BreakDown: Danville School Board (12/18/2014 Meeting)

We still owe you a BreakDown from Tuesday’s Danville City Council meeting, but Thursday’s Danville School Board meeting takes precedence because the new superintendent was announced. Let’s analyze what happened in a BreakDown.

Let’s get this BreakDown started by bringing on the Big Board!

• We started with a very low public turnout for the meeting because very few people knew that the school board was going to announce the new superintendent that night. I told Petrina Carter and she got the word to some people who started arriving as the meeting was going on.
• Although it would have been nice if the school board had made a public statement that the superintendent announcement would be made during the work session, they didn’t do anything wrong by simply changing the agenda. It’s safe to say that the majority of citizens don’t check for things like agenda changes.
• Clearly, very few media reporters checks for things like that. There was no television coverage and the only other reporter there was the Register & Bee’s Trevor Metcalfe (just like he is always there).
• Since the school board notified all the city council members about the superintendent announcement, it wouldn’t have been much of a stretch to also alert the public.
• The meeting’s agenda was streamlined a lot without the usual department heads giving reports. We had nothing from human resources, instruction and the superintendent. Lori Cassada’s financial reports were quick and nobody had any questions.
• All of the proposed policy changes and additions came from mandates from state and federal government, so there was no controversial points to talk about.
• The school board has a public comment section and an around the horn comment section only at the first monthly meeting (not at the second monthly work session meetings). I strongly believe that the public should have a comment section at every school board meeting and that the board members should have a free-form comment session at every meeting. Issues and opinions come up during the month and people deserve the time to talk about them at every school board meeting. I’m hoping that this procedure changes.
• I’m looking forward to the joint city council & school board meeting in mid-January.
• I wonder how quickly that Juliet Jennings & Mona Whittle can replace the teachers that resigned. Jennings did say that one position was being interviewed and substitutes could be used until the jobs are filled. We still heart Juliet Jennings (and Mona Whittle & Yvette Smith)!
• Liz Jordan is the superglue that keeps everything together when it comes to operations and logistics of the school board. She does an excellent job.
• BWP & Associates (the superintendent search firm) asked for an additional $2000 for the extra time they used in the search process. According to a letter sent to the board, that $2000 was below their normal billing rate. The school board correctly realized that they used more services than the original contract called for, so they rightfully authorized the extra $2000 unanimously.
• Chairman Ed Polhamus’ statement as he made the announcement said a lot. The school system worked perfectly during the search process and everybody pulled together to handle the workload. Kathy Osborne deserves the credit for working as the interim superintendent.
• I had to chuckle a bit as Ed Polhamus made the entrance cue for Stanley Jones to enter the room through the side door… and nobody came out. He had to knock on the door to get him out. I chuckled even more when I saw it was Alonzo “Mr. Showtime” Jones acting as the new superintendent’s escort. That’s the first cue that Showtime Jones has ever missed in his life. Heh.
• I was slightly disappointed in the lack of city council members attending. Gary Miller arrived around 6:15 PM, and that was it. Of course, I’m always disappointed in the lack of school board & city council members that show up for each other board’s meetings. Work together, people.
• Let’s talk about the new superintendent, Stanley Jones. I got an immediate good feeling when I saw him and heard him talk. He’s got professionalism and a good touch of showmanship with his great personality. He’s also got the qualifications. He’s also being criticized, and that’s to be sadly expected.
• He’s a black male. Who the fark cares that he’s black? That’s sadly expected from people as well. Sigh.
• He’s had three education jobs in the past seven years. Big deal. Each one of his new jobs has been a step up. He’s clearly professional enough to work the rest of his existing contract at King & Queen County schools.
• Now to the elephant in the room. Kathy Osborne handled this announcement as professionally as she could. She was very subdued at the meeting as expected. She had a lot of supporters inside the school system and it will be interesting to see how those teachers and staff coalesce around Stanley Jones when he starts on July 1st, 2015. Will she go back to her Assistant Superintendent job or does she start looking for a top job at another school system?
• It’s also going to be interesting to see how the rest of Osborne’s interim superintendent job goes until July 1st. I’m hoping that everything goes as smoothly as it has so far this school year.
• We’ll publish Jones’ contract as soon as it’s signed. Let’s compare that to Newsome’s contract.

And that’s the BreakDown! We’ve got more coming up on SouthsideCentral.