New Baltimore schools CEO visits classrooms, vows to listen to students

Dr. Jermaine Dawson began his Baltimore City schools tenure-in-waiting inside classrooms at Patterson High School and Moravia Park Elementary School, using his first stop after being chosen as CEO to signal how he plans to lead one of the city’s most challenged systems. Dawson visited both schools on April 21, a day after the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners unanimously selected him to succeed Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises, who will step down at the end of June after 10 years in the job.

The visits mattered because the district is not short on problems. Baltimore City Public Schools is still grappling with chronic absenteeism, lagging test scores, school climate concerns and the needs of students in classrooms with widely different learning environments. Dawson’s early choice to be in schools, rather than behind a desk at North Avenue, set up his arrival as an immediate test of whether he can turn those problems into a clear agenda before his July 1 start date.

Dawson said the brief school tour left a mark on him. “Just fired me up,” he told CBS Baltimore, adding, “the kids are going to tell you,” a line that underscored his stated plan to listen to students first. He said he intends to launch a listening-and-learning tour at schools and in neighborhoods next month, an early attempt to make student and community voices part of the district’s operating plan rather than an afterthought.

The board said the selection process included input from students, families, staff, community members, elected officials and school administrators, with a Community Engagement Report helping shape the choice. Board Chair Robert Salley said Dawson’s experience would help propel the district, and Mayor Brandon M. Scott said Dawson shared his commitment to giving every young person the support and resources they need.

Dawson arrives from the School District of Philadelphia, where he serves as deputy superintendent of academic services. He said Philadelphia posted a seven-point gain on NAEP during his time there, while student and teacher attendance rose, graduation rates improved and dropout rates fell. That track record will now be tested in Baltimore, where parents and educators are looking for more than symbolism from a new leader. They want evidence that the city’s next CEO can move attendance, achievement and school climate in the same direction, and do it fast.