This from
H-L:
Four people have been elected by their peers to the
screening committee that will help choose the next Fayette County
superintendent, including the budget director whose allegations led to a
state audit.
Julane Mullins, who was elected to represent
classified employees on the committee, made allegations earlier this
year that led Kentucky Auditor Adam Edelen to conduct a special
examination. The examination found chronic financial mismanagement.
Other
people on the committee include Fayette County Education Association
President Jessica Hiler, Associate Director of Certified Personnel
Meribeth Gaines, both representing certified employees, and the
principal representative, Beaumont Principal Kate McAnelly.
School
board chairman John Price said in an email to parents that there was a
tie for the parent representative on the council and Price was seeking
legal counsel about how to proceed.
According to the Fayette
County Public Schools website, Roger Cleveland and Sharon
Mofield-Boswell are the two parent candidates. Cleveland lost to
incumbent Doug Barnett for the second district school board seat in the
November general election.
After a year marked by budget cuts and a
critical state audit, Fayette Superintendent Tom Shelton resigned to
become executive director of the Kentucky Association of School
Superintendents. His last working day is Friday.
Longtime Fayette
County Educator Marlene Helm has been named interim superintendent.
Price has said the board hopes to name a permanent replacement by July.
Under
Kentucky law, a screening committee must be comprised of two teachers,
one board of education member, one principal, one parent and one
classified employee.
Officials from the local NAACP have asked
that the district's Equity Council Chairman Roy Woods be placed on the
committee as a seventh member because of Fayette County's achievement
gap between minority, low income and disabled students and other
students. Price has said under state law that he does not have the
authority to add members to the screening committee.
Shambra
Mulder, the education chair for the local NAACP, said the group
contends that critical voices or perspectives are not being allowed
based on the district's interpretation of the legislation. She said the
local NAACP will ask Kentucky's Attorney General Jack Conway for an
opinion on the matter.
Also, members of the Student Voice Team on
the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence have suggested that
students be allowed to select a peer to serve on the committee.
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/12/11/3588885/four-selected-to-committee-that.html?sp=/99/164/142/#storylink=cpy
12 comments:
Anyone else notice the only thing missing from the selection committee is an actual classroom teacher.....
Hiler is there to represent teachers.
Employees, including teachers, got to nominate and vote for their representatives. Certified voted for certified, classified voted for classified.
I'm with Chris, both of the "certified" representatives are fine people. I'm sure they'll do a good job but to my knowledge neither of them have been in a classroom for many years.
Anybody notice Tom Shelton is gone. I am so happy. The Silbetman Shelton reign of terror is over.
Coin toss to determine the parent representative, really? No wonder this district is such a mess! Fingers crossed for Sharon to win the spot she deserves.
What other way do you suggest to break a tie vote?
I would have favored a run off between the tied candidates. With over 90 people on the ballot, we were lucky there were only two people in a tiebreaker. Had there been more, a coin toss would not have been an option. I suppose that would have lead to drawing straws.
Were there over 90 candidates on the ballot that the PTA presidents voted on?
It's not feasible to take six months to put together a screening committee.
Why should additional costs and time be incurred because of a tie?
There were over 90 people on the ballot. There was no cost involved in facilitating an online voting process. The time required would have involved simply setting up a new electronic ballot and opening the voting back up. They would then only need to email the PTA presidents their code and give them 24 hours to vote. Not a difficult, delaying or costly process at all. The district took the easy way out and in doing so, neglected getting a true majority voice. Much the same as they appointed Daryl Love instead of having a minority parent rep election. Hopefully there will be several forums for community input to offset the poor judgment of the Board and the district PTA.
To clear up confusion from the previous commenter, if Daryl had not been appointed, the next step would have been an entirely new nomination and election process. Only minority parents/guardians would be allowed on the ballot and EVERY parent/guardian in the school district would have to be given an opportunity to vote. That's a huge undertaking. It could not be done online. It would involve paper ballots and multiple polling places and ensuring that everyone who came to vote was actually a parent.
Clearly, that was too much to ask. Thank you for clarifying the process for this confused commentator. What on earth would we do without you to point out the obvious?
Post a Comment