Monday, May 09, 2011

Fayette School Board Could Hire Superintendent Next Month

This from Jim Warren at H-L:
The Fayette County Board of Education could select a new school superintendent before mid-June, according to a tentative schedule worked out Monday afternoon.

The board has said it wants to have a new superintendent in place by July 1 to succeed Stu Silberman, who announced in February that he is stepping down after leading the Fayette schools for seven years.

Board members met for more than two hours Monday with representatives of the search firm, McPherson & Jacobson LLC, to discuss plans for the final phase of the search. Jacobson officials also gave members a summary of comments received during public forums and stakeholder groups late last month seeking input on the qualities being sought in the new superintendent...

[T]he final phase of that process will kick in after May 16, the deadline for superintendent candidates to submit applications.

McPherson & Jacobson will deliver applications to the district central office on May 19. The district's six-member superintendent screening committee would then review the applications, planning to select top candidates on May 25 in consultation with representatives from McPherson & Jacobson.

The names of recommended candidates would go to the school board for discussion on May 31...it is expected that they would select three to possibly five finalists in executive session at that meeting. The names would be made public...

Board members plan to bring the finalists to Lexington for interviews with board members, and forums with key groups and members of the general public during June 6-10...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please, Fayette County Board Members: We don't need another Stu Silberman!

We don't need the artificial emphasis on testing and test preparation.

We do a superintendent who values the need for an in-house lawyer. Let's rehire Brenda Allen!

We need s superintendent who allows educators like Rosaling Hurley Richards to discipline in the schools!

We don't need a superintendent who signs his first name only with smiley-like symbols!

We don't all the "celebrations" and hugging at Board Meetings!

We do need a superintendent who allows community concerns to be voiced at the beginning of the meeting and not the end!

We do need a superintendent with a PhD. Lexington is a college town, after all!

Anonymous said...

I was told this might not be printed, but here goes:

I think we need a superintendent who will address the needs of gay/ lesbian/ and transgendered schools and the bullying of students who the kids think are gay. My son is at Beaumont Middle School and is not gay, but he tells me how often this word is misused. Teachers seem reluctant to discuss the issue. The principal there does not seem to think this is a problem. Lexington is in the Dark Ages on this gay thing and people are suffering. Should the schools not take the lead?

Richard Day said...

Blogger has been under maintanence for a couple of days and this comment apparently got lost in the process: From fayette
ABC:


Fayette Advocates for Balance in the Classroom (http://fayetteabc.web.officelive.com/default.aspx) is a group representing over 300 Fayette County residents concerned about the unintended consequences of a system overly focused on standardized test scores. To-date, FayetteABC gives voice to residents from across the county, representing well over 12 different schools and 16 Fayette County zip code areas (see http://www.petitiononline.com/fytteabc). Signees include public school parents and teachers, as well as community members who have witnessed the unintended consequences of test-driven instruction in postsecondary, business and other settings.

The 300 plus signatures on FayetteABC's petition alone represent more feedback on the superintendent hire than the total amount of public input received online by the search firm. Further, FayetteABC was well represented at each of the public input meetings. The FayetteABC petition asks the school board to keep concerns over the appropriate role of testing in mind--both as they choose a new superintendent and as they pursue their own goals as a board. FayetteABC likewise believes that the new superintendent will be better able to lead the community in a discussion about the appropriate (and inappropriate) role of testing with a substantive amount of community support and pressure.

FayetteABC has requested time at the May 23 school board meeting to present our concerns fully to the board.

Richard Day said...

Still no decision from the court of appeals on Hurley-Richards...

Richard Day said...

May 11, 2011 7:51 PM: The Obama Administration has notified schools that they civil rights law on their side in stopping sexually based harassment and bullying. So do parents. A school district that fails to protect children can be sued under the same provisions.

Anonymous said...

I can only say this, Richard. I believe you are a fair-minded person, and if you want to ask Stu about this one, by all means do so.

Sexual orientation is so volatile in FCPS that few will discuss it publicly. Recently, a teacher was given a letter of reprimand at a school in Fayette County for observing the Day of Silence for gay/lesbian students. I won't mention the teacher or the school, but Stu Silberman has a copy of the write-up. The fact that he allowed it to stand is disturbing, but wholly in keeping with his fear of negative uproar by conservative Christian parents.

Should this teacher take his/her case to the ACLU or higher, heads could potentially roll and we could have another Boyd County. But for now, Stu and his minions do not want any teachers using any classroom time to advocate for students who are being bullied because they might be gay.

Don't get me wrong: it's okay to be gay in this district as long as you don't talk about it publicly in your role as teacher. I have known a director of middle schools who was gay, at least three principals, and several people at district office. None ever publicly spoke out for the rights of gay students, gay parents, or gay teachers. They are the epitome of , "Don't ask; Don't tell!"

But in a city with a gay mayor, a gay circuit court judge, gay business people and many gay residents, there just seems to be little activism to help gay school kids --- or those who are labeled as gay. I guess most buy into the slogan from the commercial where the celebreties say, "It gets better."

In July, Reverend Gene Robinson will be in Lexington, and I do hope he will address the issue publicly. He has the standing, I believe, to make people listen.