In an interview hours after being named, Nunery said that with city schools to open in just 15 days, he was focused on the immediate future - signing contracts, hiring teachers, and scheduling buses to ensure a smooth and safe return for students on Sept. 6.
At the same time, he said, he intends to "work hard at restoring confidence and credibility. . . . This has been a difficult time."
He takes over a district in turmoil and a job known to burn out even the best leaders.
For weeks, Ackerman and the School Reform Commission had been locked in a strange standoff, the drama peaking on Thursday when the superintendent publicly challenged her bosses to release her from her job. Part of her undoing was an inability to forge winning alliances with Mayor Nutter in City Hall, state officials in Harrisburg, and community groups throughout Philadelphia.
Nunery promised to work closely with all three.
"We need resources, and we need friends - two key words," he said. "My goal is to do as much outreach to all our respective communities. And I do mean all."
Nunery previously ran his own boutique education consultancy, and was an executive with Edison Schools Inc., the for-profit firm, and a vice president at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a finalist for the superintendent's job that went to Ackerman in 2008.In 2010, she appointed Nunery second-in-command, saying his role would enable her to spend more time in schools and communities.
"He was part and parcel of the decision-making of the last year," said Helen Gym, an advocate for Asian and education causes who has been critical of the School District's management and particularly of its handling of violence at South Philadelphia High. "I would hope he is not the assumed choice for superintendent. There needs to be a serious national search."
