Monday, March 28, 2011

Public Forum on Superintendent Search this Thursday!

DEKALB SCHOOLS TO HOLD PUBLIC FORUM WITH PERMANENT SUPERINTENDENT CANDIDATES

The DeKalb County School System will host a public forum with three candidates for permanent superintendant of DeKalb Schools on Thursday, March 31, at 6 p.m. at the Administration and Instructional Complex Auditorium at 1701 Mountain Industrial Blvd., Stone Mountain, GA, 30083.

During the forum, each superintendent candidate will have 50 minutes to introduce themselves and answer 10 written questions from the public.

Parents and members of the community are invited to submit written questions of the candidates. Questions from the public must be submitted at the forum in person prior to 5:30 p.m.

After each candidate makes a presentation and answers questions, members of the public will be asked to fill out a form regarding each candidate. These forms will be collected and presented to the DeKalb County Board of Education for its consideration during the selection process.

The Board of Education is seeking a permanent superintendent for the DeKalb County School System. This is one of the Board’s most important responsibilities, and the Board is conducting a national search for a leader for DeKalb Schools.

The Board of Education is committed to making the Superintendent Search Process open and transparent, and its search will include multiple opportunities for public input and discussion. Members of the public are encouraged to participate in this important decision for our schools

UPDATE


Here are the three finalists for the DeKalb superintendent:




* Dr. Gloria Davis, Superintendent of Decatur (Illinois) Public Schools


http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/superintendent-search/gloria-davis-bio-and-picture.pdf




* Arthur R. Culver, Superintendent of Champaign (Illinois) Community Unit School District #4


http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/superintendent-search/arthur-culver-bio-and-picture.pdf



* Dr. Lillie Cox, Superintendent of Hickory (North Carolina) Public Schools


118 comments:

Cerebration said...

Possible questions we have posed on this blog before:

What do you see as our system's three biggest challenges and what would you do to address those in your first 100 days and then long-term?

What kind of system of checks and balances would you put in place to ensure fiscal responsibility systemwide - for education as well as for construction?

How do you envision using technology best in the classroom? What kind of teacher training are you familiar with that will keep our teachers current on the best use of the technology available to them in the classroom?

How many tracks to a high school diploma do you envision and describe them in detail.

How would you propose to engage our "at-risk" students and what kind of path would you like to offer them to a high school diploma? How would you better prepare non-college-bound students for the work world and for life?

What kind of mathematics program do you envision for DCSS?

Will you bring your own top administrators with you to DeKalb or will you use the administrators we already have in place? Which administrator or administrators do you see as "key" to the success of our students?

Have you ever handled Title 1 funds? How would you best use our millions of Title 1 funds for the improvement of student success?

How would you increase equity to resources and educational environments across the system?

Have you followed the problems our system has experienced over the past several years? If so, what kinds of policies would you like to see implemented in order to do our best as a board to avoid the legal and ethical issues we have experienced?

How familiar are you with a diverse student body? Do you have systems, programs or teaching methods to bring to DeKalb that would help our teachers to reach our diverse student body? What specific innovative ideas do you have for educating students?

How would you best train principals to be leaders in their own schools? What kinds of teacher training would you bring for our classroom teachers (given our limited resources and budget cuts)?

Describe your past successes - what are you most proud of having accomplished?

Sagamore 7 said...

I wonder who the prospective supers are and where they are from?

Who wants to bet we have one candidate from within?

Who wants to bet that we only have one candidate from outside and the rest are from within?

DCSS states;"Questions for the candidates are to be turned in at AIC prior to 5:30 the day of the meeting."

No online submission, you have to go there in person.

I for one will be there.

S7

Anonymous said...

Wish that we knew who the people were before hand, as it would be much easier to write specific questions based on the candidates experience or lack of.

Anonymous said...

dWhat are the qualifications and proven records of the Applicant? What is your experience as Supt. of a largr, comparable school sytem to DeKalb? How long , if ever, have you been Supt. of a system comparable to DeKalb's.
Spesking in terms of specifics, what will do to empower principals and decrease central office by 75% or more?
What do dou know about the Ga. State Performance Student achievement?

Anonymous said...

I sure hope Dr. Johnny Brown is one of the candidates. We really need a clear up Supt. who is not afraid of the Board, but will tell them the truth. Our biggest mistake was to buy him out! Test scores were up, he was color blind, but student oriented and he stood up to our micro- managing Board. How sad.... wish we could beg him back!

Anonymous said...

I am assuming that the forum wil be televised since the seating at AIC will be limited. Is that a good assumption? Also, even though you can't submit questions, online, can will the forms be available online for viewers to be able to provide their input about the candidates?

Anonymous said...

Doesn't it bother anyone that they are doing this with essentially two days notice, which probably means that they will make a decision over Spring Break?

Anonymous said...

How can you formulate questions for candidates for Super when you do not know who the candidates are? Impressive how you get two days notice for a public forum regarding the most important job for DCSS.

I'm happy they are giving the people a chance to ask questions. But two days notice, Cere do you have the candidates names?

Once again DCSS proves they want to try, but they're not quite trying hard enough.

Anonymous said...

Folks the AIC is called the Palace. Let's stick to the subject. Something smells here, especially when they do not give the list of people in the running for the job.

They say transparent, I say crooked! Why can't these current bozos running the palace figure out that to ask informed questions of an applicant, one must know who the applicant is! Good Grief. Ramona and her band of money wasters are at it again!

Anonymous said...

Okay Ramona, who are the applicants? They want us to formulate questions, arrive early with our questions. Something tells me the applicants names will most likely outrage us! That is why they are keeping the names from us until it's too late to submit questions.

You call this transparency? I call it about right for DCSS. Keep the stakeholders and the folks, that pay the salaries of the current crooks, in the dark until the last minute.

Ramona you're fired as soon as the new person is on board or DCSS IS doomed for failure.

Cerebration said...

@ 6:59 AM - I have no idea who the candidates are. I just was pointed to this announcement at the school system's website by another blogger on another thread.

ps @ 7:09 AM - this has nothing to do with Ramona - this is strictly a board action. They met several times to cull the candidates and then they published the notice about the meeting.

Anonymous said...

7:09, you need to take your meds. This is ENTIRELY a Board initiative. Ms. Tyson has nothing to do with this, in fact she may not even know who the candidates are.

You can Google the candidates during and after the forum for personal backgound information. There should be enough questions regarding instructional philosphy, budget management, hiring practices, etc. to ask at this time.

Anonymous said...

Hey 7:49! So you think it's okay to call an open meeting with the Super candidates, where the questions must be submitted in person just before that meeting begins and the announcement says nothing about who the candidates are. Sounds like you're a Palace employee.

Trust me, Ramona has a lot to do with this. You don't think the BOE asked her opinion how this should go down? Ramona works for the BOE and calls the shots or at least has a say in those shots.


I have sent an email to my BOE rep asking who the candidates are?

Exit question: Funny how the last two communications sent out by the BOE, the first one being the letter to the legislators addressing their displeasure with the bills roaming around the Gold Dome. These communications have been woefully short of information, Mr. Bowen. At least the second one didn't have a typo.

Anonymous said...

Johnny Brown a candidate, that's funny. But I bet one of his relatives, Dr. B, is?! Wonders never cease.

Anonymous said...

Who are the "three finalists"?

This is important to know BEFORE Thursday's forum. And the Board should share this information with us.

I'd like to read each candidate's resume / C.V. before the forum. What education, training and experience do they have? How would it translate to our schools?

Also, in this modern era of Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc., I'd like to research each candidate's history. All prospective employers do this BEFORE interviewing job candidates. We should too.

Who are the "three finalists"?

Anonymous said...

I think one of the questons ought to be how do you deal with paranoid and toxic bloggers who remain anonymous?

Anonymous said...

@0:92 - AMEN!!!

Anonymous said...

@Anonymous 0945 - don't you think that the search firm reviewed each candidate's history and fully vetted each applicant before giving the information to the board?

Leo said...

I too wish that we had more notice about the upcoming meeting; however, if you were one of the 3 finalists and you still have another job, it may make sense to want to wait until the last date possible (or required by GA law) to have your name released. GA has some of the more "open" laws in the regard. I hate to stand up for the bozos, but there may be a reason beyond subterfuge for the late announcement (although I do think that they could have scheduled the meeting further in advance and then just wait to release the names -- that would have been somewhat better).

Anonymous said...

@ anonymous 10:10
Maureen Downey had the same concern. Update from her blog "Get Schooled":
"(I did send this note to DeKalb schools: When are you releasing the three names? It seems odd that the county is asking parents to submit questions without knowing who the candidates are or their backgrounds as the questions would be a lot more relevant if parents knew the candidates’ history.

And I just received an answer that they do plan on releasing the names, possibly today. I will post. Maureen)"

http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2011/03/29/who-should-lead-dekalb-county-schools-what-matters-most/

Anonymous said...

I understand about the privacy concerns. However, for such a public, high profile position I would hope the candidates current employers know they are talking with DCSS.

That said, it seems amateurish to have an announcement for a public forum, with strict guidelines for the public response and that press release didn't have the candidates listed. Pretty weak if you ask me.

Jeff Dickerson is NOT showing his professionalism. I guarantee you they are releasing the names today because of Maureen's and other peoples reaction to the lack of information provided in the original BOE release.

Anonymous said...

Seriously not trying to be a whiner, but how about some more advance notice DCSS?

PolitiMom said...

Drives me crazy that they make people drive down there to submit questions in person. Same with having meeting minutes and notices only available to those who go to the palace in person. In this age, that is utterly rediculous and a sign that they want to make it as hard as possible for people to participate in the process. Looking forward to new vision.

Anonymous said...

If Morcease Beasley is a candidate (sorry, DOCTOR Morcease Beasley, then this county is headed to hell in a handbasket. The man is a buffoon-- Clew with a couple of bells and whistles attached--a man in charge of a rudderless department that creates pointless busywork for teachers, that constantly jaws on about collecting data but has no idea what to do with actual data (it's the idea of just collecting it that counts--it looks like they're doing something meaningful), and that spends an inordinate amount of time sending out countless manufactured, feel good emails about how great we're (ie. he's) doing. If that relentless self-promoting man's department ceased to exist today, no teacher or school administrator would miss it for a moment (in fairness I have to say that's probably true of most of the departments). He personifies everything that is wrong about central office meddling with classroom instruction.

He seems to have some minions monitoring this blog too (I'm sure they have the time on their hands), so watch for them to crop up with a few "spontaneous" supportive comments if his hat's in the ring.

Anonymous said...

The names are released: http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2011/03/29/here-are-the-three-candidates-for-dekalb-school-chief-no-internal-candidate/

Hallelujah, they're not insiders!

Anonymous said...

Yes! No Beasley!

Anonymous said...

YEAH!!! No insiders!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Strike one for Dr. Davis:

http://tinyurl.com/4czcof

Anonymous said...

No insiders, but all 3 come from very small school districts. The 2 Illinois candidates come from districts with 9,000 students. The NC candidate comes from a district with 9 schools. (I was unable to find an enrollment number, but there are only 2 high schools, one of which has 450 students.)

Anonymous said...

Let's try this again. Strike one for Dr. Davis:

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=469&NewsID=996285&CategoryID=569&on=1

Anonymous said...

Arthur R. Culver while at Fort Bend.

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-5th-circuit/1046956.html

Anonymous said...

Dr. Lillie Cox interview. Nine months in current position?

http://titancast.titantv.com/p/whky/v/Rob-Eastwood-interviews-Dr-Lillie-Cox-Superintendent-of-Hickory-Schools/1ACF1HLP.aspx

Susan Curtis said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Susan Curtis said...

http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/nc/district-profile/116#finance

Link to data about Hickory, NC school system/performance.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad they released the names. Now we can have an open and honest conversation.

Anonymous said...

What's disturbing is that, not only are they from small school districts, they are in essentially rural areas. Don't know what their background is, but currently they are in a dramatically different situation that Dekalb County Georgia.

Susan Curtis said...

http://www.ncschoolreportcard.org/src/search.jsp?pYear=2009-2010&pList=1&pListVal=181%3AHickory+City+Schools++++++++++&GO2=GO

More information about Hickory, NC schools/data

Susan Curtis said...

I totally agree with the 1:34 poster. I'd like to ask how each candidate is going to deal with the change in size and in demographics if he/she is hired by DCSS. I'm still looking for background information - maybe the candidates have come from larger districts before their current positions...I hope.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to know how much actual teaching experience each candidate has. These people all look pretty young to be a superintendent.

Susan Curtis said...

Complimentary article about Dr. Davis:

http://www.herald-review.com/special-section/news/business_journal/newsandnotes/article_a9acfb58-8435-55bc-ba9a-c4db3f708b50.html

Anonymous said...

OK, I have looked around but have been unable to locate resume's for any of these folks to get a feel for their experience and find none. Anyone locate them? Has DCSS released anything?

If these are our only choices I vote for Dr. Lillie Cox… For a Hope of Change…

Anonymous said...

Hickory's report card means nothing as the woman has been on the job for such a short amount of time. She began the Superintendent's job in Aug of 2009. 1 1/2 years at a small district is hardly enough time or enough experience running a political machine like DCSS.

Anonymous said...

NO Response from Gloria Davis? Strike One, Indeed!
(Here's the article edited for space ...)

03/03/11
Paul Osborne, Editor
I was pretty steamed that Supt. Gloria Davis did not return my call regarding an announcement by Project Success.
Since Project Success's executive director had indicated a lack of cooperation by the school district administration as one of the reasons for the agency’s demise, I called Davis to give her the opportunity to respond.
[Davis] never called me back.
I was told that Davis never got my message. What I discovered was even more unsettling.
I was told that Davis did not get my message, because no one checked the voice mails on the Supt.’s public line.
They checked the voice messages only after the “no return call” stink was raised.
When I made my call to give Davis the opportunity to respond to statements I called the administration building, gave the person my name and my position at the Tribune and asked for the supt.
She immediately transferred me to Supt. Davis’ “voice mail” and I left my message, shortly after 9:00 Monday morning.
It seems I should have used a “media” number but, the few times I’ve called her since I left the mayor’s office I’ve been able to reach her through the regular number.
Explaining why the call on her voice mail was not passed along to Davis, raised an even greater question.
I called Monday morning, shortly after 9:00, but they didn’t check the voice messages until Thursday when the issue was raised.
None of the voice messages left from anybody were even heard until much later in the week -- after they went back to find my message.
Forget about my frustration! What about all of the people who called the Supt.’s office, expecting a response who were lumped in the batch of messages with me?
No wonder people have mentioned to me the issue of calls not being returned when they call the Supt.’s office.
By calling the Supt.’s office and leaving a message like most people do, I experienced the same thing!
I know that it’s impossible to talk with everyone who calls. That is why you have secretaries and assistants.
Citizens who call the Supt.’s office and leave a message have a right to expect some kind of a response from somebody -- whether the person calling is the editor of a newspaper, or a parent, or an employee calling to discuss their concerns.
There’s no excuse for someone not checking the Supt.’s voice messages for most of a week or longer.
It certainly does not make the Supt. look good. It adds ammunition to those who oppose what she and the board are doing in the district.

Anonymous said...

Where do they find these people? What screening process (If any) is used?
Wonder if highly QUALIFIED was one of the criteria.
Ya know, if these candidates see DCSS as an improvement to their current situation, what does that say about them?
Only in Dekalb County........

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:51, The last paragraph begs more questions:

"It certainly does not make the Supt. look good. It adds ammunition to those who oppose what she and the board are doing in the district."

Anonymous said...

Ft. Bend ISD (the lawsuit shown related to Culver) where Culver reported to the superintendent (not clear if he was #2 or merely 1 of several reporting to the superintendent), is, however, a large diverse urban district even though his current is not.

It is a suburban area southwest of Houston with 10-12 high schools, one of the 10 largest in Texas. Ethnic mix is almost evenly split between Anglo, Hispanic, Asian and African-American. Its generally viewed as well run.

Anonymous said...

Cerebration:

Are you going to submit your questions electronically?

Anonymous said...

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/feb/19/superintendent-gets-inside-look-students-school-ar-95842/

Anonymous said...

Before judging where they are currently, I think it would help to see the whole picture of their career.

Where they were before?

Anonymous said...

One issue discussed on this blog and relevant to future redistricting:

What is your view on magnet and gifted programs and how they should be implemented?

In redistricting they were looking at centralized stand-alone magnets. Dekalb has semi-centralized magnets with stand-alone elementaries. The other extreme would be having magnets at nearly every school in existing schools.

Cerebration said...

Good questions ---

Anon 1:59 PM - I think you have to go to the meeting and fill out a card with your question. I was just offering some suggested questions. Do you know if there's a way to submit them electronically?

PolitiMom said...

I watched the streamed interview with the woman from Hickory and she said at the beginning that it was the smallest system she's worked in. She didn't say where else she worked, but she did say she was a teacher and a principal in elementary, middle and high school. How many years experience is the question.

I also like that Hickory (haven't looked at the others yet) spends the majority of their dollars in the classroom instead of administration. But is she tough enough to make the necessary changes we need?

Anonymous said...

Davis has experience in a predominately Hispanic school system where she was superintendent before Decatur Illinois!

"They talked to me about a school district where they were looking for a superintendent. They talked about high poverty, low achievement levels, basically a real challenge," said Davis. "As you can tell, I'm someone who likes doing what other people have come to believe is impossible."

The challenge came in the form of the predominantly Hispanic school district of Dodge City, Kansas. Davis visited, applied and was selected for the position.

"I had a wonderful time there in terms of raising student achievement, having more students involved in student activities and more students graduating," she said. "In fact, one of the last things I was able to accomplish was to have a new elementary school referendum passed, and they hadn't had a new school for 40 years."

themommy said...

A little more about her journey to Decatur IL:

After five years in Dodge City, Davis was once again happy in her job and content to stay in her new community. But the same consulting firm bumped into her again, this time at a conference in San Diego, with a similar message: a school district in Decatur, Illinois, needed some of Davis's unique lemonade-making skills.

"It took some convincing," she said. "The difference (between Dodge City and Decatur) was when I talked to people in Decatur, I didn't hear a lot of positives about the school system. What I heard in Dodge City was pride despite the downfall. In Decatur, there seemed to be a negative belief that it could do any better."

Once again, Davis could not back down from the challenge.

"I've found that many have a desire to help but need to be directed," she said. "I've lived here for two years now and believe in the ability of the community to continue to grow. And if you don't believe that, well, you can try to improve it or move somewhere else. And you don't have to do something big. You can be a stay-at-home mom or superintendent of schools-you can do your part."

After two years, Davis has seen practical results of her efforts. This spring, the Education Coalition, a group of community partners, business leaders and heads of social and civic organizations, was formed to work on goals toward improving education. Davis feels this group is a good example of a renewed spirit of hope for the school district.

Anonymous said...

Oh my good lord. This is it? You HAVE GOT to be kidding me.

PolitiMom said...

@susan curtis-great article on Dr. Davis because it gives her history. Although that phone call example is disturbing, it seems she has the education credentials. However, her previous school system (Dodge City, Kansas) only has 5800 kids. Im guessing anyone qualified to run a district our size is either out of our budget or not willing to take over such a broken system.

themommy said...

http://www.herald-review.com/special-section/news/limited/article_e0eb6d83-0e96-510d-a176-48b8da76cc4b.html

on Dr. Davis

Anonymous said...

Parents and those in the community who cannot attend the forum can submit written questions on the DeKalb Schools website at www.dekalbsuperintendentsearch.com.

Anonymous said...

The candidates are from smaller school systems because there are very few systems that are larger than DeKalb! And many of the larger ones are probably not successful. And for good reason -- big systems can't adapt to change (picture a battle ship trying to turn in a creek), and they can't successfully manage a heterogeneous pool of students (too many different issues to fix them all).
Personally, Ms Tyson is looking better and better to me. At least she has big system leadership experience!

Anonymous said...

Sagamore 7
Say What? You are so positive and always right!

Anonymous said...

Really enjoyed the article. Looking forward to hear Dr. Davis speak:

http://www.herald-review.com/special-section/news/limited/article_e0eb6d83-0e96-510d-a176-48b8da76cc4b.html


"And it's a good thing they did, because Davis didn't have many advantages going for her in her childhood. The oldest of three children, Davis was born and raised in the inner city of St. Louis by two blind parents. Her father, Andrew Haymon, operated a concessions stand at an inner city hospital, and her mother, Marie Kelley (she remarried after her husband passed away during Davis's college years), taught Braille."

Anonymous said...

Token might as well save the gas money it'll take her to drive down here.

Anonymous said...

The article included in "Get Schooled" about Arthur Culver concerns me.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/other/2004-02-18/no-vendetta-earlier-case-culver-says.html

If I am understanding the article, it appears that Mr. Culver has a lot of the qualities that we are trying to get away from in Dekalb.

It appears that he has no problems "cleaning house," but based on what (or who's) criteria? Apparently, his actions led to a lawsuit system that resulted in a verdict against the Longview School System. Even after moving to his current position, it appears that his hiring and firing practices have been questioned.

Based on this article, would Mr. Culver bring to DCSS what we need or more of the same?

Anonymous said...

Did you see the teachers are finality doing the county??

Anonymous said...

Eek. Suing, not doing......don't do phone keyboard...

Anonymous said...

Bios on DCSS Website:

Cox: http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/superintendent-search/lillie-cox-bio-and-picture.pdf

Culver: http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/superintendent-search/arthur-culver-bio-and-picture.pdf

Davis: http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/www/documents/superintendent-search/gloria-davis-bio-and-picture.pdf

Anonymous said...

See about Davis.

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2004/aug/31/school_finance_has/

Anonymous said...

I hope we don't have a false resume issue with Davis. Above it refers to her as a Dr.

On the Dekalb site it says she has completed post masters courses and refers to her as Ms.

We don't want to hire someone and find out later she falsely claimed she had a doctorate (I'm not saying she has made any false claims-just that there is some inconsistency in what has been presented here and what was on Dekalb's site).

Anonymous said...

Another of interest -

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/other/2004-02-22/coach-spins-tough-exit-learning-tool.html

Anonymous said...

RED FLAG!!

Superintendent fired son's coach before – in Texas

LONGVIEW, Texas – Nine months into his tenure as superintendent of Longview Independent School District, Arthur Culver fired two Longview High School head coaches, one just as his season was beginning.

That coach, Marvin Graham, was Culver's son's basketball coach at the time he was dismissed in November 1999, effective immediately. The other, Robert Bero, was dismissed the same day from his job as head football coach. Both continued to teach at the school until the end of the year.

A third man in the athletic department, the school's athletic director Doug Cox, also left his job, but Culver said he resigned in protest.

"Cox resigned, and he did that on his own because he wasn't supportive of the firing of Robert Bero," Culver said Wednesday.

Anonymous said...

Anon 7:41

You need to go by what is on the DeKalb Schools site. Nothing on here is really official and is totally done by volunteers.

The DCSS website indicates that she has completed her coursework but not her dissertation.

Anonymous said...

The contrast between the 3 makes you wonder what they are looking for. Token has totally different experience than the other two. She has the Dr. and has theoretical type experience, but very limited superintendent experience. Doesn't appear that Davis has big school experience (not sure how big University city schools were where she spent 30 years). Culver has experience in big and tough districts but also seems to have a fair share of controversies.

Culver's TX districts:
Galena Park-suburban Houston-2 HS, overwhelmingly minority, mostly low income, more Hispanic
LaMarque-40 miles south of Houston-1HS near Galveston-also overwhelmingly minority, relatively high low income
Ft. Bend-suburban Houston-large diverse district-10 HS, district split 20-30% each Anglo, A-A, Hispanic, Asian. Poor gang ridden areas and high upper middle class areas.
Longview-east Texas (believe 2 HS, but not certain), rural area-described in his bio.

Anonymous said...

It would be interesting to have some information about the other individuals that applied for the position. I know that it may not be possible to have their names. But, I wonder about the backgrounds of the other candidates. How were these people chosen? In case of individuals that cleans house, how were those decisions made?
Were there any teachers, counselors and parent on the selection committee?
Even if the size of the districts are not the same, were the populations similar? Did they have some of the same kinds of programs that we offer?
Were they facing the financial issues that have impacted our state and county?
Did these three individuals visit any of our schools?
Did they talk to any parent and students?
The notice that was released today does not give the community a great deal of time to make plans to attend the meeting.
We have a busy household. We both work. After school the kids have sports, music and homework. The meeting is important, but I think like many families we have to plan ahead.
I also think it would have been good to get questions from the schools and from parent groups.
This meeting notice did not give us a great deal of time to plan ahead and take the steps to attend.

Anonymous said...

I was in Texas when Culver got rid of the coaches. Coaches are a BIG deal in Texas, especially if they have been there a while. Scuttlebut was that the football coach was dumping the players after the season. They made grades as long as the needed to be eligible, but not after that. A lot of them didn't graduate, much less get scholarships. I think the basketball coach was just bad. Culver brought in Pat Collins to coach football and put in "No pass, no practice...which was beyond no pass, no play. Kids won games and graduated. I think Collins is still there as athletic director. Did you ever hear anyone who lost a job say that it was his fault?

Anonymous said...

I thought that there had to be more to the story. He is my choice as he seems to be able to put the kids first and not care about the BS involved, which is what we need right now.

Cerebration said...

Wow. Good interview with Dr. Cox. She actually set goals, took an early release day and formed groups of teachers to look at the goals, check to see if they had missed anything and then give input and feedback as to how to make the goals work and remove barriers for teachers! Impressive.

http://titancast.titantv.com/p/whky/v/Rob-Eastwood-interviews-Dr-Lillie-Cox-Superintendent-of-Hickory-Schools/1ACF1HLP.aspx

Good link Anon ...

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, after reading the biographies on the DSCC web site, Ms. Davis is out. I found three (3) mistakes: social should be socio (it's right the first time, wrong the 2nd); Doge should be Dodge; and maters should be masters. Most companies would have disqualified her early in the competition. If this is the same information she submitted for the initial application shame on her, and shame on the search firm!

Anonymous said...

Delta Sigma Theta

Haven't we had enough of Delta Sigma Theta sorors?

Puh-leeze! More friends-and-family? Haven't we had enough of friends-and-family corruption?

The fact that Davis would list Delta Sigma Theta as a professional organization calls into question her whole bio. Professional? Ha!

There's NO room for another Delta Sigma Theta soror in DeKalb County School System. Thank goodness her misplaced soror "importance" trumped good judgement and she put it in her bio. Forewarned ...

Cerebration said...

More on the candidates from the AJC -

Candidates from small districts in running for DeKalb schools job

Anonymous said...

@ Anonymous 10:57 PM

Speaking as a writer/editor, you are completely, unalterably correct! The errors in Davis' bio are unforgivable.

We already have a BOE that can't write a grammatically correct one-page letter and a pompous, bombastic superintendent of teaching and learning who can't teach and never learned standard written English.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of grammar, the first sentence of the announcement also has an error - check out how Walter Woods spelled Superintendent.

Cerebration said...

I don't think you can blame candidates for these grammatical errors. I think these were probably published by the search firm or the school system. I wouldn't jump to conclusions about who is responsible for typos and hold them against anyone.

Anonymous said...

It is very obvious that the individual that cast negative remarks about Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is unaware of the school culture in DCSS. The AlphaKappa Alpha (AKA)Sorority has reigned for years and years, to the exclusion of Delta Sigma Theta and others. Some reportedly joined AKA in order to move up. Some AKAs are Frankie Calloway, Pam Speaks, Audria Berry, Felecia Mitchell Mayfield, Jacqueline Mitchell, Kellie Wright, Voncia Phillips, Stacy Stephney, Pattie Reid, one of the area superintendents, Jamie Wilson's wife, most instructional coaches and the majority of the principals who are Greek. I know nothing about the candidate who was honest enough to list the fact that she was a member of that sorority, however, she was quite unaware that that was perhaps one strike against her.

Anonymous said...

Since when do professional adults continue this sorority nonsense into middle age? AKA is like the white junior league was years ago - an exclusionary racial "code key" for advancement. I guess we really don't learn from history.

Anonymous said...

I can't help but think these candidates are a bit like the candidates we get for board elections: unaware!
The only people we get willing to compete for leadership positions are usually blissfully unaware of DCSS's entrenched problems and underestimate the challenges.
I am cynically mistrustful of any candidate that has such an ego as to think they can come from a small district and have the answers for DeKalb.
Maybe I am feeling crabby but DCSS could eat these folks lunch ... before breakfast.

Anonymous said...

Oops! I forgot Dr. Sonja Alexander is also an AKA. Director of Professional Learning.

Anonymous said...

Our own Ms Tyson is a Delta. I am sure she would enjoy the time spent bringing her soror up to speed if she is chosen. Ms Tyson will be well taken care of. Same old same old...

Anonymous said...

You really think the candidates are blissfully unaware of the problems in DCSS? Just like we've googled them, they should have googled the school system. They will have found and skimmed this blog. If they haven't done that, they're missing a very basic job-hunting skill and probably aren't smart/savvy enough for the superintendent job.

Anonymous said...

I wonder how deep the candidate pool was? It is racially stacked and there is one token white. Cox can forget about it. I don't think the board would seriously consider her. Just like in our district, white administrators are not even a consideration in predominantly black schools, unless you taught CLews kids. If placed there, white administrators don't last long. They are not supported by the majority of african american area assistant superintendents. There should be more diversity in these positions.

Anonymous said...

The new superintendent should send the area assistant superintendents back to the school houses as assistant principals. I didn't say teachers, because that would never happen. Maybe neither will.
I never understood why they weren't more accountable for what is going on in their areas.
I wonder what their track records are for their areas.

Anonymous said...

The selection of these candidates was done on purpose.
The board will end up sticking with our current interim who is overpaid and under qualified.
Our next superintendent should have a doctorate, preferably in a content area. Cox seems to be the one with the least amount of question marks on her background.

Unknown said...

I think that we should form our lists of questions - those that Cere posed at the beginning of this thread are a great start - and submit them, and show up to the presentations. There doesn't seem to be a lot of point in grousing about quality/perceived affiliations right now - these are the candidates (even if I would have liked ones from larger systems), outsiders to our system, and should be judged on their merits. Let's listen carefully Thursday.

Anonymous said...

If we want someone who will come in, have a backbone, do what needs to be done, and not care about offending the "friends and family", then it seems that Culver may be the guy. If the reason for firing the coach was because students were given passing grades until they were no longer useful to the team, then that means he is looking out for the well-being of the students. Apparently in Champaign, he came in and tackled a daunting task, just as he was hired to do. Granted, resolving the issues in DCSS will be more challenging, but if he is up to the task...

I'm not sure why we have to refer to Dr. Cox as the token white. Obviously, she has the educational background and experience in administration, and many seem to be impressed with the interview they viewed. So why can't she be one of the finalists because of the qualities she has exhibited? (No, I'm not being naive. I know that more than likely, given the past behavior of the BOE, Dr. Cox may have been included for show. But with the board under so much scrutiny...)She does not appear to have been corrupted by being in a big system, and her ideas about how the system should be run would probably result in more resources in the classroom. Plus the fact that she has moved through the ranks as quickly as she has shows that she has ambition and determination. The question is whether she can/will stand up to the board and whether she will do what is obviously needed rather than allowing herself to be told what to do.

The question keeps coming up as to the pool of candidates from which the finalists were selected. At the same time, we wonder who would even want to come to DCSS given its problems. It's just possible that this is the best of the applicants. But we'll never know unless the board practices that so-called transparency.

Anonymous said...

Anon 7:41
Am I missing something?

Since when is the title of "Dr." conferred upon a student who has not completed her dissertation? I don’t think the search firm would have pushed that title into her credentials.

Anonymous said...

@12:22
It isn't.

She isn't referred to as a Dr. on the DCSS site. We don't know why she is referred to as one with the picture on this blog. My concern was with several situations where candidates for a variety of offices have falsified resumes either currently or in the past and had to resign later. If there is an issue (and its not just a mistake by the person who posted the data here or by someone else other than Ms. Davis sending out the info) it needs to be winnowed out early, not after she is the only candidate left.

Cerebration said...

I have heard on pretty good authority that PDS 24 will be broadcasting the entire meeting tomorrow. Can anyone confirm this for certain?

Anonymous said...

The Press Release indicates the forum will be televised on PDS-24.

Anonymous said...

I was actually hoping for a Latino from a big system... thought that would shake things up a bit...

Anonymous said...

I'm too lazy to research this, so I'll ask the bloggers: Is Johnny Brown now in a Texas school system? Is near where Culver's from, or not?

Anonymous said...

Johnny Brown is now in Port Arthur, Texas. 90 miles east of Houston - so, no, not really where Culver is from.

Anonymous said...

I received emails from board members saying it will be on PDS-24.

Anonymous said...

Cunningham, Walker and SCW would be smart to pick MS. Cox. She might be less likely to excess the family members because she would be called racist.

Anonymous said...

I'm pleased that all 3 of them have real degrees from real, solid universities. They all seem to be well educated in substantive areas - not physical education. The doctorates that are "in the works" are not in "leadership." I value the real degrees. I think that they could "supplement" the "business" side of things with a solid CFO. I don't think that any new person will be successful with the current BOE and the current staff from Mr. Segovis up to Ms. Tyson (pretty much everyone in between needs to go before they get here -- I like the new auditor and the new construction folks) -- if they are still in place when they arrive, I am afraid they will receive the same treatment that Dr. Brown received -- the politics and the "goals" of the "powers that be" (e.g. New Birth and others) will be the same and nothing will really change.... the criminal enterprise will continue. Perhaps we don't have a really, good strong choice precisely because those "powers that be" don't really want a strong person in place....

Anonymous said...

@ 9:23

So true. Dr. Brown had the Central Office aligned against him from the moment he came to DCSS. Every Area Superintendent thought he/she would be the next superintendent and had gathered his/her power base. When he started sending Central Office personnel back into the schools, I thought they would flip out. They were calling in every favor they could to get out of the schools and back to the Central Office. They really loathed him.

The Ernst and Young audit was probably the last straw. That's when the BOE appointed Lewis as superintendent.

I would not like to see this new superintendent undermined by the group Lewis put in and they are almost all Lewis's appointees. Brown had the BOE do a multimillion "buyout" (40% of the annual pay for everyone in the Central Office that had 30 years and could retire IF they retired) to try to reduce the Central Office staff in 2003 until January 2004.

Many Central office staff took the buyout. But then Lewis came in fall of 2004 and added all those positions and more back and filled them with his people. Audria Berry, Bob Moseley, Marcus Turk, Frankie Callaway, Ramona Tyson, etc. They all came into high paying positions with Lewis.

Anonymous said...

Johnny Brown had his problems, but mainly the ordinary teacher was not affected much by him. Teachers got their COLAs, they didn't have the micromanagement and paperwork of today, the county had a budgetary surplus (in the middle of a recession), and he did pare down the Central Office (until Lewis added them back).

A lot of parents didn't like the idea of students wearing uniforms, and teachers thought his taking a plan day to meet in a football stadium was silly and took planning time away, but they weren't against him. Teachers were left alone to do their jobs so Brown was kind of a non-entity.

A number of people didn't like his head of Curriculum and Instruction Abbe Boring, but that wasn't teachers. Boring didn't put a lot of busy work and paperwork on teachers like Gloria Talley and now Morcease Beasley. The Central Office staffers were the ones who didn't like her. They were always talking against Boring and Brown and were so happy when they left.

Anonymous said...

Tyson should take this job and move us on. She now has the experience and proven record od attacking problems. When and if she has the authority she will clean up DeKalb. I hope she reconsiders or the Board MUST go back to the drawing board.
Davis with 36 years of experience n education is looking for two fat big pensions. Wow..who cares about our children.

Anonymous said...

And Culver!


http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2011-03-29/champaign-superintendent-finalist-job-near-atlanta.html

Anonymous said...

I understand that these are tough jobs and they are hard to make friends in. What worries me, in Davis' case is her salary and the comments about her overpriced support system.

Anonymous said...

And Dr. Cox

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2011/mar/29/hps-superintendent-finalist-georgia-job-ar-902699/#comments

Comments are mostly frustrated that she might be leaving. Very short stay.

Anonymous said...

Keep Tyson! Good Grief! She is the problem! I'm sorry but clew chose her to be Interim. I have a huge problem with that. If Tyson stays the culture stays and isn't the culture the thing we are fighting right now?

The incessant fraud of the BOE.
The friends and family, sororities and fraternities employment agency. The browbeating of the actual people who are trying to live the DCSS mission, our teachers? In our system I will value a Super that values the classroom and NOT the $5K chairs and the waste of money that Audria Berry's army, better known as the office of destruction (improvement) wastes.

Folks, Tyson is NOT the answer! If Tyson gets the job we wasted the money on the headhunters that failed us with these three candidates. I will hold out my full opinion until I hear these folks myself tonight.

DCSS is on a rocky road and I am amazed anyone would want to come here and try to lead.

Anonymous said...

DCSS is on a rocky road and I am amazed anyone would want to come here and try to lead.

This.

Anonymous said...

@ Anonymous, 11:56 PM, 3/30/2011

Tyson has had the authority to cut the Palace bloat and get rid of CLew-less' non-performing cronies and girlfriends since the day she took the job.

Instead, after dragging her feet for months, Tyson intimated that she needed the full salary (for a qualified superintendent, which she certainly is not!) to do the hard work that would win her no friends. The BOE capitulated.

Still -- Tyson has done nothing. NOTHING!

Not only does Tyson need to go, the BOE needs to rescind the additional year they are paying her at that inflated salary. All she will do with a new superintendent during that year is to make sure that no changes are made that will upset the Friends-and-Family Program.

Well, she also will probably ensure the failure of the new superintendent, opening the way for an "insider" who "knows" DCSS to be named superintendent. Can you spell "Morcease Beasley"?

One more thing: Tyson was the COO -- with Turk reporting to her -- while Clew-less and Pope/Reid ran their criminal enterprise that brought RICO charges. Tyson had to have known what was going on! Which Palace underling is going to take the fall for Tyson?

Anonymous said...

Reading comments like that of 11:49 reminds me of Henery Hawk, the chicken hawk cartoon character from Looney Tunes. We hear all these things you believe others should do and what you would do despite the fact that it could cost the district more money in lawsuits. To borrow a Soprano's term, you really think you could walk in and just 'whack' people without any documentation to support that action?

There are a lot of chicken hawks out there. Foghorn Leghorn knows that too.

Sagamore 7 said...

I suggested in a HEAVY way that she should be incentivized to make the tough decisions.
If Tyson wants the pay then make the tough decisions!
Cut the fat, bring back the audit and address every position that it recommended cutting 7 years ago!

She should have been paid AFTER the work was done not before!

Does anyone in their right mind agree to pay for services rendered BEFORE they are done?

Remember, Nancy Jester motioned to delay the vote on her raise after she did more due diligence on Clewless's previous contract.
Even SCW voted FOR the delay.
It was GOD/WOMACK that had the swing vote and he voted against the delay and forced a vote that day.
That is when SCW jumped the aisle and voted to approve the raise along with the rest of the friends and family on the board.

The three board members that voted against the raise were Jester, McChesney and Edler.

Anonymous said...

@Sagamore 7
"Does anyone in their right mind agree to pay for services rendered BEFORE they are done?"

Every employee has a base salary. If you want to provide incentives or and above the base, you can do that to accerlerate their income. The change in salary made for Ms. Tyson was done to her base.

Can you point to another superintendent in the metro area or of a similar sized school district where the superintendent makes less than $200K? Salaries are set by the market.

Anonymous said...

MCChesney believed she deserved the salary increase, he just objected to some of the other parts of the contract.

It is important not to give him to much credit as his board seat will be up for reelection in a year.

No Duh said...

Someone thought Cox moving through the ranks quickly was a good sign. Hmmmm... If I picked apart her resume correctly, I counted 10 positions in 17 years. I wonder how one can claim huge successes when averaging fewer than two years in each position. I am always suspicious of such rapid progress. Many smart, ambitious people can talk their way into positions they really can't handle. And once they figure that out, they start talking their way even higher (why is she ready to leave Hickory so soon?).

But, I will wait and see.

Anonymous said...

Most parents and taxpayers would be shocked if they knew just how far the right alphabets can get you in dekalb county and I do not mean m.a. or dr ed. Teachers flaunt their greek clubs and decisions in the past have been made solely on someone being an aka or having a close friend that is one. I for one am hoping for a change and my vote would go to cox. I think culver would nicely fit in with the current friends and family program. Dekalbs issues are so deep I don't know who or what will really help this county get it together.