OKCPS Has Had 14 Superintendents Over The Past 30 Years

District officials are excited about the leadership Aurora Lora brings to the district, and about the potential improvement that could come under her watch. But the district has been in this position of welcoming a new leader many times before.

If you look back over the past 30 years, the Oklahoma City Public School District has had 14 different superintendents. That's a change in leadership almost every two years, on average.

The longest any superintendent has served in that time was seven years. And that was Arthur Steller, who took the reins of the district in 1985. He left to take a job in Georgia in 1992.

Steller was replaced by Betty Mason. First she was named interim superintendent, but then got the full job. Mason lasted almost three years, retiring in 1995.

Marvin Crawford came with great expectations from Grand Prairie, Texas, but his tenure was marked by controversy. Still, he stayed almost exactly five years, stepping down in 2000.

Guy Sconzo, already employed by the district, took over as interim, as his successor, Bill Weitzel, didn't yet have his superintendent certification. Weitzel did eventually become super in 2001. He retired for personal reasons in 2003.

Pam Powell then served a brief stint as interim super.

The next full-time super was Bob Moore, Moore was with the district for three years, leaving in 2006.

Linda Brown was the next interim, and then in 2007 John Porter arrived from Maryland, again with high hopes. Porter lasted less than a year, resigning under a cloud of suspicion that he had been over-billing the district.

Sandra Park took over for several months, until, later in 2008 Karl Springer was hired. Springer stayed five years, retiring in 2013.

Dave Lopez was the next interim, and in 2014 Rob Neu arrived. His official last day was Thursday, June 30, and now the district has Aurora Lora.

Studies have shown that, on average, superintendents of large districts stay less than two and a half years.

Lora herself has said to make progress, a district has to have stability and continuity.