York City School District gets new chief recovery officer

(York) — Carol Saylor, a former school district superintendent in Lancaster County who’s been in education for almost 40 years, has been appointed as the York City School District’s new chief recovery officer.

Saylor, 64, most recently worked as superintendent of the Manheim Central School District from 1996 to 2009. Since retiring, she’s been the owner and managing partner of Carol Saylor Associates, a company that focuses on career and leadership coaching.

Gov. Tom Wolf announced Saylor’s appointment on Thursday afternoon. She replaces David Meckley, who resigned on March 13, citing the governor’s opposition to turning the district’s schools into charters. It is unclear if, or how much, she will be paid as chief recovery officer.

In an interview, Saylor said she was looking forward to working with York Mayor Kim Bracey and York City School District Supt. Eric Holmes on revising the current recovery plan, but added it was premature to discuss the details. Saylor, who has been helping out at William Penn Senior High School since last summer as a coach for teachers and students, said that she has not spoken yet with Bracey about the plan or the advisory committee they will both co-chair.

“There’s something very special about that district that just kind of drew me and made me want to help them continue their journey,” Saylor said.

“There are a tremendous number of very hard-working staff there that are devoted – absolutely devoted – to those students.”

Bracey said she was excited about Saylor’s appointment, calling it a “fresh start” for the district. So far, Bracey said she’s heard from people who are interested in being part of the advisory committee, and that there’s “major work” ahead.

Before Saylor’s time at the Manheim Central School District, she was superintendent of the Fairfield Area School District in Adams County from 1987 to 1996. She began her career in education as an English teacher with the Shikellamy School District in Northumberland County, which is about 30 minutes south of Bloomsburg.

Last year, the National Educational Association awarded the York City School District a $249,000 grant to start up a so-called “site-base management” program at its schools. That’s how Saylor became involved at William Penn.

Janice Laird, an AP world history and psychology teacher at the high school who oversees the site-based management program, said she’s “thrilled” that Saylor will continue working with the district. Laird said that Saylor got involved with program, which is focused on dividing up leadership in each school to better address specific needs and to maintain continuity, in May and helped roll it out.

Saylor, Laird said, would spend about one to two days per month at William Penn, assisting with professional development and sitting in on classes. She said that Saylor is good at bringing people together and taking concepts and developing a way to implement them.

“It has been a personal pleasure to work with her throughout the school year,” Laird said. “The knowledge and expertise that she brings are going to be valuable to us as we move forward.”

In February, Saylor said she received a “very general” email from the acting secretary of education’s office that was seeking candidates for turning around school district. Last month, she met with people including Mayor Bracey, Supt. Holmes, Acting Education Secretary Pedro Rivera, state Rep. Stan Saylor, R-Windsor Township, who chairs the House’s Education Committee, and state Rep. Kevin Schreiber, D-York.

“I was incredibly impressed,” Schreiber said. “I thought she was overwhelmingly positive and definitely understood some of the challenges that education as a whole faces.”

Contact Dylan Segelbaum at 771-2102.

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