photo by: Montgomery Public Schools

Lawrence Superintendent Anthony Lewis participates in a public interview process to be the superintendent of Montgomery Public Schools on March 31, 2022.

While fielding questions as part of a public interview process to lead the Montgomery, Alabama, school district, Lawrence schools superintendent Anthony Lewis spoke to his experience in the Lawrence district, including the ongoing budget-cutting process.

Lewis is one of four remaining finalists to become the superintendent of Montgomery Public Schools, and the Montgomery district posted video recordings of the interviews with all four candidates online this week.

Lewis’ experience in the Lawrence district came up several times in the interview, including in his response to a question about his experience with fiscal management. Lewis noted that the Lawrence school board recently approved close to $6 million in budget reductions to address shortfalls due to enrollment declines and to allocate funding for staff raises. Lewis spoke to his efforts to improve the district’s finances and his approach for budget cuts.

“When I first got there, (the district) was doing a tremendous amount of deficit spending,” Lewis said. “And when I moved there I wanted to make sure we addressed that first. And so we were on our way to address that and kind of build up a healthy reserve fund; then, obviously, COVID happened.”

The district was intentionally spending down cash balances in the mid-2010s in response to criticism from some state legislators that districts had an abundance of reserves, as the Journal-World reported. However, district leaders began expressing concerns in 2016 about declining reserve balances and deficit spending, and district officials now say the district needs to make a targeted effort to rebuild reserves.

Lewis said that when it came to making budget cuts, the district wanted to be transparent and make the cuts “with the community” rather than “to the community.” He said at the end of the day he knew people may not agree with the cuts selected by the board, but the goal was for the public to see it as a “trustworthy process.”

The Lawrence school board recently approved 20 budget reductions totaling about $5.8 million. The board plans to make a total of $6.4 million in cuts, and another $600,000 in cuts are still under consideration. The board took school closures off the table for next school year, but several members said closures would likely be a part of future budget discussions.

Lewis spoke to the continuing possibility of school closures during his interview, stating that the district has three elementary schools operating at about half their capacity. He added that the district is also looking at how to attract families to the district, including the idea to turn one of the low-enrollment schools — New York Elementary — into a public Montessori school.

In addition to budget issues, Lewis spoke about the Lawrence district’s efforts to improve equity and achievement gaps, as well his experience working with the Kansas City, Missouri, school district and his previous employment with the Montgomery district. He also emphasized his ties to Alabama.

Similar to comments he recently made to the Journal-World, Lewis told interviewers that he was happy in Lawrence but that he applied to the Montgomery position because it was an opportunity for him to return to his home state and be close to family. He told the interview panel that they wouldn’t find his name in any search other than the Montgomery one and that if selected for the position he would be committed.

“Life expectancy of an urban superintendent is about three years, and that’s because there is no connection or no commitment there,” Lewis said. “What you get when you get me is someone who is coming home and will be invested in this community for years to come.”

Lewis is originally from nearby Talladega, Alabama, and lived for nearly 20 years in Montgomery while attending college and later working as a teacher and principal in the Montgomery school district. A panel of Montgomery educators interviewed Lewis, and during the interview he told one that she had been his wife’s favorite teacher. And it appears Lewis’ community ties were apparent in other ways.

The Montgomery Advertiser reported that Lewis seemed to have the greatest turnout of community members for his interview. The newspaper states that after Lewis’ interview, many people in the audience came up to the stage and spoke with him.

Lewis is one of four remaining finalists for the position. Initially there were five finalists, but one — Selma, Alabama, Superintendent Avis Williams — is no longer in the running after accepting a superintendent position in New Orleans, according to Montgomery media reports. The Montgomery school board is scheduled to announce the next superintendent soon.