Extension of Superintendent contract: email to the Board

Here is an email I just sent to the Board and Dr. Wiegand:

 

Good evening,

Meg Dickinson reported in today’s newspaper that there is an agenda item to extend the superintendent’s contract from 2016 to 2017.

I am including Dr. Wiegand on this email because I think she has done a fantastic job; I have mentioned this publicly and privately on several occasions. I have absolutely no doubts that she is deserving and that her performance has been stellar.

However, allow me to remind you of two previous contract extensions, also covered by the News Gazette:

2009: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2009-02-24/champaign-superintendents-contract-extended-2013.html

2010: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2010-02-25/another-year-added-culvers-contract-champaign-schools.html

Granted, Culver wasn’t Wiegand. Totally different ball game. But look at what the board members at the time said:

“With the election six weeks off, and three board seats up, this was the wrong time to extend his contract,” he said. “The incoming board has lost any control. … It kind of negates the whole point of an election to a certain extent.”

 

“The three board members voting against the contract extension did so because they don’t agree with having a contract extended beyond three years, not because of any dissatisfaction with the superintendent’s performance, they said.”

I urge you to hold off on voting in favor of this contract extension. Again, this has more to do with giving freshly voted-in board members (next month) a chance to have some say and not “locking them in”. There is time to extend the superintendent contract after April – no need to do it now.

Finally, I have the highest respect for Dr. Wiegand. I think she is doing an awesome job and I am personally very glad we have her leading the team. My message this evening has absolutely nothing to do with her role as superintendent.

Talks with Dr. Wiegand and Sue Grey

Wednesday I had the privilege of chatting with Superintendent Dr. Wiegand and Board President Sue Grey, in two different venues. On both occasions my goal was simply to learn; now my challenge is clearly communicating what I learned.

I met with Dr. Wiegand at the Mellon Center. Aside from the construction and relatively unmarked temporary entrance, the mood inside the building was obviously somber. I had set up an appointment with Dr. Wiegand prior to the events on Tuesday, and told her that if she was not in a mood to talk about her thesis, I totally understood. But we decided to move forward with our plans.

In regards to her research and findings, she confirmed that, in a oversimplified nutshell kind of way, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”. I asked her about what provided the impetus for the topic in the first place, and Dr. Wiegand relayed a bit of what was on her mind at the time, that she was concerned about the academic performance of certain groups and how she had observed that academic teams seemed to have a positive effect. On top of that, she also noticed how hard it is to push change through at times. So she wanted to study the process of “reform” and try to find specific obstacles.

Much of our conversation

Another conversation starter: Carrie Busey

I usually try not to advertise too strongly that I have a vested interest at Carrie Busey; at least, not on this blog. I think it is more because I want the focus of this space to cover many different aspects of Unit 4. Having said that, there is some exciting stuff happening in and around Carrie Busey. It has to do with what to call the new school building in Savoy.

 

I realize some community folks still have some residual negativity towards a “south of University” school being built in what some consider a middle- to upper-middle-class neighborhood. Still others are like “Savoy? You mean those [insert adjective] folks who voted against the MTD and don’t want to pay any taxes?”. And still, “Savoy? Where’s that?” 

Meet your new Superintendent

Wow, that didn’t take long:

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2011-12-21/champaign-school-board-announcing-new-superintendent-today.html

 

Granted, it is only 10:08 am and the news release is slated for 2:pm. But we all know what they are going to say. This is quite shocking. Dr. Wiegand went from not submitting her application to submitting it after the deadline and flip-flopping on her decision to this. As my head is spinning, I am trying to gather my thoughts about this whole “transparency” thing. School Exec Connect said the BOE was being very transparent initially. But there are some gaping black holes, especially surrounding Dr. Wiegand’s application.

Please note that I am not saying that Dr. Wiegand is a bad choice – in fact, I would say she is the best choice out of the 4 we have (had). I just don’t like the circumstances around this whole thing.

 

UPDATES:

• WCIA is the only first online location I could find that got the real-time scoop: http://illinoishomepage.net/fulltext/?nxd_id=322227
• And now the NG: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2011-12-21/champaign-school-board-chooses-wiegand-next-superintendent.html
• Finally up on the Unit 4 website: http://www.champaignschools.org/superintendent-named.html

Wednesday at Houlihans: update

So first off, no “official” gathering next week (Dec 21). But don’t let that stop you from reinforcing the habit of dropping by at 11:30 on a whim.

This week (Dec 14th), we continued to have some excellent discussion. Again, I fear I am not going to do justice to all that was said, so I am hoping (again) that others pipe up and share their thoughts. We had with us a Champaign Council rep, an EEE Committee member, a Prairie Fields Homeowners’ Association BOD rep, myself and Chuck Jackson. Looking back at that list, I am realizing that all those folks wear multiple hats as well.

Wanna hear what we talked about? 

Questions for Dr. Darryl Taylor

1. What did you take away from your experience with Rodney Estvan and giving your special ed kids the alternative test in 2009?
2. Since hindsight is 20/20, what, if anything, would you have done differently since taking on the mantle of Superintendent for Lincoln ESD 156 in 2007?
3. Please provide some examples of how you have directed day-to-day operations of the District.
4. Under your leadership at ESD 156, what goals (short-, midterm-, longterm- ) were you immediately responsible for?
5. Everybody makes mistakes. Please provide an example of your greatest learning moment in the past 4 years.
6. If you were to be chosen by the Unit 4 BOE to be the next Superintendent, how do you intend to deal with reorganization in the Administrative office given that several key members of the previous Administration will have left by that time?
7. What key challenges faced ESD 156 prior to your start as Superintendent, and how exactly did you work with the District to address those challenges?
8. Based on whatever research you have done so far, in your opinion what are the top 2 or 3 issues facing Champaign Unit 4 today, and how do you intend to tackle them?

 

Questions for Steven Cobb?

If you have questions you would like the BOE or the Community Search Committee to ask of Steven Cobb, you might want to get them in ASAP.

 

Some questions I have:

1. Mr. Steven Cobb has been in the Fort Wayne area since 1987 and has only recently (relatively speaking) stepped into the Assistant Superintendent role. Earlier this year he tried for the Superintendent position in Lee County. What are his motivations? Why does he want to climb to Superintendent?
2. What about Mr. Steven Cobb makes him more attractive than, for instance, someone with a Ed.D after their name and 4 years of experience as a Superintendent?
3. Give some examples of thinking “out of the box” in your career.

 

I would love to hear what the responses are.

 

Superintendent Candidates: overall impression so far

After reading, thinking and writing about the 4 candidates, I am left with the following.

 

1. Disappointment that we do not have a stronger pool to choose from. I tamper that with the fact that we may yet find a gem, a diamond in the rough. I have to hope that we will. I have to hope that what little I know about the candidates (all 4 of them) is only a sign that there is more depth to them. I am told this was the case with Dr. Malito when he was hired.
2. Not one of the candidates even mentioned the Board of Education. Did it slip past my eyes? It’s great that the candidates all see a Superintendent position as being involved in and with the community. But the fact of the matter is that the Board hires (and fires) the Superintendent, and for all practical purposes, the BOE is the middle-man between the Superintendent and the public.
3. The late addition of Dr. Wiegand is certainly interesting. I am torn how I think about this. Is she being groomed? Was she holding back for fear of finding stronger candidates in the pool? Does it even matter what I think? (Probably not, but… this is my blog….).

 

If we look at the profile that the BOE came up with, I would venture to say that perhaps Dr. Darryl Taylor best matches the profile, with Dr. Wiegand coming in at a close second. If I look at what I want (my own profile), I am scratching my head – none meet the high standards that Dr. Malito has set. I am sorry, but I can’t get that out of my head.

 

Mr. Jamar Brown has been making it clear he wants to know about any questions that we the community have. My brain is too fried right now to further think about questions. But perhaps by sleeping on this, I’ll come up with something.

Superintendent Candidate 4: Judy Wiegand

The Board Policies state that the Superintendent is to:

1. Directing the day-to-day operations of the District’s schools, services, and programs.
2. Conducting research and recommending plans for the short- and long-range goals, services, and programs of the District.
3. Evaluating the entire District’s operations, programs, services, and personnel on a regular, scheduled basis.

And for the last time (*grin*), I am using the high bar set by Dr. Malito.

Dr. Judy Wiegand

Dr. Wiegand is in an unique position among the other candidates in that not only is she currently in the Administration, but she has been in the Champaign area with Unit 4 since 1987. On top of that,

Superintendent Candidate 3: Darryl Taylor

Again, my roadmap is the Board Policies, which state the Superintendent is to:

1. Directing the day-to-day operations of the District’s schools, services, and programs.
2. Conducting research and recommending plans for the short- and long-range goals, services, and programs of the District.
3. Evaluating the entire District’s operations, programs, services, and personnel on a regular, scheduled basis.

And again, Dr. Malito is my role-model for these.

Dr. Darryl Taylor

Dr. Darryl Taylor is the only candidate to have experience as a full-blown Superintendent under his belt. And since 2007 at that, which is not too shabby. Prior to that,

Superintendent Candidate 2: Johnnie Thomas

Again, I am using the standing Board Policies; the Superintendent is charged with:

1. Directing the day-to-day operations of the District’s schools, services, and programs.
2. Conducting research and recommending plans for the short- and long-range goals, services, and programs of the District.
3. Evaluating the entire District’s operations, programs, services, and personnel on a regular, scheduled basis.

And again, I am using Dr. Malito as an active roll model, an embodiment of those qualities.

Dr. Johnnie Thomas

Dr. Johnnie Thomas was awarded his doctorate in August of 2010 and has not yet had the opportunity to spread those particular wings; he has worked his way up from being a social worker in 2000, and appears to have worked primarily in School District 365-U (not sure what the “U” means, yet). In fact,

Superintendent Candidate 1: Steven M. Cobb

So here goes a 4-part series looking at each of the candidates to the Superintendent of Unit 4. My goal is to invite discussion on these candidates, and I hope to do so by laying a groundwork of my own thoughts. Which are highly subjective. But I hope they contain a measure of objectivity from time to time. But the point is you are free to disagree – I would love to hear your thoughts.

Superintendent Search Committee: who are these people?

Here are the members of the Superintendent Search Committee, published by Unit 4:

Nathaniel Banks, Laurie Bonnett, Charles Burton, Joan Dixon, Peter Fox, Ginny Holder, Charles Larenas, Pat Lewis, Rebecca Motley, Prue Runkle, Ryan Searby, Jennifer Shelby, Seth Swartz, Mirelsie Velazquez, Scott Walter and Barb Wilson

What do you know about these folks?

BOE names 4 finalists for the Superintendent Search

re: http://www.champaignschools.org/superintendent-search.html

Just making a quick scoop – more later.

• Mr. Steven M. Cobb, Chief Academic Officer, Fort Wayne Community Schools, Fort Wayne, IN
• Dr. Darryl Taylor, Superintendent, Lincoln Elementary School District 156, Calumet City, IL
• Dr. Johnnie Thomas, Associate Superintendent for Student Services for Township High School District 214, Arlington Heights, IL
• Dr. Judy Wiegand, Assistant Superintendent for Achievement and Pupil Services, Champaign Unit 4 School District, Champaign, IL

After glancing through the resumes, I am disappointed that ZERO have Superintendent experience in a district our size, and worse, only ONE has any superintendent experience in a school district (that with 1000 students). Granted, they all have skills and abilities which need to be looked at, but for anyone hoping to land someone who has run similarly sized districts is going to be sorely disappointed.

And here are some relevant NG articles:
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2011-12-09/wiegand-applied-champaign-superintendents-job-late-november.html
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2011-12-09/unit-4-official-among-4-finalists-champaign-superintendent.html

Superintendent Search

I continue to be supremely impressed by Dr. Bob Malito. When I talk to Board Members, Committee members and commutity members, I always hear good things about this man. So now I am hunting for anything negative – I am looking for that “different opinion”.

 

My challenge to the Board of Education is “If you cannot find any candidates for the position of Superintendent that impress you as much as Dr. Malito, reject them outright!“. We do not want a second-rate school Chief. We do not want someone who is “good enough”. Dr. Malito is working hard to set the standard high, why would we want someone who falls below that standard?

 

The obvious paradox, the conundrum, is what if we cannot find anyone that good? I only hope we never find ourselves in that kind of a situation. Our charge to the School Exec Connect folks must be to find us someone we want, not someone we can live with.