published: Wednesday, June 22, 2011

School board debates transfers

By CHRISTOPHER TUFFLEY

christopher.tuffley@newssun.com

SEBRING -- School board members wrestled with complicated issues at their regular meeting Monday night before agreeing in a 3-2 vote to retain former Avon Park High School principal Stu Guthrie and Lake Placid High School principal Michael Haley as assistant principals at Sebring Middle School and Sebring High School, respectively.

At its core the discussion was about the balance of power between school boards and school superintendents.

It began when board member Andy Tuck said that while he had been told a school board has to approve a school superintendent's recommendations for hire unless there was "good cause" to reject a candidate, he felt the board should pass over Guthrie and Haley.

The good cause, said Tuck, was poor performance as evidenced by Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores.

He was concerned that the transfers would send a bad message to the individuals currently working to become assistant principals as it took two positions out of competition.

"I feel assistant principals should be on their way up," Tuck said. "That's why I won't be supporting (this recommendation). There were 20-plus applicants very qualified for assistant principal. What's it going to do for their morale? I respectfully have a problem with these two candidates."

Tuck made it clear he was looking at the larger, generic picture and had nothing against either man in question.

Member Bill Brantley strongly agreed with Tuck. "Assistant principal is a training position," he said. "Are we going to retrain (Guthrie and Haley)? Otherwise they are blocking the way. I think it's a bad idea -- a principal's safety net: if you don't do well, become an assistant principal."

Board member Ronnie Jackson had a different perspective. "I could agree," he said, "but in this case each served as assistant principal and were effective in the job before they became principals. Maybe being a principal was too much. They may not have the leadership skills for leading a whole faculty."

Ned Hancock also worried about morale, but from the point of view of the principals. "One of our greatest opportunities is to better train our administrators, but if it doesn't work out, pushing them out the door sends a bad message. I may not agree with (superintendent) Mr. (Wally) Cox all the time, but I agree with him here."

Hancock then reminded the board that "we didn't have many people stepping up to the job (when they did). It would be tough if they were forced out."

Cox pointed out that neither he nor any member of the board had ever been a principal of a Florida high school, so it was hard to understand the pressures and difficulties principals face. The fact that there is a high turnover, he said, is an indication of the stress.

"Good cause would not include moving someone from principal to assistant principal," Cox said. "(They had) tough assignments, both of these individuals worked hard. I do feel that they have a lot to contribute to the district. I disagree that they can't play a useful role. They can be a part of an administrative team."

School board attorney John McClure warned the board that conflicts like this -- a superintendent wanting one candidate, a school board in disagreement -- "will become a major problem unless the FCAT changes as the only measure of success."

He said that by Florida statute the superintendent appoints and removes personnel, the board's function in these cases is simply to approve the superintendent's decision -- in the same way many city charters divide the balance of power between a city manager and a city council.

McClure also warned similar conflicts between superintendent and board in other counties had led to lawsuits, but "this an argument for the legislature, not the courts," he said.

Brantley said that what bothered him the most was being caught by surprise. He hadn't heard about the changes in staffing before reading about in the press. "We were not informed," he said. "I was shocked that we don't have a larger voice."

Jackson forcefully argued to reform the interviewing process for school administrators. A greater variety of people should be involved, he said, especially as the county has many retired principals, former board members and superintendents. He said the current search for a new principal at Sebring High School would be a perfect opportunity to improve and open up the process.