AKRON, Ohio - Akron Public Schools Superintendent David James delivered his last state of the schools address virtually on Thursday during what traditionally has been a luncheon hosted by the Akron Press Club.

James, who will retire at the close of this school year, has served in the top job at Akron Public Schools since 2008, leading the district through changes and challenges, some of which former Akron Beacon Journal Editor Bruce Winges highlighted in his introduction of James.

“He was not a conventional candidate for the position, in that his experience came from the operational side of things, but he was more than up to leading the school system,” Winges said.

Winges credited James with leading the largest building project in the school system's history. The $800 million project transformed Akron schools into community learning centers, replacing the aging structures with new buildings designed to complement the neighborhoods they served.

James also oversaw transformation of the district’s educational approach to College & Career Academies, to which James devoted a good portion of his address.

Winges also highlighted the district’s collaboration with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who has been steadily building out the infrastructure in Akron’s West Hill neighborhood for the LeBron James Family Foundation's I Promise Program, which “has become a blueprint for how public education can change the lives of students and their families,” Winges said.

James began his address explaining why he chose to retire.

“The reality is I made a promise years ago to try and lead with integrity and respect, and not overstay my welcome,” he said. “Because no leader can be everything an organization needs, because over time, the organization changes, and so does the leader. And with reflection, a leader will know when it's time to go, to turn over that role to another.”

James looked back to 2010 when a kind of pilot program with Ford Next Generation Learning  (NGL) called “Project Lead the Way,” laid the groundwork for what would become the Akron Public Schools College & Career Academies.

Over the last four years, the academies have rolled out in every high school in the district, he said, with work underway to structure the middle and elementary schools as part of the academies model. Under the model, students choose the pathway of their choice from anywhere in the district, and engage in hands-on learning, working with educators and industry professionals.

James had become acquainted with the academies model by chance, he said, when a story popped up on his computer screen that detailed the success Metro Nashville Public Schools had experienced using the Ford NGL academies model, he said.

“Just think would what would have happened if I would have just ignored that article,” he said.

To help explain the academies, James compared the days when students were required to memorize lists, numbers and cities with the kind of education needed today.

“I'm not saying that memorizing facts and figures is not important,” he said. “What I am saying is that what you do with that information is most important, the connections we make, the inferences we gain from analyzing data, and finding solutions to our complex problems is what our students need to know how to do.”

Now designated a Ford NGL partner, the Akron school district has partnered with 360 businesses and community partners, including local foundations and “sister” college partnerships.

“…we are in the midst of a transformational change in our community,” James said of the partnerships and the academy model. “Our students now have the opportunity to get exposure to the various career fields our local employers have to offer, and will have a better chance to enlist in the military, enroll in college, or gain employment.”

James named each school and the multiple academies within them, from the Summa Health Academy of Leadership and Innovation and the Huntington Academy of Global Industry and Design at Buchtel Community Learning Center to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Academy of Global Marketing and Media and the Goodyear Academy of Applied Engineering at Ellet Community Learning Center.

“As I stated last year, the goal here is to improve college preparation so more students can succeed at the post-secondary level,” he said.

The middle schools, which were being transformed this year before the pandemic hit, are structured differently than the high schools, he said.

“We have designed them keeping focus on what middle schoolers will have ahead of them in high school,” he said. “So they must be different. In middle school, academy learning will promote a positive school climate, integrate social-emotional learning and shift instruction to an inquiry-based model.”

As for the elementary schools, James said a $1.5 million grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, will help support expansion of the academies into the elementary schools, while a $1.5 million grant from the Hewlett Foundation will “improve student engagement, and enlist parent and community support for student learning by sharing information and involving them in key decisions about schooling,” he said.

James also spoke about the impact the LeBron James Family Foundation and its “We are family” philosophy has had during his tenure.

Starting as Wheels for Education, it transformed into the brick and mortar I Promise School. The I Promise Village, which offers families stable housing, was added, followed most recently by House Three Thirty, a multifunctional community resource space for the I Promise program, he said.

“All I can say is wow!” James said.

James enumerated many additional collaborators, which he credited with helping boost student achievement, reduce absences and detentions and raise grade-point averages.

“Though we have a history of partnering with outside organizations, today is a far cry from 2008,” he said. “To everyone that I have met with, collaborated with, and even argued with, I say, 'Thank you.' Because through those discussions, we have indeed made progress, and I believe the district poses a great opportunity for its next leader.”

James also acknowledged the challenge the pandemic has posed.

"During my time here at APS, I have been through the Ebola Virus scare in 2014, MRSA, H1N1, TB, Foot and Mouth Disease, head lice, bedbugs, mercury spills -- you name it," he said. "But nothing like this, where the entire district is shut down, and we had to make the switch to virtual learning."

Questions submitted by virtual attendees included several questions about the district’s return to in-person classes, which is expected in mid- March.

A priority has been to get vaccines to the educators who wanted them, he said. The district received word the doses had arrived, so they will be given Friday and Saturday, he said.

The district is also in the process of surveying parents and students to learn how much in-person versus virtual learning they prefer, he said.

“Depending on what those numbers are, we'll have to formulate a response accordingly,” he said.

School will be very different once students return to school, he said, with both current and expected new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be followed.

James was asked about his advice to whoever takes over the superintendent role.

“It’s just, 'Be calm. Don't panic. Listen to people.' This is a very different community,” he said. “And you can really take advantage of the access that you can have to people like the mayor, city council, our grant-making organizations. You’re going to have a great platform for student success, because of all the relationships that we have created. And those relationships took time and effort, but they're there.”