Jack D. Dale was the

Superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Building superintendent, a manager, maintenance or repair person, custodian or janitor, especially in the United States; sometimes shortened to "super" *Prison warden or superintendent, a prison administrator *Soprin ...

Fairfax County Public Schools The Fairfax County Public Schools system (FCPS) is a school division in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. It is a branch of the Fairfax County government, which administers public schools in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax. FCPS's h ...

, the public school system for

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most p ...

and the twelfth largest school system in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from 2004 to 2013. Dale had previously served as the Superintendent of Frederick County, Maryland Public Schools from 1996 to 2004, and was named Maryland's Superintendent of the Year in 2000. He holds a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in mathematics and education; a Master's in educational administration; and a Doctorate in education from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. Dale is co-editor and author of the book: Creating Successful School Systems and has conducted workshops on teacher compensation systems for No Child Left Behind initiatives. He has also published papers in The Executive Educator; International Journal of Education Reform; American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA) Research Brief; and SIRS Management Information. During his time as Superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools, Dale was criticized by some parents and students for his handling of various issues brought to the attention of the school system, including criticism by the child advocacy groups FAIRGRADE and SLEEP for refusing to change, respectively, the county's

grading scale Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as numb ...

and school start-time policies (especially the 7:20 a.m. high school start time). Despite some opposition, the Fairfax County Board of Education renewed his contract until June 2013 in September 2009. In September 2011 he announced that he would retire on June 30, 2013, when his contract ended.

Controversy over disciplinary policies

Dale was also criticized for the Fairfax County school disciplinary system, which some blamed for the suicides of two students: Josh Anderson, of

South Lakes High School South Lakes High School is a public high school in Reston, Virginia, United States. The school serves grades 9-12 for the Fairfax County Public Schools. History South Lakes High School opened in 1978 with grades 7-10. Students in the first 10th-g ...

, took his life in March 2009; and Nick Stuban, a student at

W.T. Woodson High School Carter G. Woodson High School, commonly known as C. G. Woodson High School or simply Woodson, (formerly Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School) is a public high school located in Fairfax County, Virginia, just outside the east end of the city of Fair ...

, committed suicide on January 20, 2011. On February 11, 2011, Dale defended himself in a letter to the Fairfax County School Board and the

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, sometimes abbreviated as FCBOS, is the governing body of Fairfax County, Virginia, a county of over a million in Northern Virginia. The board has nine districts, and one at-large district which is always oc ...

. In that letter, Dale argued that the disciplinary system did not need to be reformed, and blamed Supervisor Catherine M. Hudgins for "unconscionable" actions and "furthering a falsehood" by associating the student's suicide with the disciplinary process that had "crushed" his spirit.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dale, Jack D. People from Fairfax County, Virginia Living people Educators from Seattle University of Washington College of Education alumni School superintendents in Virginia School superintendents in Maryland People from Frederick County, Maryland Year of birth missing (living people)