For the record, here is some info related to the new Lake County Schools Superintendent, Susan Moxley, who is starting this week. I don't expect to see many changes even being discussed until November when Anna Cowin completes her term in office, so we probably won't know until then the level of research and priorities that Moxley will focus on. Moxley will even have an office in the separate old County Courthouse so visitors can enter without going through School District offices.
Finally, at the bottom is an older article recapping the School Board's reluctant approval of Anna Cowin's school staffing plan - they basically had no legal basis to alter it, so approved it "under protest". However, this week, the new School FCAT grades came out and most Lake Schools improved their scores, so we might wonder whether Cowin's previous staff transfers helped or hindered the results. We can't really know because neither Cowin or the Board ever discussed any hard facts about each administrator (mostly Assistant Principals) transfer decision except for one or two of them. The trend was that Cowin clammed up and stood her ground without any logical facts to support her staffing plan, and the Board, unions, teachers and parents all focused on emotional appeals like "our children like that AP", or "the cost for the AP to commute to the farther job is too much...) and NO OBJECTIVE, FACTUAL ANALYSIS. Thus, the parents may really like an administrator but they might not have been as effective as another one.
To follow up on the trend of lack of facts, I recently visited the website of Education Week and they had a report about the growing education trend to track student performance by teacher, to develop factual data to identify which teachers consistently turned out better students (i.e. who could pass standards, tests or graduate). I don't know if Lake County does this (I doubt it), but that is what a business would do. For instance, when the agricultural industry can track a tomato back to the distributor to identify the source of bad food, why can't schools track teacher performance statistically?
vj
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from Daily Commercial July 13, 2008
Moxley's contract to be reviewed
DAVID DONALD
Staff Writer
TAVARES -- The Lake County School Board will consider Susan Moxley's three-year schools superintendent contract Monday.
"I think the contract is a very fair one," said school board Chairman Larry Metz. "We have a very modest term ... and salary based on the range we advertised."
In addition to her $165,000 salary, Moxley will receive a $700 monthly automobile allowance, a Blackberry cell phone and an expense account not to exceed $2,400 a year.
The board has reserved the right to terminate the superintendent without cause. If terminated, Moxley would be entitled to her monthly salary and benefits up to one year or until the end of the contract, whichever is shorter.
When the board advertised the superintendent position nearly a year ago it gave a salary range between $165,000 to $190,000.
"It (contract) came in on the low end," said board member Jimmy Conner. "I think everybody is satisfied."
Moxley was chosen as the next school's chief in April. She takes over when Superintendent Anna Cowin's term ends on Nov. 18.
Moxley begins her consultancy Wednesday, she'll visit schools, meet with community and business leaders, teachers and parents and work with board members.
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from July 3rd Orlando Sentinel
Moxley will be settling in
July 3, 2008
TAVARES - Lake County's incoming superintendent soon will have a new office in Tavares, School Board member Jimmy Conner announced this week.
Susan Moxley, the district's newly appointed schools chief, will work on the fifth floor of the historic courthouse as a consultant for the board, Conner said in a news release. Lake County Tax Collector Bob McKee donated the office to Moxley after having lunch with her and Conner, according to the news release.
Moxley begins her consulting job on July 15. When she replaces Anna Cowin, the district's current superintendent, she is expected to move into Cowin's office. Cowin's term ends in November.
Cowin was elected in 2004, but voters have since decided to let board members select the district's superintendent.
Moxley's new office is less than a mile away from the Lake County School District office in Tavares, where Cowin and other district administrators work.
"We want to thank Mr. McKee for offering an office where people can feel comfortable visiting with Dr. Moxley as our new superintendent," Conner said.
Katie Gallagher, Tanya Caldwell and Helen Eckinger of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
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from July 2, 2008 Orlando Sentinel regarding School District Approval of Cowin's Staffing Plan
School Board grumbles but OKs Cowin lineup of principals
Tanya Caldwell | Sentinel Staff Writer
July 2, 2008
TAVARES - Lake County School Board members said they're not very happy about next year's lineup of principals and assistants, but they didn't have much choice.
The School Board finally approved the 2008-09 school-administrator lineup this week, based on Superintendent Anna Cowin's recommendations. Dozens of administrators were demoted, promoted or transferred without rhyme or reason, board members said.
"I want people to understand that this is something we have to do. The law is clear and unequivocal," said School Board Chairman Larry Metz.
For the most part, the law says the superintendent must make recommendations for personnel transactions, and the School Board has to rubber-stamp those recommendations -- unless they find good cause not to.
That didn't make the moves easy to stomach.
"I don't approve of this at all," said School Board member Jimmy Conner. "But at the same time, having a job where you don't want to be is better than not having a job at all."
Cowin's recommended appointments have been controversial since they came to light. Tavares residents were outraged that Bonnie McKee, a Tavares High assistant principal and staple at the school, is being demoted to work at Umatilla Middle School.
William Gagnon is also getting demoted. He is moving from his assistant principal role at Eustis High to Carver Middle School.
Not everyone's move is a demotion, however. Tammy Langley, a teacher at Triangle Elementary, will become an assistant principal at Mount Dora Middle. Samuel Danner, an assistant principal at Grassy Lake Elementary, is leaving the new school to serve the same role at East Ridge Middle, which opens in August.
Cowin, who did not attend Monday's special meeting, did not explain the transfers -- to board members' dismay.
"Even if you assume the rationale could be explained or understood, she never did that. She never explained her rationale," Metz said.
The board did find good cause to deny Cowin on at least one move: transferring Dennis Teasley from his current district job as an administrative coordinator to the assistant principal's job at Eustis High. Teasley was transferred in 2007 from his role as principal of Beverly Shores Elementary School after several safety problems sprouted at the campus.
Board members argued that Teasley would cause more safety concerns if he moved to Eustis High. The board eliminated his current district job at a previous board meeting.
The School Board also took the liberty to appoint Aurelia Cole as next year's East Ridge High principal. The administrator is in a retirement program but will come back in August. Cowin had left her role vacant.
Tanya Caldwell can be reached at [email protected] or 352-742-5928.
