|
Katy Citizen Watchdog$ |
|
We’re Taxpayers. It’s Our Money. |
|
Finding A Superintendent |
|
In 1995, the Katy ISD School Board found itself in the position of needing a superintendent. The previous one had been sent on his way, and the Board initiated a process for finding a suitable replacement. In that effort, the Board solicited input from all sorts of places, hoping to find consensus among the members of the public who cared about the selection. Although lists of suggested requirements were tallied by the headhunter, the newspapers, and the Board, none of those lists seemed as comprehensive as the one I assimilated from my personal contacts, listening to the public, reading the newspapers, and tapping my own list. Here is what, I believe, our school district wanted in a superintendent in 1995: I thought the Board received a clear message that the public wanted a man to be our superintendent and that he should be a man who was younger than 45, who was from Texas, who exhibited some original thinking about improving the quality of our schools (we weren’t looking for someone to come in and recreate what he had done elsewhere), who could accept blame when he was wrong, and who would maintain his objectivity and become a true educational leader. We wanted someone who had an outgoing personality, a family with school age children, some business background, college course work outside the field of education, an acceptable college transcript that the Board could see, a clear medical history, the ability to take direction from the Board, the ability to take criticism from the Board and the community without becoming defensive, a philosophy of education in tune with the Katy community, the ability to get along with women without feeling threatened, the ability to work with current employees and not have to bring all his buddies with him, a grasp of financial issues, an understanding of curriculum, an interest in educational issues beyond those that only served superintendents, a willingness to live in the school district and become a part of the community, a willingness to start with a two year contract and at $100,000, the ability to provide financial direction that would maintain Katy ISD’s average tax rate and its modest building program, an acceptance of smaller minimal pay increases for the administrative staff, a belief in the importance of an elected School Board being in charge of the public schools, a willingness to thwart Outcome Based Education in Katy schools even if it meant a loss of grant money and other perks, a successful work history and documented leadership ability as a superintendent for at least five years in a school district of comparable size and demographic composition, a real liking for all children (and not just his own), respect for and understanding of the issues facing teachers, the ability to write and speak well, a clean cut appearance, a respect for patrons who were critical of him and/or the school district, a grasp of what it means to achieve academic excellence, and a clear understanding of the needs of special populations including special education, minorities, gifted students, and vocational students. In retrospect, the Board did not do a very good job of listening to the public. I knew that they hadn’t ten years ago, and when it came time to vote for Leonard Merrell as superintendent, I voted “NO.” It took me from March 1995 until August 1995 to get my remarks that accompanied my NO vote placed in the Board minutes. Most of the media stories of Merrell’s selection did not state my opposition. I take no comfort in having been correct in my assessment of Leonard Merrell. He is, after all, a person with a family. But he has done the children of the Katy schools no favors. His lack of educational leadership, his inability to follow the dictates at the time of his hiring, his constant effort to control who his bosses on the Board are, his spreading of the bond money wealth among non-Katy businesses and dumping the businesses who had served this school district so well for many years, his apparent involvement in setting up the Xpediant front company and allowing those employees to soak this school district, his closing of the KISD print shop, his bringing in of “outsiders” for administrative positions when KISD had plenty of qualified employees who could have been promoted to do that work just as well, his obvious patronizing of those whose wealth could curry favor for him with the public, his endless opportunistic efforts to garner photo-ops for himself, and his placement of a curriculum in our midst that fails children on every front is inexcusable and shameful. Leonard Merrell had an agenda of his own when he came to Katy in 1995; that he was able to implement it so successfully and quickly is a testament to a Board of seven people who have been asleep at the wheel. Here is a copy of my prepared remarks in March 1995, the day the School Board voted 6 to 1 to bring Leonard Merrell to Katy ISD: “As a member of this board, I was very pleased when we began this process of finding a new superintendent because we set out in a methodical way to give ourselves plenty of time, to involve the public in a very real way, and to look for the proper search consultant to guide us. We went through the process proceeding just as we had planned. The public was receptive and turned out in large numbers to make themselves heard. I listened to what they said, and what I heard was that we should be looking for a good communicator who liked children and who was knowledgeable about curriculum issues and who could implement in our schools the beliefs that are held by this board and this community. I was expecting candidates who were from districts similar to ours, and whose test scores indicated a high level of achievement and real progress and whose curriculum practices revealed at least a hint of originality and individualism. Instead we were presented with four candidates from districts very much unlike ours and who either denied knowledge of, or claimed ignorance with regard to, current curriculum and methodology issues that are important to our community. I saw no shining stars from outstanding school districts. I saw no rising stars from school districts on the move. What we were presented were four superintendents from mediocre school districts who for one reason or another were looking to bail out and move to greener pastures. And those, gentlemen, are not good reasons for us to hire them. Any of them. I feel that we allowed the consultant to drive our activities in a way that precluded our receiving all the information that we requested in a timely manner, and rushed us so that we did not have time to make thoughtful and measured decisions. I could not be at my best when I had to spend six hours a day reading their material, one hour socializing with the candidates, and three hours in an interview for four days in a row. When we finished on a Thursday night at 11 PM, and then met at 7 AM the next morning, we did not have the time or the energy to discuss credentials and to compare candidates. We met simply to “pick one.” The process was in my opinion very flawed. Believe it or not, our district is a state-wide trendsetter, and when we do not have the proper candidates from whom to select our superintendent, we have allowed ourselves to be placed in the position of perpetuating the status quo with regard to superintendent selection in this state. If a high profile school district such as ours holds out for a truly qualified candidate who is opposed to the educational stuff that the federal government is trying to force on states and local school districts, the shock waves throughout the state might offer courage to a lot of other school boards. However, the educational establishment, because of job protection wants to maintain the status quo. The agenda here is to keep up from doing what is proper. It is a state-wide agenda, and I will not be a part of it. I cannot vote for this candidate. Because I care so much about this school district, with all my heart, I hope I am wrong, but the curriculum this candidate has directed and placed in his current district and his resume tell me I am not.”
|
|
Mary McGarr, Katy Citizen Watchdog$ |
|
Date: 04/29/2006 |
