Montgomery Co. Schools Superintendent Gives Farewell Address

After a brief video tribute, Weast gave his farewell address to board members. As he looked at pictures of past superintendents in the board room, Weast commented he lasted far longer in the job than most of them. During his tenure, county schools were routinely ranked among the best in the nation.

"It is the impossible dream to educate everybody at the highest level," he says. "But it is the only dream worth dedicating your life to. Continue to do it. Fight the ravages of race, socioeconomics, zip codes."

Weast's combativeness when it came to school funding made him plenty of enemies, both on the board and in county government. Patricia O'Neill served on the board during Weast's entire tenure, and noted that during his first meeting as superintendent he referred to the center of the circular table in the room as a "sandbox."

"Over the 12 years, there have been times people have played nicely in the sandbox, and then times people did not play nicely," she says.

Last year, Weast threatened a lawsuit if the county council forced school employees to take furloughs as part of cost-cutting measures, something all other unionized county workers were forced to do. The council backed off, showing the political power Weast could wield.

Weast will be succeeded by Dr. Joshua Starr, who was appointed in April. Starr comes to Montgomery County from the public school district in Stamford, Conn.