Should the Wake County school board release to the public the names of the finalists for school superintendent?
As noted in today's article, the board will hold off until closer to May 8 to make the decision on what to do with the names of the finalists. That date will coincide with when they'll pick the semi-finalists.
The question is what to do when the board whittles it down to two or three finalists by the end of May.
The Wake County school board is supposed to set the ground rules tonight for the superintendent search.
At this evening's meeting, the board will establish the calendar for the search, establish selection criteria, discuss how the position will be advertised and discuss the compensation parameters for the new superintendent.
The board will also identify which groups and individuals will reeve personal invitations to meet with McPherson & Jacobson, the search firm, to discuss what they want in the next superintendent.
As for interim Superintendent Stephen Gainey, he declined comment Tuesday on whether he will apply for the permanent position. He said that doing so would negatively impact the search at this early stage.
Would Guilford County Schools Superintendent Maurice "Mo" Green be a good choice for Wake County's next schools chief?
In a blog post Wednesday in the Greensboro News & Record, editorial writer Doug Clark writes that Green says he has not "officially" been contacted about the Wake County job. That would make sense as Wake is holding off until after next week's election results, where three board members are running for state office, before beginning the superintendent's search.
"I would be surprised if there weren't at least unofficial feelers from Wake County," Clark writes. "Green would be high on any larger system's wish list. He's provided steady leadership here since his arrival four years ago, earning consistent support from his board as well as community respect."
The timing for Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata's annual performance review could probably be better for him.
The school board is in the midst of its annual review of Tata, which will determine whether he gets a raise and a contract extension. Board members handed in their written evaluations of Tata's performance over the past year at the Aug. 21 board meeting, starting the discussion process.
The review comes as Tata has taken heat for the bus problems that the school system has experienced so far this school year.
Tata is under contract through December 2014 following a six-month extension approved in February. One way to tell if a superintendent still enjoys board support is if his contract is extended after each annual review.
For those who are curious, the Raleigh Public Record has posted the salaries of Wake County school employees as part of Sunshine Week.
Not surprisingly, the three-highest paid employees as of February were Superintendent Tony Tata at $255,222, Chief Business Officer David Neter at $150,831 and Chief Facilities and Operations Officer Don Haydon at $150,666. for privacy reasons, the Public Record didn't list the names of people making less than $75,000 a year.
There's one caveat to the list. It lists the salaries of interim principals. But while Gerald Pickett would be paid the equivalent of $127,246 if he was on for the full year, he actually works on a month-to-month basis.
A number of retired Wake principals are called back to fill in as interim principals for various reasons. Because of their experience, they often have higher monthly salaries than the people eventually hired to fill the jobs permanently.
Who makes the most money in the Wake County school system?
That's one of the questions that the Charlotte Observe looked at as part of a Sunday article on six-figures salaries in Wake and Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools. Wake had 99 employees making at least $100,000 with 60 of them being principals.
This compares to 103 Wake employees with six-figure salaries in 2010, 112 in 2009 and 99 in 2008.
Wake County school board members will spend their one-year anniversary since taking office by meeting behind closed doors today to interview candidates for the superintendent's position.
Whether board members anticipated a year ago that they'd be spending today trying to fill the superintendent's position depends on how long you thought Del Burns would stay on. Now board members hope to hire a permanent successor to Burns by January.
Today's meeting is scheduled to run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. They're meeting at the Hilton North Raleigh to better keep the process secret as they're not releasing names of candidates.
The Wake County school board's superintendent search committee is now in closed session looking at candidates and discussing salary and benefits packages.
The search firm of Heidrick & Struggles has been charged with bringing the top five to 10 applicants to the search committee. The committee will whittle down the list to three to five finalists for the full school board to review.
In addition, committee chairwoman Debra Goldman said they'd discuss today in closed session what the salary and benefits would be for the new superintendent.
UPDATE
School board member Chris Malone, a member of the board’s search committee, said they’ve narrowed down the list of top candidates but haven’t yet gotten down to naming finalists yet.
"It was an embarrassment of riches," Malone said of the top candidates identified by the committee. "We'd be lucky to have any of them."
School board chairman Ron Margiotta, who attended today's meeting, said he’s optimistic that they can hire a new superintendent by January.
Malone and Margiotta said all the applicants now being given strong consideration have both education and management experience but aren’t all superintendents. The board had eliminated the requirement that the superintendent be an educator.
No decision has been made yet on the compensation package.
The Wake County school board has reached a deal with Donna Hargens over how much additional money she'll get to serve as interim superintendent.
Under a deal signed June 1, Hargens received an extra $3,000 per month for March, April, May and June. She'll begin getting an extra $5,000 per month starting in July.
The post June increase in Hargens' monthly pay coincides with the official departure of Del Burns as superintendent. He's been on paid administrative leave since March.
How much is it worth it for the new Wake County school board majority to get rid of Superintendent Del Burns before June 30?
As noted in today's article, the board majority says it wants to work with him through the end of June 30. But there's another option available.
In Burns' contract, there's a provision that says that once he submits written notice of resignation the board can choose to unilaterally terminate him immediately. (The contract I've posted is the original from 2006 but school board attorney Ann Majestic said the language is still there.)
