John E. Deasy, the superintendent of the 128,000-student Prince George鈥檚 County, Md., school district, is leaving to become the deputy director of the 鈥檚 education division early next year.
The news of his departure comes just 2陆 years after Mr. Deasy took the helm of the district, which is in the midst of major improvement efforts. It marks the fourth time since 1999 that the county school board will have to find a new chief.
In announcing his selection, the Seattle-based foundation pointed to Mr. Deasy鈥檚 work in the Maryland district, the nation鈥檚 18th largest, to narrow the achievement gap between low-income and minority students and their peers.
鈥淲e鈥檙e eager to take what he has learned and accomplished in Prince George鈥檚 County and continue to help students all across the country prepare for college,鈥� Vicki L. Phillips, the director of the foundation鈥檚 education division鈥攁nd herself a former superintendent鈥攕aid last week in a press release.
Mr. Deasy previously was the superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District in California and the Coventry, R.I., school system. He was named Rhode Island鈥檚 Superintendent of the Year in 1991, and was a fellow in the 2006 class of the Broad Superintendents Academy, sponsored by the Los Angeles-based Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.
An Oct. 1 Washington Post praised Mr. Deasy for driving 鈥渢he pace of test-score gains faster than the state average,鈥� and for bringing a 鈥渘ew culture of honesty and accountability to the system.鈥�
But it lamented that the district in the suburbs of the nation鈥檚 capital was just starting to benefit from his leadership. 鈥淢r. Deasy is leaving well before the job has been done,鈥� it said.
Asked about criticism that hiring Mr. Deasy risked disrupting his efforts in Maryland, Christopher J. Williams, a spokesman for the Gates Foundation, noted that the superintendent has worked closely with the school board to devise a succession plan to continue the district鈥檚 progress. (The Gates and Broad foundations give grant support for some special projects in Education Week.)
He added, 鈥淲e hope that we鈥檒l really be able to give him an opportunity to expand his reach.鈥�
