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鈥淭here鈥檚 a cemetery at the high school.鈥�

That鈥檚 how Paul Imhoff, superintendent of Upper Arlington Schools in Ohio, was greeted by his assistant one morning last summer, while the district was in the middle of building a new high school and dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

That discovery launched Imhoff into an unexpected episode in the nation鈥檚 uneasy racial history.

Upper Arlington Schools are situated in an affluent, white-majority suburb of Columbus that, due to deed restrictions when it was founded a century earlier, allowed only white Christians to settle there. The land occupied by both high schools once was owned by a free slave named Pleasant Litchford, one of the largest landowners in the area at the time. His family cemetery rested under the existing high school.

Imhoff immediately began working with the Litchford family to relocate the burial remains and commemorate Pleasant鈥檚 contributions to the community. He moved boldly to require the district鈥檚 history curriculum be rewritten to include the story of the Litchford family and more accurate details of Upper Arlington鈥檚 founding.

鈥淭o me, Paul鈥檚 greatest accomplishment is he鈥檚 brought everyone together and he is a stabilizing force,鈥� says Kirk Hamilton, executive director of the Buckeye Association of School Administrators. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the steady hand that he鈥檚 had and the leadership he鈥檚 displayed throughout. I know it鈥檚 been stressful, but he鈥檚 just stayed the course and approached those things in a very calm, yet confident manner.鈥�

We need to really make sure that we are focusing on equity and on meeting the needs of each and every child and adult in our care.

This is not the first time in his eight years in Upper Arlington that Imhoff has bolstered the district鈥檚 work on diversity, equity and inclusion. In 2015, he launched a series of trainings for his staff, and last year he formed the district鈥檚 equity advisory board composed of community experts, staff and students.

鈥淚 believe our intentions were great (in 2015) and we did some really good work, but as we went further into the work it was clear that really going at this at a systemic level is how we鈥檙e going to drive change,鈥� says Imhoff, who will be installed in July as 91制片鈥檚 next president. 鈥淲e need to really make sure that we are focusing on equity and on meeting the needs of each and every child and adult in our care.鈥�

As someone who wrote his doctoral dissertation on servant leadership, it鈥檚 no surprise that Imhoff focuses on ways to positively impact the lives of those he oversees. He says servant leadership is something he has believed in since he was a child, but it was only when he began studying it that he was able to put a name to it.

鈥淔or me, you go back to why I wanted to be a teacher and why I wanted to be an administrator 鈥� it was all about changing lives in a positive way,鈥� says Imhoff. 鈥淪o, throughout my career, that鈥檚 something I鈥檝e always striven for 鈥� I don鈥檛 always meet that mark. I wish I did, but I don鈥檛. It is always my goal to start there and that has served me well.鈥�

One of main expectations Imhoff holds for his faculty and staff, as well as himself, is that they love every one of the 6,300 students in the Upper Arlington schools.

鈥淲e also have to be masters of our craft, and we have to be on top of our game, but that鈥檚 not where I start,鈥� says Imhoff, who was Ohio Superintendent of the Year in 2018. 鈥淲e have to bring our best every day for every kid and that鈥檚 whether I鈥檓 the superintendent, the English teacher, the band director, the bus driver 鈥� we all have to be part of that mission."