Holliday, Going, Going, Almost Gone?

According to an article in today's Record & Landmark, Dr. Holliday is one of four finalists being considered by the Kentucky Board of Education to be the state's next commissioner of education. Click on the link below to read the on-line version of the article as well as some excellent comments.

I-SS superintendent in running for Kentucky job

Thanks to the person who mentioned the article in a comment to a previous post on this blog. We can only hope that Dr. Holliday gets the position. I just feel sorry for the citizens of Kentucky, especially since I am a native of Kentucky and have many relatives who live there. If you want additional information about the candidates for the Kentucky position you can check out the Kentucky School News and Commentary blog at the link below.

http://theprincipal.blogspot.com/

The blog also has links to two YouTube videos of Dr. Holliday speaking at the 2009 Quest for Excellence conference. In one of the videos Dr. Holliday mentions that one of the pivotal moments for the change in the I-SS leadership team occurred when he hired Brenda Clark. Dr. Holliday then goes on to say that he was able to save a couple hundred thousand dollars by changing her from a highly paid consultant to a poorly paid school district official. Of course, Dr. Holliday doesn't mention that Ms. Clark has a four-year contract starting at $129,900.00 per year. I guess that if your making over $200,000.00, then $129,900.00 may not seem like much. Try comparing that to what teachers and teacher assistants get paid. No wonder Dr. Holliday treats teachers and teacher assistants as if they are a dime a dozen.

Finally, how many times has Dr. Holliday mentioned that he really liked I-SS and that he has had offers for other positions but that he turned them down because he wanted to stay at I-SS until he retired in 2011. Now we learn that he has been actively seeking at least one other position. Don't get me wrong, I am glad that Dr. Holliday is wanting to move on. I hope he does, and that it happens very quickly. But, I think that it verifies what many have been saying for some time now. You can not trust what he says because he will tell you one thing and turn around and tell someone else something completely different. We need a superintendent who can be trusted to truly look after the needs of the students rather than bolstering his or her own ego.

Brenda Clark, Consultant or Employee or Both?

In a previous post I mentioned that I-SS had hired Brenda Clark as a consultant, through Jim Shipley and Associates, and that she was later hired as an I-SS administrator. It turns out that Brenda Clark was already employed as an I-SS administrator when they hired her as a consultant. According to the invoice from Jim Shipley and Associates, Brenda Clark was hired, at the rate of $1,000.00 a day, for a two-day JSA training session that occurred on August 14 and 15, 2007. However according to the I-SS organizational chart, that was updated on July 18, 2007, Brenda Clark is listed as I-SS Chief Quality Officer. So, while already paying her a very generous salary as an I-SS administrator, I-SS turns around and pays her a thousand dollars a day as a consultant. Who in his right mind would approve of this? Oh, that’s right, Dr. Holliday approved it.