I would like to comment on Emily Ervin’s letter to the editor that was printed in the Saturday, May 23rd, edition of the Statesville Record and Landmark. The headline for the letter states the I-SS Superintendent’s position warrants hefty compensation. Ms. Ervin’s letter justifies her opinion by stating that the school system is the county’s largest employer and that the superintendent is there for the credit or the blame. If you look at the I-SS administrative chart you will see that there are over 30 central office administrators who do the actual work of running the school system. That includes the associate superintendent, assistant superintendents, directors, officers, supervisors, and coordinators. But, that does not include all of the principals, assistant principals, and instructional facilitators. How many of these administrators does Dr. Holliday supervise? According to the administrative chart it is just one, and that is Brady Johnson, Deputy Superintendent. The I-SS attorney, Mr. William McMillan, confirmed this at the April Board of Education meeting. He was at the meeting to speak to my assertion that Dr. Holliday supervises Mrs. Holliday, who is a central office administrator. That would be a violation of the I-SS nepotism policy. Mr. McMillan said Dr. Holliday does not supervise his wife because there are at least two administrative intermediate links between them. Why does Dr. Holliday deserve a hefty compensation if he only supervises one employee? And the real question is: why is the School Board spending millions of dollars to pay all of these administrators when the budget is as bleak as it is? As others have said, we should take that money and put it in the classrooms where it will do some real good.
This post was written by Paul Klaene.
That is very interesting. I never hear the principal talking about anyone in the chain of command giving orders except for Dr. Holliday. I rarely hear Brady Johnson's name mentioned. And Dr. Hargrave does come to school to meet with the leadership team. I do know that we received a message from our principal stating that his meeting with Dale Ellis had been canceled (regarding transfers). The decision would be made by central office and we would be notified the last day. Keep going with your comments Mr. Klaene. However, it seems many people are not yet aware of this site. It is important for people to know to use the http:// in front of what you placed on the Statesvilledotcom blog.
ReplyDeleteThis responder is totally in favor of educators receiving competitive salaries in the implementation of education. Iredell-Statesville taxpayers, however, should not be forced to compensate representatives of the Jim Fisher Company, whose only purpose is to sell their product and win awards for the superintendent. Mrs. Ervin means well and we can be sure she is delighted to see a band director in the positon of superintendent. Many of us felt the same way when he first arrived and welcomed him with open arms. His response was a slap in the face to the teachers of Iredell-Statesville! It is very doubtful that Mrs. Ervin would have allowed his imposition of Baldrige in her classroom had she not be retired.
ReplyDeletedeploythis: I completely agree with you. Some of us are looking at losing our jobs, yet these "make up as we go" Central Office positions remain. Why? What's REALLY going on in our school district behind the scenes. Mr. Klaene seems to be getting the run-around from people in this district...and why? What are they really trying to hide?
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