Willie Burroughs, a veteran school business official, was recently named director of management services for the Council of the Great City Schools. In this position, he will conduct strategic support teams and manage operational reviews for superintendents and senior managers; convene annual meetings of chief financial officers, chief operating officers, human resources directors, chief information officers and technology directors; and field requests for management information.

Burroughs will succeed Robert Carlson, who has served as director of management services for 29 years. Among his many achievements was creating the first-of-its-kind benchmarking effort to improve operational performance in urban schools called Managing for Results in America’s Great City Schools. Since 2007, the Council has published 18 of these reports aimed to help the nation’s urban public schools measure their performance, improve their operational decisions, and strengthen their practices.

Carlson will remain with the Council as a senior advisor.

Prior to joining the Council, Burroughs served as the COO for the San Antonio Independent School District, heading the operations services division with more than 1,600 employees. He also served in the Dallas Independent School District as executive director with responsibilities for maintenance, HVAC, grounds, environmental services, custodial, capital improvement, and energy management. In addition, Burroughs held a number of positions with the Houston Independent School District for nearly 11 years, including general manager of construction services (bond), senior manager of contract administration, and senior manager of special projects. 

“We are pleased to have such a talented and experienced leader guiding our management services efforts to help urban school systems improve their business operations,” says Council Executive Director Ray Hart.

Burroughs holds a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering and an MBA from Clemson University. He was commissioned as an officer in the United States Army Signal Corps.

Longtime Chief Academic Officer Retires

After 17 years as the Council’s chief academic officer, Ricki Price-Baugh will retire at the end of this month.

Price-Baugh was appointed to the post in 2005, after serving as assistant superintendent of curriculum and instructional development in the Houston Independent School District.

As the chief academic officer, Price-Baugh has taken an active role in the Council’s efforts to call for and advance rigorous standards for the nation’s schools supported by high-quality district curriculum guidance. She has co-authored a number of publications, including Supporting Excellence: A Framework for Developing, Implementing, and Sustaining a High-Quality District Curriculum, Professional Development Framework, and Addressing Unfinished Learning After COVID-19 School Closures.

“During Ricki’s tenure with the Council, large city school districts cut performance gaps with national public schools nearly in half on the National Assessment of Educational Progress,” said Council Executive Director Ray Hart. “Her efforts in directly assisting urban school districts in enhancing instructional systems to boost student achievement has greatly improved the lives of the nation’s urban schoolchildren and we will miss her profoundly.”