Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Fayette schools chief asks that his evaluation be delayed until audit report is released

This from the Herald-Leader:
Fayette County Public Schools Superintendent Tom Shelton said he has recommended to the school board that his annual evaluation be delayed until the state auditor finishes investigating the district's finances.

"I made that recommendation because I feel the board ought to have the benefit of seeing that report prior to completing the evaluation process," Shelton said Friday. "We thought at the time that we would have it before the end of July, but we have not yet received it."

State Auditor Adam Edelen's office is investigating allegations from district budget director Julane Mullins that a budget shortfall was caused by irregular accounting — a late journal entry — and was worsened with "numerous acts of mismanagement." Mullins made those allegations in late May.
Shelton and the district's finance director, Rodney Jackson, have responded strongly to the allegations, saying they did nothing wrong or against district policy. Shelton and Jackson have denied doing anything that has prompted the district's budget cuts, as Mullins alleged.

Shelton asked Edelen to investigate the allegations to assure the public there was no wrongdoing or irregular bookkeeping.

"We do not have a time frame at this point" for when the investigation would be complete, Edelen spokeswoman Steph enie Hoelscher said Friday.

John Price, the school board chairman, said that because questions had been raised, he agreed with Shelton's recommendation that the evaluation not be conducted until the audit was completed. Price said he didn't think irregularities or mismanagement had occurred.

Shelton said that under board policy, the board and the superintendent have to meet no later than July 31 each year to discuss the superintendent's final evaluation.

Shelton said he and the board had met twice this year before July 31 to talk about his evaluation.
Preliminary discussions take place in closed session, and the evaluation is then discussed in open session, Shelton said.

The policy does not include a deadline for completing the evaluation.

The Kentucky Department of Education requires school districts to submit mid-year and end-of-the-year documents related to the performance of superintendents. Shelton said Fayette County had done that.

Education department spokeswoman Nancy Rod riguez said Monday that Fayette County was in compliance.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/08/04/3365298/fayette-schools-superintendent.html?sp=/99/164/#storylink=cpy

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. Wish I could tell my employer when I wanted my evaluation done. Am also wondering if this is a stall tactic until the elections are over? No secret that Doug Barnett and Amanda Ferguson are both up for re-election. And, I'm not a betting person, but looks like both of their opponents were "encouraged" to run by certain members of the community. Big money backing both....from businesses. Which seems to be the only support the superintendent has these days. I hope voters in this town aren't foolish enough to fall for it....especially since both Doug and Amanda have been the only board members to openly question the disaster that is Tom Shelton's tenure here.

Anonymous said...

What the? How can they do this without a public vote of the board of education? If the audit lasts for 2 years, does Shelton not get evaluated for 2 years?

Absurd.

Anonymous said...

10:51 AM -- Voters just might be foolish enough in District 2, especially since Roger Cleveland has been playing the race card. With Police Chief Beatty on the ballot, Roger can capitalize on a race message pretty well in that district given the demographics. I don't envy his situation.

Anonymous said...

I find it fascinating that Cleveland is running. How much of a pay cut will he take? He is a paid consultant for the district....has his hand on all kinds of Carter G. Woodson stuff...the list goes on and on. Not sure how this isn't a conflict of interest. But hey, let's open the doors and let the fox in the hen house.

Anonymous said...

Under the tpgs evaluations, I should ask not to be observed and evaluated until my state test results are in from last year?

Anonymous said...

This is a bunch of BS! I can not tell FCPS to wait on my evaluation when it comes up and why should he get by with it? Seems like the party of the $100K club is about to come to an end and it should! 85% of the budget is for salaries and 15% for education, my question is what % of the salaries are coming from Central Office? Can someone report on that!

Anonymous said...

Dr. Shelton knows full well that the auditors were still in the district as of last week. The release of the audit results will likely be months down the road. This is a stall tactic to delay his evaluation until after the November BOE elections in which he hopes to see Amanda Ferguson and Doug Barnett replaced. The public needs to push for this evaluation to be put on a realistic timeline and that does not mean months! How did this ever pass in the first place...oh, I know, Melissa Bacon, Darryl Love and John Price agreed to his every wish...as always. What a joke. Enjoy your time until 2016 three stooges, you're outta here!

Wait and see, if Doug and Amanda win, and I believe they will, Shelton will leave a dust trail running out of Central Office. Time to change the tide...

Karma said...

I wish I was in each of their districts to vote for Barnett and Ferguson. In the last 25 years I have never watched a Board Meeting until this year. I believe these two are doing a great job. I hate to see all the bad press FCPS is getting but I think things have finally coming to light or I hope so anyway.