New interim Wake County Schools Superintendent Donna Hargens says she's learned a lot from the superintendents she's served under, including Del Burns.
But one of the most important lessons Hargens seems to have picked up from watching Burns is not to publicly criticize the school board. As noted in today's article, Hargens declined to give her opinion on the changes being advocated by the new school board majority.
“The board is dealing with complex issues,” Hargens said. “Those are governance issues. My focus is on learning and teaching.”
Hargens declined to say if she agreed with ending the use of socioeconomic diversity or the elimination of the weekly Wednesday early dismissals. She said it's her duty to carry out the board's policies.
Burns got in trouble during those Feb. 18 media interviews for accusing the board majority of engaging in political partisanship.
Burns had also criticized the board’s plan to abandon the use of socioeconomic diversity and the elimination of Wake Wednesdays, a.k.a. Wacky Wednesdays.
The board majority had called Burns' remarks "totally inappropriate" in explaining why he was being put on paid administrative leave through his June 30 resignation date.
Board members in both camps praised Hargens, who was unanimously chosen to be interim superintendent.
"Donna Hargens did what any staff member does and fulfills the directives of the board," said school board member Kevin Hill.
School board vice chairwoman Debra Goldman said Hargens is such a professional that she doesn't know what the longtime administrator's personal opinions are on the changes being implemented.
"If I didn't feel confident and comfortable about her, I wouldn't have voted to put her in that position," Goldman said.
Hargens didn't actually apply for the job. Instead, the board asked if she was willing to take it on. Hargens said she accepted to provide "continuity" to the district.
Margiotta said board members considered several district administrators but in the end only decided to interview Hargens. Margiotta said they decided not to talk with anyone outside the district even though people from the community suggested several names.
Hargens got her superintendent's certificate on March 1. But she said it was not connected to the board's debate at the time on what to do with Burns following his public comments.
Comments
Policy or nor policy
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 07:25 — SatchHHThe new board has NOT changed policy 6200 (often called the diversity policy) or replaced it with a new policy. They have passed a resolution to study a new assignment plan. Go to the 3/23 board meeting on WRAL and view the discussion if you question this. You can see the whole thing and all of the common-sense ammendments the majority voted down. It was stated VERY clearly that the resolution did NOT replace policy 6200. The fact that diversity was not used in magnet assignments, etc. just means that current policy is not being followed. This board has shown no respect for its own policies and is not even willing to follow the process to change them. Sad.
you can amend with out
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 08:36 — Duhhuh666you can amend with out replacing, I am not sure the offical title of what they did. But it was voted on and the change to assign was made. This was done before 3/23. In the public with the board attorney present. So if it was not legal to do what they did, I am sure someone would have acted on it by now.
Maybe you misunderstand my question
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 08:47 — Dove314Have they not changed assignments already based on the resolution (which is, in effect, changing the policy in action if not in name)? Have not both Ms. Goldman and Mr. Tedesco both publicly stated within the board meetings that they have made changes based on the resolution regardless of what policy is in place?
So why not just officially acknowledge the policy has been changed, do whatever it takes to insure that is legally blessed (if anything at all is even required), and move forward?
Why pretend Policy 6200 is in place when it is not?
So....
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 12:26 — Bob_SconceIIRC, we got here by the following:
DG's committee was looking at changes to policy 6200, but wasn't able to come to a good agreement as to what the board had charged them to do. So, the board itself voted to stop busing based on diversity. DG's committee still needs to go back and revamp policy 6200 in light of what the full board has done.
So, basically, policy 6200 is still technically in place, but just isn't operational any more. Once the committee revises it, it will go back to the full board for approval, after which it will be operational again.
I don't think anybody's still claiming that policy 6200 controls how the board assigns students. For that matter, I'm not sure that it could ever control what the board does -- the policies are set down to guide the administration; I suspect that the board can do whatever the heck it wants to within the general bounds set up by the General Assembly.
You are talking about the
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 08:57 — Duhhuh666You are talking about the last resolution. The change to no stop using SES for assignment was made prior to this latest resolution. Not being a lawyer, I leave the legal issues to people who practice law. As to Goldman and Tedesco, I will let them explain themselves.
It just seems stupid at this point
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 12:22 — Dove314It just seems stupid at this point to not legally state that assignments are being made based on the community schools model and offically retire Policy 6200 to insure policy reflects reality.
Muzzled
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 08:17 — user12345Muzzled
Respectful, responsible and
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 10:27 — midtownmomprofessional No matter how you feel about the prior or present school board's actions, the fact is that they are the upper management, and you don't speak out publicly against your boss.
"Good German" Mindset
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 11:10 — chaboardI think you're dead wrong - an employee at that level of authority has an *obligation* to speak out when they think the direction is wrong. It should be part of the job description. Anything less is just brownnosing and is a diservice to the *real* employer - the taxpayers of Wake County.
You might just be right. The
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 18:54 — woodstockYou might just be right. The fact that she has not spoken out likely says that she is on board with the new direction of the school board. Very good point.
It likely says that she
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 19:38 — danofncIt likely says that she likes her job and wants to keep it.
I disagree and what you are
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 09:01 — woodstockI disagree and what you are saying is an insult to Ms. Hargans. From all I know of her, she is a person of integrity and would not do things counter to her high standards of professionalism.
What some people are saying
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 09:09 — Duhhuh666What some people are saying is ideology comes before professionalism. I disagree and say professionalism first and if my ideology will not let me do my job, the moral and professional thing for me to do is leave in a professional way. Not act out like a child having a temper tantrum.
I agree completely.
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 10:21 — woodstockI agree completely.
Her high standards of
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 09:06 — danofncHer high standards of professionalism would lead her to do her job, keep her job, and fight her personal battles behind closed doors, right?
That's all I'm saying she's doing.
Everyone knew that Burns disagreed with the board, and you all said he should have been professional and done his job quietly.
Now, Hargens is doing just that, and you're claiming that the fact that she isn't making public comments means she's supportive of the new directions.
The two positions don't add up.
Good point. Now, Hargens
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 10:51 — carson79Good point.
"The two positions don't add
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 10:30 — woodstock"The two positions don't add up."
Yes they do. If Burns was opposed to following the dictates of the board, he could have just resigned and kept his mouth shut until his exit date. He also, could have resigned on the sport and forfieted and the remainder of contract and talked to the media until the cows came home. He did neither, we chose to mouth off and collect a pay check. I actually used to respect Burns eventhough he was ardently status quo and closed minded. I no longer do.
Nothing in that rant of
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 11:24 — danofncNothing in that rant of yours makes the conflicting statements I mentioned line up.
I doubt Burns is going to lose any sleep over your respect.
I wouldn't really consider what he did "mouthing off". He was asked questions (as any superintendent who resigns would be), and he answered them truthfully. He didn't use a lot of hyperbole.
He didn't compare the school system to the Titanic, and he didn't say anything about skywriting.
I know YOU don't consider
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 15:17 — woodstockI know YOU don't consider what Burns did mouthing off, but most fair-minded people would. Certainly anyone who has ever held a professional position would recognize that Burns steppped over the line. I would even bet good money that Burns himself knew he was stepping over the the line and knew what would happen. He orchestrated a 4 month paid vacation.
Burns said some things that
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 16:03 — danofncBurns said some things that everyone assumed he felt, but I don't think anyone expected him to make his feelings public.
I would imagine that his public comments were the culmination of a couple of months' worth of being ignored by the majority, while also having to listen to JT refer to the system as the Titanic.
The caustic comments of some of the new board members does not leave me feeling that they warranted the amount of respect that you claim they deserve. Winning the election gave them power.....it didn't win respect.
So then...
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 19:40 — Bob_SconceIs it your position that she's just brownnosing and doing a disservice to the taxpayers?
Touche
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 07:30 — chaboardBut seriously, she gets a grace period from that kind of charge....it's a bit much to expect an employee to stand up to incompetent supervisors in the first month in a new position.
If she's still not speaking out by, say, November then it will be fair to conclude that she's either peronally ok with the policies or is putting her own interests ahead of the taxpayers she works for.
Fair 'nuf
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 08:07 — Bob_Sconce.
Have you never had a job
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 07:28 — danofncHave you never had a job where your boss told you to do something that you knew was wrong/stupid/shortsighted?
As a matter of fact I have.
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 08:03 — Duhhuh666As a matter of fact I have. I discussed how I felt about the policy to my boss, explained how I thought it should be done and after the conversation he said we are doing it this way. I had a choice to make, do it the way I was instructed or quit. Unfortunately when you work for someone else these are the choices you given. I could have gone public and disagreed, but that would have lead to me being imediately fired, this is also the choices you are given when you work for someone else. I dont think any of us can publicly defy or employers and believe we will not be fired for doing so.
Exactly. I think Ms.
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 08:16 — danofncExactly.
I think Ms. Hargens has decided that her personal feeling aren't bigger than the job, and Mr. Burns decided that they were.
I don't think badly of either person for their decisions.
I have the utmost respect for Dr Burns, but
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 12:50 — Athey01I agree that Dr Burns should have expressed his views … to the BOE, not to the public. It appears he allowed his frustration (and/ego) to affect his professional judgment. In hindsight, I’m sure he would handled the situation differently.
I Have No Doubts That he DID
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 17:31 — chaboardexpress his view to the BoE. And when it had no effect he did the next proper thing and fulfilled his responsibility to the taxpaying public by going public.
I sure hope there's nothing he would handle differently because I think that - to the extent that we know what happened - he did everything exactly as someone with his level of responsibility should have in that situation.
I have no doubts what he did
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 19:17 — Duhhuh666I have no doubts what he did was wrong. Any one in his position (Public or private) if they can not do the job the board tells them to do, they should quit. When they are no longer an employee they can say all they want. Burns decided to turn a "job" into a "elected" position (even though no one voted for him) and lobby against the people elected to be his boss (elected by the citizens of Wake County to represent them) So in effect he was telling his boss the BOE and the citizens of Wake County, if I disagree with you I will not do as instructed. If he wants to create policy he should run for a position on the board, the job of the Superintendent is to carryout the policies of the BOE. He decided his opinions should over ride that of the elected officials.
integrity
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 10:47 — raleighwakeparentIt seems to me that if you believe firmly that something is unethical and simply wrong, that you have a duty to speak up.
So, if the school board said that from now on schools should be segregated by race/ethnicity - one school for Caucasians, one for African Americans, one for Chinese, one for Mexican, etc. - the superintendent should quietly go along?
If you feel something is
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 19:07 — Duhhuh666If you feel something is wrong you can speak up. But if you are defying the people you report to and saying you will not do your job as instructed when what you are told to do is both right and ethical, it should not surprise you when they ask you to seek employment elsewhere.
Wasn't the only thing he
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 19:40 — danofncWasn't the only thing he said he couldn't do the implementation of the new assignment policy? Since that's scheduled for a 9-15 month planning period, and he resigned effective June 30, what was the big deal?
Part of the new assignment
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 20:39 — Duhhuh666Part of the new assignment plan was effective immediately. Remember they voted to no longer do assignments based on diversity, that was part of the new assignment policy that Burns said he could not implement.
All we've heard about is
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 22:25 — danofncAll we've heard about is directives and plans to develop plans.
If they have changed policy effective immediately they should stop saying they haven't, especially since part of the reason that Majestic said the votes were OK is because they aren't changing policy.
Please refer to Keung's post
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 22:29 — Duhhuh666Please refer to Keung's post below.
Policy or not policy
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 20:53 — Dove314So which is it? I get confused.
Did the board majority pass a resolution to change the policy after a 9-15 month planning process (in which case the policy hasn't actually changed which is Ann Majestic's position)?
Or did the board majority pass a policy change that has begun to be incrementally implemented prior to even a rudimentary plan much less the 9-15 months of planning followed by discussion and community input (which would have apparently required a slightly different legal process)?
It seems as if the board majority plays a shell game on this one, taking whichever position is convenient at a given moment in time. It seems to me that they've already changed the policy and have begun making changes towards that policy without any sort of plan in place and by their (or at least Tedesco's) own admission. Why not just own that they've changed the policy, work with Majestic to insure they've done or do it legally, and acknowledge they are forging ahead in the absence of a plan?
They made changes, be it
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 22:56 — Duhhuh666They made changes, be it policies changes or what ever. Ms Majestic is aware of everything happening and being the BOE's attorney she has the responsibility to ensure the legality of the actions of the board. I believe she has ensured the legality of all actions and I am sure she could defend any actions the board has taken. I will leave the questions of legality to the legal professionals.
I'm not 100% certain but I
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 21:26 — DrActualFactualI'm not 100% certain but I believe that Ms. Evans indicated they had processed this coming year's applications for magnet schools/calendar schools without using SES as a factor to exclude applicants. This will allow students to opt-out of YR schools to traditional if there is space and allow others to opt into YR. Many of the MYR-converted schools still have a " base area" that populates the school so this will allow some flexibility for those parents (hopefully).
SES wasn't used as a factor
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 21:35 — KeungHui (author)SES wasn't used as a factor this year in either filling most magnet schools or calendar application schools. Wake Early College was the only that was slated to use SES.
If Ms. Hargens objected to
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 10:58 — CaryCurmudgeonIf Ms. Hargens objected to the new board's policies, then I would have expected her to refuse to serve as interim superintendent, not take the job and then start holding press conferences.
Hopefully, folks will use
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 11:24 — user12345Hopefully, folks will use back channels to tell Mr. Hui what is actually happening off records so we get all the facts out.
Don't worry, I'm sure Jim
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 12:21 — CaryCurmudgeonDon't worry, I'm sure Jim Goodmon is getting "back channels" inputs from his operatives and you'll hear about it on WRAL.
Really? Has anything under
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 12:10 — Duhhuh666Really? Has anything under this new board not been reported on? We dont need back channels with all the front and side channels there currently are. Nothing will happen that will not be printed in the N&O.
Well...
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 10:56 — Bob_SconceSo, there are limits to what being a "Company Man" means. In the military, for example, "I was just obeying orders" is not a defense to most war crimes.
But, in general, you can't just have everybody running around doing what they subjectively feel is right. That's just a recipe for chaos.
I Disagree With My Boss Plenty, but....
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 10:55 — JanisTangoI have had plenty of disagreements with my boss over the years. The way to handle it is to discuss those issues in private, not publically. I would never speak out against him in public.
We ARE the bosses
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 18:26 — duvalThat is the fact that many seem to not get. The BOE work for US. They answer to US. They are not the end-all Be-all of our childrens education, we are.
Absolutely right. The BoE
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 18:56 — woodstockAbsolutely right. The BoE does answer to us. And WE voted them into office and they are doing exactly what WE asked them to do. Thank you BoE for doing your jobs!
Not We
Tue, 04/13/2010 - 21:51 — duvalLess than a fraction of the County population.
The rest of us are just trying to ride out this nightmare until next elections and hope there is not too much damage done in the meantime.
Less than a fraction of the
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 11:34 — jenmanLess than a fraction of the County population.
That's how its always been.
The rest of us are just trying to ride out this nightmare until next
elections and hope there is not too much damage done in the meantime.
That's how many of us felt for years. Previous board members haven't voted for what's good for the entire county, IMO. They have taken care of central Raleigh at the expense of everybody else, particularly the rim schools.
"...less than a fraction..."
Wed, 04/14/2010 - 08:33 — woodstock"...less than a fraction..." Uh?
I too am looking forward to the next election, that is when we get to replace Hill, McLaurin-Meeker and Morrision and add more like-minded folks to the currrent majority. I didn't include Sutton as, so far, he seems to be a reasonable person and is at least willing to listen to common sense.