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The Guilford County Board of Education met in a regular meeting on Thursday, February 7, 2008, at 712 North Eugene Street, Greensboro, North Carolina. The following board members were present: Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Darlene Garrett, Deena Hayes, Garth Hébert, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick (arrived at 6:09 p.m.) and Nancy Routh. Board member Anita Sharpe was absent. Also present was Attorney Jill Wilson.
Call to Order
Chairman Duncan called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m.
Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence
Board Member Walter Childs led the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.
Recognitions
A. GCS Employee of the Month for February 2008
The board recognized Charles Butler, band director at Smith High, as the district’s February Employee of the Month. Board member Deena Hayes presented Charles with a certificate of recognition. In a prior ceremony, Mr. Butler received a $50 gift card from Sam’s Club, which has partnered with GCS to support the employee recognition program.
B. GCS Volunteer of the Month for February 2008
The board recognized Janeen Price, a volunteer at Northwest High, as the district’s February Volunteer of the Month. Board member Darlene Garrett presented Janeen with a certificate of appreciation. Ms. Price received a $25 gift card from American Express, which has partnered with GCS to support the volunteer recognition program.
Public Comments
Chairman Duncan called on members of the public who requested an opportunity to address the board.
Charnikqa Melton, 1305 Ogden St., Greensboro, NC 27406
August Hill, 100 Sussmans St., Greensboro, NC 27406
James McDowell, 1220 Ogden St., Greensboro, NC 27406
Wanda Biddle, 1305 Ogden St., Greensboro, NC 27406
Rochelle Thornton, 1118 Ashe St., Greensboro, NC 27406
Rev. Clarence J. Shuford, Jr., 5915 Bluestem Circle, Greensboro, NC 27405
Rev. Cardes N. Brown, 6106 Longbranch Court, Pleasant Garden, NC 27313
Nelson Johnson, 2115 Murrayhill Road, Greensboro, NC 27403
Joe Stafford, 4604 Forest Village Drive, Greensboro, NC 27406
Approval of Agenda
Chairman Duncan asked board members to review the meeting agenda and called for a motion to approve or amend it. Chairman Duncan asked that the consent agenda item Personnel Action Reports be moved to the end of the meeting after closed session and also that the staff reports item Update on The Academy at Smith be deferred until the next meeting. Motion was made by Nancy Routh, seconded by Darlene Garrett, to approve the agenda as amended. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.
Consent Agenda
Superintendent Grier presented the following consent agenda items:
A. January 2008 Meeting Minutes
The minutes of the January 8 Regular Meeting and the January 26 Board Retreat were presented for approval.
B. Personnel Action Reports
The consent agenda included personnel actions as noted in the monthly Personnel Action Reports requiring board approval. This item will be discussed after closed session, at which time a vote will be taken.
Board member Nancy Routh asked that the January 26 Board Retreat minutes be revised under the item entitled School Calendar Considerations Including How We Can Best Reduce Use of Teacher and Principal Time Outside of the Classroom to add the following sentence at the end of the first paragraph: “Also not included were any of the professional development activities and training provided without credit.”
Motion was made by Darlene Garrett, seconded by Dot Kearns, to approve the consent agenda as amended. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.
Staff Reports
Update on The Academy at Smith
This item was deferred to a later meeting.
Update on New Magnet School Programs
Tony Burks, director of magnet and choice schools, presented to the board an update on the new magnet programs at Northwood and Washington Elementary Schools; Ferndale, Hairston and Welborn Middle Schools; and Andrews High School. The following information was included in the report for each of these schools:
- School Name
- Principal
- Magnet Theme
- School Profile Snapshot
- Enrollment Plan
- Project Design Team Goals
- Goal One: developing an process to recruit and identify eligible students
- Goal Two: developing a comprehensive curriculum supported by the instructional materials to serve the identified students
- Goal Three: recommending and requesting facility, furniture and equipment adjustments for the new population of students
- District Goal
- Goal Four: recruiting and hiring a school-based magnet coordinator
- Brochures and Logos
Mr. Burks provided information on extended learning opportunities at Ferndale. The school-based leadership team at Ferndale and the office of magnet and choice schools proposed the following extended learning program for the 2008-09 school year for all students. This proposal will replace the original plan to add 20 instructional days to the school’s calendar.
- Ferndale will offer Camp Ferndale, a four-week summer enrichment program for all students:
- Students not meeting proficiency standards (i.e., students who score at Level I or Level II on North Carolina Assessments) will attend a summer school program for mathematics and reading. The summer program will target mathematics and reading achievement and will utilize enrichment activities to help students understand their learning styles and develop strategies to improve their learning.
- Students meeting proficiencies (i.e., students who score at Level III or Level IV) will attend a differentiated enrichment program to accelerate their learning. For example, each student will complete an interest survey. The results will determine which camp a student will attend. Camp themes include writing, science, reading and mathematics.
- Ferndale will invite all rising sixth graders to attend Ferndale Jumpstart, an academic orientation camp designed to ensure a more successful transition into middle school.
Mr. Burks explained that these changes do not alter the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) budget for Ferndale. The funding originally requested to extend the year by twenty instructional days (i.e., teacher contracts) will be used instead to hire teachers for the summer enrichment program (i.e., Camp Ferndale) and the academic orientation camp (i.e., Ferndale Jumpstart).
Board member Darlene Garrett said that both she and Chairman Duncan were approached by a principal at the Morehead Men’s Breakfast, who said she has an empty classroom at Morehead Elementary and that she would like to have an increase of up to 24 in her enrollment since she has a waiting pool. Ms. Garrett asked the board to consider approving this prior to the Magnet Fair. Mr. Burks stated that he did not see a problem in adding these additional seats at Morehead. Board member Jeff Belton received a request in writing from Morehead Principal Darcy Kemp to increase her magnet enrollment by approximately 18 to 24 students in grades one through three. She has an empty classroom, and it would not affect her teacher assistant or specialist allotments.
Motion was made by Jeff Belton, seconded by Darlene Garrett, to increase the magnet enrollment at Morehead Elementary by approximately 18 to 24 students in grades one through three. The motion passed upon unanimous electronic vote.
Reports from the Chair
Board member Dot Kearns provided a report to the board regarding her attendance at the Federal Relations Network (FRN) Conference in Washington, D.C.
Board Discussion
Search Process for New Superintendent
Chairman Duncan led the board in a discussion regarding the search process for a new superintendent. He stated that the general search process was first discussed at the January 31 board meeting, and he asked board members to share their ideas regarding the traits and characteristics required in the next superintendent. Following are several items which were presented:
Nancy Routh
- Strong in curriculum and instruction across the board (while working on initiatives, don’t neglect the base foundation)
- Strong in areas of communication (be responsive to and understand the total community including teachers and staff recognizing the importance for building relationships within the organization and the community)
Amos Quick
- Strong in curriculum and instruction
- Look internally for candidates
- Committed to being visible in schools and in the community
- Visionary in terms of addressing current needs and educational trends within GCS
Darlene Garrett
- Ability to build relationships with the many different factions (community, parents, teachers, principals) in this diverse county
- Someone who respects teachers and principals and will seek their input prior to imposing new programs
- Someone who believes in fostering positive character traits and looking to build the future with our students
- Visibility should include visiting schools often and let teachers and principals know it is fine to talk with board members
Walter Childs
- Strong in curriculum and instruction with the ability to follow through on current successful curriculum incentives
- Focus on the total community, know where the students are coming from and recognize what is needed to ensure that they will move through school in a positive way and become good citizens in our community
- Committed to being visible in schools and in the community
Kris Cooke
- Must be a team builder who recognizes the important of working together as a team
- Ability to build relationships with elected officials and in the community
- Must be trustworthy
Dot Kearns
- Ability to meet the academic needs of a very diverse population of students (look at past performance and at plans on how the candidate plans to accomplish this at GCS)
- Ability to meet state accountability standards and AYP needs
- Ability to recognize how the relationships among students, counselors, social workers and teachers affect the total outcome of students
- Proven evidence of financial stability to work effectively with our budget process and recognizing how it drives other goals
- Has strong interest in and supports the values of all segments within the community
- Committed to being visible in schools and in the community
- Values all citizens regardless of race or income
- Someone who realizes how critical this job is and has the courage to do what it takes to get the job done
Jeff Belton
- Strong leadership regarding reading instruction
- Strong leadership in community partnerships in the corporate world, churches and organizations which provide our students with opportunities for educational enrichment outside the classroom
- Strong teacher induction experience to focus talent and resources on development and support of new young teachers
Garth Hébert
- Would like honest feedback from principals and senior staff of what they want to see in a leader and where we need to be heading
Deena Hayes
- Ability to delegate responsibly and develop a leadership team that is capable of running things in the superintendent’s absence
- Ability to integrate educational ideals and concerns in the business and grassroots community
- Look within the organization to fill this position
- Successful in building relations and in team building
- Someone who has a deep understanding of culture and experience working within a diverse community
Alan Duncan
- Someone with great leadership ability being a team builder
- Must value and empower staff
- Must have high energy level
- Ability to connect to all communities in our county from the business communities to our least affluent neighborhoods
- Skill level to enable effective visibility in schools and in the community
- Focused on curriculum issues with effort on long term stability
- Someone who will make implementation of existing initiatives a priority
Board members discussed how to best exchange information with the public. In addition to holding public forums, other mediums were discussed which could be used to invite citizen participation. One suggestion was to post questions to the public on the GCS Web site asking them what traits they believe are important in a superintendent, including what personality traits are desired. What do citizens believes are our current strengths, and what areas of our system’s work should be improved? Chairman Duncan asked District Relations to coordinate this effort. The suggestion was presented to make use of GCSTV2 to involve citizens in planning for the future. Chairman Duncan also encouraged board members to personally seek input from all sources.
Closed Session
At 8:14 p.m., motion was made by Deena Hayes, seconded by Darlene Garrett, to go into closed session to preserve the attorney client privilege and to discuss personnel matters protected by state law. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote. The board returned to open session at 10:18 p.m.
Motion was made by Deena Hayes, seconded by Deena Hayes to adopt the personnel action report. The motion passed upon unanimous electronic vote.
Motion was made by Darlene Garrett, seconded by Jeff Belton, to accept Dr. Terry Grier’s resignation effective March 23, 2008 and allow him to take leave from March 14, 2008 through his last day of employment. The motion passed upon unanimous electronic vote.
Motion was made by Kris Cooke, seconded by Jeff Belton, to appoint Dr. Eric Becoats and Ms. Sharon Ozment as co-interim superintendents effective March 15, 2008; further that we recognize Sharon Ozment’s many years as chief financial officer, manager and leader of this district and submit her name to the State Board of Education for verification; and furthermore, I move to direct our attorney to draft the written contracts for the two interim superintendents, Sharon Ozment and Eric Becoats. The motion passed upon majority electronic vote of 8-to-2 as follows: Ayes – Jeff Belton, Walter Childs, Kris Cooke, Alan Duncan, Deena Hayes, Dot Kearns, Amos Quick and Nancy Routh; Nays – Darlene Garrett and Garth Hébert.
Board Comments
Board members were each allowed two minutes to make remarks, as they deemed appropriate.
Adjournment
With no further business, at 10:35 p.m., motion was made by Kris Cooke, seconded by Deena Hayes, to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed upon unanimous voice vote.
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