Superintendent Fred Sanderson is retiring when his contract expires in June 2011. Crowder-Eagle said the district has already implemented some of the GSBA's steps for a superintendent search and does not see a need to pay for the association's entire 17-step process. She listed a few steps she would like to see the GSBA assist with, including receiving and reviewing applications for the position, conducting reference checks on top candidates, and meeting with the board to review the applications.
Board member Holli Cash asked the board to consider using the board attorney's search firm of Brock, Clay, Calhoun and Rogers, which did the search to hire former-superintendent Joe Redden and superintendents in Clayton and Cherokee counties.
"I hate to not think about Brock and Clay, because of their inside knowledge of our district, which would be able to really answer some of our questions," Cash said.
But Crowder-Eagle said, "We have received ... I guess we'll just put it right out there, some criticism from local media that that is kind of a biased approach to use our legal for a search and that's why in some of our discussions we have talked about using a neutral (party)."
Dr. John Abraham also said one downside in using Brock and Clay would be public perception.
Crowder-Eagle asked board attorney Clem Doyle to contact GSBA's search consultant, Don Rooks, for a revised pricing estimate for a superintendent search at the next board meeting. She did not, however, ask for an estimate from Brock and Clay. Glenn Brock told the Journal Wednesday that he charged $7,500 to do a search for Clayton County last year, but that also included some side work he did for their SACS accreditation.
District spokesman Jay Dillon said he planned to post an online survey Wednesday, using Survey Monkey, asking for community input on its search for a new superintendent.
The board also spent nearly an hour discussing its Strategic Plan, although there was no mention of Cobb schools falling far short of Adequate Yearly Progress targets, and none of the board members asked staff when SAT scores were expected.
Dr. Judi Jones, the district's chief accountability and research officer, presented board members with testing results from the 2009-10 school year and the board members discussed how those statistics related to the Strategic Plan. Schools came very close to meeting Strategic Plan targets for the average ACT composite score.
Interestingly, though, Jones also presented AYP results, which board members did not discuss in relation to Strategic Plan goals.
Last school year, the district established a goal of 92 percent of its high schools making AYP, but only 63 percent of the high schools actually achieved the AYP distinction. A goal of 100 percent of schools making AYP was set at the middle school level, but only 84 percent met that benchmark. The district came closer to its goal at the elementary level, with 94 percent of its elementary schools making AYP. The goal was 98 percent.
Most of Wednesday's discussion was related to improvements in student performance, and Abraham praised district staff for setting targets and their work on the Strategic Plan.
"I think (Sanderson) has done a good job and his staff has done a good job and this is the evidence," Abraham said. "And I think, going forward, a superintendent's evaluation has to be tied into this Strategic Plan."
Abraham also said that he truly believes a balanced calendar will give students the tools they need to achieve the district's Strategic Plan targets. Although Abraham ran on a platform against the balanced calendar, he was highly criticized for flip-flopping when he voted for it in 2009.
Although Crowder-Eagle asked all board members for their thoughts on how to revise the Strategic Plan at the board's last work session on Aug. 11, only David Morgan sent her a list of revisions. Abraham suggested that the plan be a bit more concise. Crowder-Eagle asked Jones to bring back a revised version of a more succinct plan in a few weeks.
Alison Bartlett, who represents Osborne High School in south Cobb, asked the board to reconsider the district's plan to use leftover funds from the installation of artificial turf in the district's high schools. Each of the district's 16 high schools were given $800,000 to spend on the artificial turf installation, but since some high schools had to spend more money than others to install the turf, each school has a different amount of leftover funds to used toward physical education expenditures. Bartlett asked the board to pool those leftover funds and redistribute them equally to all of the high schools in an attempt to be more equitable.
Her idea, however, was shot down by a majority of board members, including David Banks, who represents Pope and Lassiter high schools.
"You're calling it equitable, but I'm calling it redistribution of wealth," Banks said.
Abraham, who represents Kell and North Cobb high schools, was highly critical of Bartlett's proposal, stating that she and her community did not heavily support SPLOST III, like Abraham's community in north Cobb did.
Board watchers have speculated that Abraham's Post 4 community was very supportive of the artificial turf initiative in SPLOST III so they could use the school's leftover money to help pay off a loan the booster club took out to pay off the building of its stadium.
SPLOST manager Doug Shepard told the board that the installation of turf was the cheapest at Kell, using only $515,000. Osborne was the most expensive turf installation at $697,000.
The board agreed to change its night meeting from Sept. 23 to next Thursday, Sept. 16, because the district will be on break from Sept. 20 to 25.
Crowder-Eagle said the change would be to allow central office staffers more time off during the weeklong break.
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Memo to Holli - business as usual isn't going to work for you anymore. Evidently Ms. Crowder-Eagle left you off of the distribution list.
If Crowder-Eagle really wants a "neutral (party)," then why would spending money on this group be any better than using Brock, Clay, Calhoun and Rogers? Will there be a way to get a neutral group? Or will this be another example of giving money to people who will do exactly what you want?
I'll be happy to sort the candidates' applications into three piles and decide who looks good on paper, especially if they want to pay me $15,000. I can probably perform background checks online for $9.95, too, if they want that included in my "search process."
Is there a group called Board Watchers? I want my membership card!
It is my guess that this issue is being avoided so as not to adversely affect Holli Cash's run for re-election to the position which she hss been disgracing for the past three years. You can bet that, once the election is over, they are gonna hand the Reverend Crooks over forty thousand dollars of your and my money