WATERLOO -- Superintendent Gary Norris led the charge for change during four years with Sarasota County, Fla., schools, but ran into enough resistance that he nearly quit two years ago.

Norris, 57, will be taking the helm of Waterloo Community Schools July 1 after Superintendent Dewitt Jones retires.

The Board of Education unanimously approved a three-year contract Monday. Norris' first-year salary will be $195,000 plus nearly $20,000 in benefits, including a professional growth fund, a tax-sheltered annuity and a car allowance. A Sarasota district official said Norris' base salary this year is $176,000, with benefits boosting it to around $200,000.

Kathy Kleinlein, chairwoman of the Sarasota County school board, described Norris as a "catalyst" for change. She said he ushered in substantive changes in teaching strategies and methods as part of his $300 million Generation Next Learning Plan. Other objectives include enhancing career and technical education, increasing the graduation rate, closing the achievement gap and improving classroom technology.

"In four years, I think we've moved ahead 10" years, she said.

Still, Norris faced "a lot of resistance to change" in part because of the district's size, said Kleinlein. Sarasota County Schools is a 42,000-student district that had a budget of about $670 million and 5,600 employees last year, according to its Web site. Kleinlein called it "challenging to get so big a bureaucracy to begin to turn around."

Carl Weinrich, president of Citizens for Better Schools, a volunteer organization which promoted a referendum to pay for Norris' plan, said the superintendent was working to centralize the district's management, ensuring consistent school goals and training.

"That's a hard thing to do when principals for a very long time have been very independent," said Weinrich. In addition, he called the district's political environment "quite caustic."

"You have a lot of small community groups that pick up causes," added Kleinlein. "I think that Gary did have to kind of develop a thick skin.

"We don't come together easily down here. … I think that's just something Gary learned over time."

Norris actually tendered his resignation during the fall of 2006, citing "unimaginable roadblocks" to his reform plans, according to stories in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Three months later, Norris had rethought the decision and the board voted to retain him. The Herald-Tribune said he began working on remedies to the problems by holding community forums, more regularly visiting schools to talk with staff and assembling a committee for feedback on his reforms.

"I think that he's really brought a lot of very innovative and progressive changes to our district," said Kleinlein, suggesting the reforms have positively impacted student performance.

"We're starting finally to close the achievement gap," she said. "We're starting to see our dropout numbers decrease and starting to see our graduation numbers increase. … I think Waterloo is very lucky."

Weinrich agreed that the district is seeing "extremely positive" results under Norris.

"I just wish we weren't losing him. Our outcomes have been pretty good here -- under his leadership they've gotten a lot better. The hardest one is the achievement gap with minority students, but that's showing some good signs, too, now."

Sarasota County Schools have 27 percent minority student enrollment and 38 percent of students eligible for free and reduced-price meals. Minority enrollment in Waterloo totals 37 percent while 59 percent of students qualify for free and reduced-price meals.

Although they face some similar achievement issues, Waterloo is much smaller than the Sarasota County district. Currently it has 10,000 students, a budget of $128 million and about 1,350 employees. Norris called that smaller size "particularly appealing" because he believes it is easier for a superintendent to have an impact.

Boosting achievement will continue to be Norris' top priority when he comes to Waterloo. He acknowledged, though, that progress is already being made in the district.

"The recent success in the last few years of the Waterloo School District of increasing student achievement is very impressive," he said. "And the credit goes to the staff and the administration. I'm looking forward to being a part of that."

Still, Norris said school districts generally fall short of what they could do to boost learning.

"In American education we need to be doing more to engage learners and make learning more relevant," he said, noting that is the intent with his strategic plan in Sarasota. The district has been working to "engage digital learners in a classroom that is more appealing to young people."

Norris doesn't yet know if he will recommend similar initiatives in Waterloo.

"Before I make any judgments, I sure want to get there and talk to the building leaders and talk to the teachers and the community leaders," he said. "The important thing to be said is I don't have a one-size-fits-all plan."

He will make several visits to Waterloo in April and May "to meet people and to begin some discussions."

Dan Smith, executive director of the School Administrators of Iowa and former Cedar Falls school district superintendent, said the average tenure of superintendents nationally is 5.5 years, according to a recent study. He said superintendents leave districts for a whole range of reasons -- including retirement, which may be looming on the horizon for Norris.

"The board, by law, is only able to hire me for three years," said Norris. "At the time they offered me the job, they said they would like for me to stay at least five. I found that you can have the greatest impact by staying longer in the district. I guess what I'm saying is I'd like to stay as long as the district wants me."

Contact Andrew Wind at (319) 291-1507 or andrew.wind@wcfcourier.com.