The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
To replace former superintendent Richard Bentley, who left after 16 months on the job, the School Board will retain the Iowa-based firm that helped to find him.
Ray & Associates' contract with the board requires it to waive its consulting fee because a new superintendent search was needed within two years, a news release from Norfolk public schools said.
The firm helped to find Bentley, who was hired in 2010 to replace Stephen Jones, who announced his retirement after the state found improprieties in the way some schools administered Standards of Learning tests.
Bentley abruptly left the position in November after 10 of Norfolk's 45 schools missed full accreditation.
The School Board characterized Bentley's departure as a mutual agreement, but a division document called it an "'involuntary separation not for cause." Though the School Board chairman has said that no single issue decided Bentley's fate, he said in a news release that the high number of schools not fully accredited was unacceptable.
Norfolk public schools paid the firm a $27,000 fee in 2010, and the estimated expenses were $14,275, the news release said. With this new search, the School Board will still pay for expenses, such as advertisements and travel.
Ray & Associates apparently began working Monday to provide the School Board with a survey to distribute to staff and the public about qualities desired in a new superintendent. Participants are asked to select 10 of 33 qualities in the online survey.
The deadline to complete the survey is Feb. 8.
The School Board will hold public hearings about the superintendent search at two locations at 7 p.m. on Feb. 7: Booker T. Washington High School, 1111 Park Ave., and Granby High School, 7101 Granby St.
Lauren King, 757-446-2309, lauren.king@pilotonline.com
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What the teachers thing..
What the teachers think is "who cares?" After the way they handled Dr. Bentley's departure, the lack of raises for 5 years, increased demands with declining working conditions, and the whole "let's bring back the over-aged drop-out kids who didn't want to be here to begin with," we say "who cares?" Hire from the inside, hire from the outside, they aren't going to improve something that has no funding or unrealistic expectations. It is entertaining to see all of the administrators from downtown and the Department of Education walk the hallways, sit in the classrooms, and then come back with their plan of action. Plan, here is the plan you need "stop focusing on the kids who don't want to be here, and focus on the ones who do."
Oops
I meant "what the teachers think."
Finding (and supporting) the right person for the job.
It's going to take some serious upheaval all-around to get this system back on track.
That means a MAJOR house-cleaning of the entrenched incompetents who keep getting shuffled from school-to-school and from school-to-administration.
Be prepared for a LOT of kicking and screaming and lawsuits from EEOC.
The next person should demand an IRON-CLAD mandate to be backed up by the city council and the school board before taking the job. No getting weak in the knees when the going gets tough.
ps. And Michael Spencer, a swell guy by all accounts, is NOT the one to do it. He may even be part of the long-standing problem. The sooner he is gone, the better.
school vouchers
Interesting how this stuff affects us in this area. I live at the beach but have friends moving to the area with 2 kids 10 and 13. They are moving from Brussles for 2 to 3 years and liked Ghent in Norfolk. When I was asked for an opinion on schools(I have no kids in school) I gave it some thought. Even spoke to a neighbor who is a teacher. And I told them the only option for living in Norfolk was private school which is why I checked into the vouchers as they can not really afford $20k a year for private. I also told them my teacher neighbor recommended a couple zip codes in Va Beach to live in. Also discovered Beach had some special programs for foreign students.
It is too bad you have such
It is too bad you have such a short-sighted company and gave your friends the advice that you did. I would recommend that they actually visit some of the schools in the Ghent/Larchmont districts and compare them to some of the VB zip codes. They are very good, vibrant, active places of learning with excellent, involved parents. We have friends who moved back from a highly rated school/zip code in VB because the lack of community and participation was so disheartening compared to their previous school in Norfolk. Of course there are problems (there are problems everywhere) but being surrounded by supportive parents instead of Nannys is important too.
i understand your comment
But most of us (me too) just do not have the time to "go deep" in the decision process here. I know it should not be the case BUT...so much information and input from others is out there that making a decision based on that I think is ok.
A more competent teacher would have taught you ...
that the ending period in your sentence should have been placed WITHIN the quotation marks.
A more competent teacher would have taught you that it's "counsel."
school vouchers
Can anyone tell me the latest on school vouchers for NPS? I know that our company's council to folks moving into the area with kids is to not live in Norfolk or Portsmouth but if you do private school is mandatory. Any reason we need to re look at this policy? Thanks...
Bashing the schools is easy,
Bashing the schools is easy, but it's unproductive. We know there are problems, but if we're honest we have to ask how much of the poor performance is the fault of the school personnel.
Norfolk has a high population of underprivileged school aged children who, nationwide, perform more poorly than other students. Still, in Norfolk, most of them graduate, so something must be going right in at least some of the schools.
Norfolk should hire the next superintendent from within. They need somebody who knows what and who is working, and what needs to be fixed.
Another outside hire will just delay any necessary adjustments while the newcomer surveys the lay of the land.
I should have said Norfolk
I should have said Norfolk should "consider" hiring from within. They certainly need somebody competent and if the right person can't be found within the system then they obviously need to look outside.
But I have to think there are at least a few qualified administrators in Norfolk who would take on the challenge.