SpringfieldNewsSun.com

SPRINGFIELD — Superintendent candidate David Estrop was greeted by a familiar face at an open forum at Springfield High School Tuesday, March 31.

Jan Burris Knockey, a Springfield resident who was one of Estrop's pupils in Springfield, Ill., in 1971, attended the open community meeting to say hello to her old government teacher.

"I was so excited," she said. "They're just fantastic people, I can't say enough about his integrity and just fine beings, both of them," she said of Estrop and his wife, Virginia, who spent the day touring Springfield and meeting with business leaders, staff and residents.

Estrop, currently superintendent of Lakewood City Schools in Cuyahoga County, fielded questions about early childhood education and intervention, competing with school choice and ensuring opportunities for low-achieving, high-achieving and all children in between.

"We took the charter schools head on," he said in response to a question about regaining students who have left for other educational options. "We formed our own."

Lakewood schools offers a kindergarten through 12th grade digital academy and a sixth to 12th grade community school called Lakewood City Academy, a conversion school that is sponsored by the district.

Estrop said he saw a lot of options offered in Springfield City Schools, such as the International Baccalaureate programs, and would support expanding similar options in primary and earlier years to serve high-achieving students who might be leaving the district.

He also advocated regular assessments of what students are learning and what teachers are teaching to ensure that the "taught curriculum" and "learned curriculum" aligned with the standards and content established by the state and district.

Lakewood schools has gone seven years without asking for an operating levy, he said.

"We did it through rightsizing, downsizing and leveraging cooperatives and looking for every additional revenue we could find," Estrop said.

Estrop told the audience that Springfield schools had a solid foundation to build on, thanks to the work of city schools staff and board members.

"I'd love to be part of the 'we' with you to build not only a better Springfield City Schools system but also hopefully to work with you to build a stronger community," he said.