coen Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 Proceedings of the Ad Hoc Committee on Superintendent Finalists District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana March 12, 2010 The committee meeting was held on Friday, March 12, 2010 in the Lincoln Center at 12:00 p.m. Trustees in attendance were Barbara Bryan, Teresa Stroebe, Kathy Aragon, Mary Jo Fox and Peter Gesuale. Others in attendance were Dan Martin, Jeff Greenfield, Pat Bellinghausen (Gazette), Rob Rogers (Gazette), Ginny Mermel and Amanda Venegas (TV news). Barb Bryan, as Chair of the Committee, stated this committee has been assigned to discuss 1) possible visits to the school districts of superintendent candidates Keith Beeman and Eric Ely, and 2) possible additional reference calls to individuals who have worked with these candidates. Ms. Bryan handed out 1) information provided by Bob Vogel Montana School Boards Association on people who previously wrote reference letters for the two candidates and additional suggested reference, and 2) additional potential references/questions compiled by Barb from a review of the candidate applications and supplemental information. The charge of the committee is to discuss who to call and the feasibility/timing of possible site visits. Content of Site Visits In the materials handed out by Ms. Bryan, Mr. Vogel suggested that site visits include time with each candidate (Beeman and Ely). He also suggested that followup phone interviews be conducted with Keith Meyer and Scott Rogers in lieu of site visits to their locations. Teresa Stroebe stated that she felt we also should spend time without the candidates on the site visits. Ms. Fox stated that she thought the board chair of the school district (rather than the candidate) should be asked to escort us around the district. Ms. Stroebe and other board members agreed. Ms. Bryan suggested that each site visit would probably allow time for four or five half hour to one-hour appointments with people in the candidate’s district, which would leave time for 30-60 minutes with the candidate at the end of the day to cover any questions that may have come up during the day. Ms. Bryan suggested, and the group agreed, that we limit the site visits to talking with district (vs. nondistrict) personnel. This would allow us to make the best use of our time, and not spend time driving around to meet other people. Kathy Aragon and Dan Martin suggested, and the group agreed, that we need to ask very specific and pointed questions of the candidates about educational programs, assessment, student achievement, how to reduce dropout rates etc. The additional discussions with the candidates will be an opportunity to get very specific information about their knowledge and experience. Dan Martin also suggested that a key question for candidates would be how they would decide where to spend existing dollars when there are no new dollars available. (He feels this question is more important than a specific knowledge of school funding in Montana, which he believes any candidate can learn fairly quickly.) Content/Purpose of Additional Reference Calls Ms. Bryan suggested, and the group agreed, that the additional reference calls would be made to people outside the candidates’ districts who have worked with the candidates, and to people in the candidate districts that we wouldn’t have time to talk with during a site visit. Ms. Bryan also noted that she and Bob Vogel had discussed the possibility of BPS staff making, or participating in, some of the reference calls. The group agreed, as long as the staff members involved have some knowledge of/expertise in the areas being discussed with the reference. Dan Martin cautioned about following legal protocol during followup calls and about the need to keep good notes. The group agreed that it would probably be best to have two people involved in every call so as to get multiple perspectives. Ms. Aragon suggested we schedule specific times to make the calls so that all calls are made at about the same time. Suggested Contacts: Mr. Beeman The following individuals were suggested as possible people to contact for the site visit and additional reference calls for Keith Beeman: Site Visit Contacts Wayne Joseph, Supt. of Chino Valley Schools Head of the Chino Valley Teachers’ Union Sandra Chen – Asst. Supt. for Facilities, Chino Valley Vicki Broberg – Asst. Principal for Curriculum, Chino Valley A Chino Valley Schools principal and possibly a parent of PTA rep Mr. Beeman Additional Reference Calls Bruce Messenger, Supt., Helena Public Schools Compton, California School District (where Mr. Beeman did consulting) Clayton County Public Schools in Georgia (where Mr. Beeman previously worked) Someone involved in Chino Career Education (do they have a Career Center; Mr. Beeman’s related knowledge/experience?) State School Boards Assn. Legislative contact Parent group Others on the lists prepared by Vogel and Bryan Suggested Contacts – Mr. Ely Site Visit Contacts Endowment/foundation person Magnet schools program/principal Someone involved in strategic plan development and implementation Union president Board president Contact from curriculum and early childhood department and federal and state programs District parent liaison and/or parents/PTAs Mr. Ely Additional Reference Calls Legislators Someone from medical community who worked on Family Welcome Center Someone from Dover High School where Mr. Ely was principal Additional persons from Vogel and Bryan lists State School Boards Assn. Additional Discussion Trustee Fox stated that she is concerned about getting this done by the end of March. She stated that during the site visit to New York, she would like to visit the trial for the former Schnectady facilities director, and would like to talk with witnesses in the trial – including the reporter for the local paper, a Mr. Zimmer, the district athletic director, a district custodian, the state auditor, a family who was allegedly victimized by Mr, Raucci, etc. She also stated she’d like to 1) see documents regarding a board meeting on 9/09 when Mr. Ely’s contract was extended, 2) see enrollment information from the district, 3) find out how many lawsuits name Mr. Ely, and 4) get the details on the salary and overtime paid to Mr. Raucci. She is also concerned about allegations that Mr. Ely did not respond to complaints about Mr. Raucci and that there were questions of personal safety that Mr. Ely did not address. Mr. Gesuale suggested that there are legitimate questions that need to be asked about Mr. Ely (such as does he respond promptly and effectively to complaints), but that we need to agree on the proper questions and the best people to ask. He contended that people making the accusations may not be the best people to talk with. On the issue of complaints, for example, he suggested that the people making the accusations may not have access to actual information about Mr. Ely’s responses (due to confidentiality issues, for example). Ms. Bryan suggested that it is not our role to put Mr. Ely on trial; he has not been charged with anything. If we do a site visit, we’ll have to decide at the board level how to spend our time in New York. Ms. Bryan’s preference is to seek credible facts and information, rather than to talk with people who have limited experience with Mr. Ely or who have made a particular complaint against him. She stated that we have no way of effectively getting both sides to every story or claim. Ms. Fox stated that many people are giving their opinion, under oath; trustees just have to ask. Mr. Gesuale again suggested that the issue is Who are the appropriate people to ask about issues of concern? Dan Martin stated that we could start with the district attorney, talk to the police, and talk to people who work in the district, although the information we need might be hard to get. Ms. Bryan stated that she has talked with Mr. Goodrich about this, and he said he would contact someone in the district attorney’s office in New York to make sure Mr. Ely is not a “person of interest.” She also asked Dan Martin and Nancy Coe to request the Schnectady audit report for 2008-09 to address some of Ms. Fox’s concerns. Site Visits Timing and Feasibility Ms. Bryan presented flight information for Chino Valley and Schnectady. A roundtrip to Chino Valley would take two full days, including the day at the district. A trip to Schnectady would take 2-1/2 to 3 full days. These time commitments may be difficult for board members and a COLT member (if we decided to send a COLT member along). The other complication is the Strategic Planning meeting on March 23. The timing of this planning meeting would require that we do the site visits after the 23rd, which would put us towards the end of March. This late timing would make it very difficult to have the necessary deliberation and decision making completed by the end of March. Possible Videoconference Interviews In lieu of site visits, Ms. Bryan suggested that we might consider doing followup interviews with all four remaining candidates by videoconference, with all board members participating. In addition to this, we could still make additional reference calls for each candidate. After a discussion on the site visits, Mr. Gesuale stated that the committee needs to go back to the Board with its recommendations. Ms. Bryan stated that she will talk to Dan Martin about potential questions for the additional reference calls, and will do some more work on compiling contact information for some of the contacts suggested for the additional calls. She also asked Nancy Coe to find out when spring breaks are for the Chino Valley and Schnectady districts (so that site visits, if any, could be planned around them). Barb Bryan will report on the committee discussion for the Board meeting on Monday evening. Ms. Aragon left the meeting at 1:30 for another appointment. The meeting was adjourned at 1:40 a.m. ______________________________ Barb Bryan, Chair _______________________________ Nancy Coe, Recorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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