were in good hands, and they didn’t need major changes. This steady functioning allowed the system to achieve and to thrive.
We don’t want to see Alvin Wilbanks depart prematurely from the Gwinnett Schools. However, we recognize his steady leadership. We smile with pleasure that he has been at the helm for these many years. We look to his continuing in office, and thank him for his leadership.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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