Kentucky's Loss, Iredell's Gain

The Kentucky Department of Education is reporting that Dr. Holliday has been selected as the next Kentucky Education Commissioner. The following is taken from the press release.

Terry Holliday, superintendent of the Iredell-Statesville school district in Statesville, North Carolina, has been selected as Kentucky’s fifth commissioner of education. His salary will be $225,000 annually, and his first day in office will be August 5. The contract is for four years.

The Kentucky Board of Education announced the selection today at a special-called meeting in Frankfort. Chairman Joe Brothers said that Holliday exemplifies the qualities the board sought for the next commissioner. “Terry Holliday has a proven record of accomplishments, and chief among those is his work to raise student achievement levels,” Brothers said. “He is a strong leader who understands the importance of collaboration and communication among partners, including parents, educators, community leaders, businesspeople and elected officials.

For more of the Kentucky press release click on the link below

Holliday selected as Kentucky Education Commissioner

To access the related article in the Record and Landmark, click on the link below.

Holliday selected for Kentucky post

The following is taken from The I-SS News release found on their web site.

Kentucky Board of Education members this morning voted to hire Iredell-Statesville Schools Superintendent Dr. Terry Holliday as the state’s next commissioner of education. Holliday was one of four finalists for the position.

“My family and I are certainly excited about this new challenge,” said Holliday. “But leaving Iredell-Statesville Schools will definitely be a bittersweet experience. During the last seven years, I have come to love not only our schools, but our community and its people.”

Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education Chairman Dr. David Cash says Holliday’s selection as the Kentucky commissioner comes as no surprise.

According to Cash, the board of education will begin work immediately to name an interim superintendent. “We certainly want to build upon the solid foundation we currently have in place,” said Cash. “Right now, we want to maintain stability and work to identify the best individual who can help our district continue on its path of success.”

Cash said the board will be discussing the interim job with a handful of internal candidates. “We’re very fortunate. Our school district has developed a pool of highly-motivated, talented leaders who we are confident will continue to ensure our young people succeed,” he said.

The board will begin meeting with potential candidates for the interim position during a special called meeting on Monday afternoon. Cash said it was possible that the board would make an announcement about an interim replacement for Holliday at the conclusion of the meeting. Once an interim replacement is in place, the board will begin advertising for a permanent replacement.

For more of the I-SS press release click on the link below

Superintendent Becomes Kentucky's New Education Commissioner

Now is the time to take action. Contact the School Board members and let them know that they have to concentrate on what is best for the students. Students, parents, teachers, teacher assistants, and the citizens of Iredell County should all be allowed to participate in the selection of the interim superintendent as well as the permanent superintendent. Apparently, the School Board is planning on meeting in a closed session on Monday with no input from the public.

The contact information for the Board Members is listed below.

Mr. Bill Brater (District 5) 529 Catspaw Lane Statesville, NC 28677 704-528-3531 billbrater@bellsouth.net Dr. David Cash (District 2) 149 Foxglove Drive Statesville, NC 28625 704-873-3269 davidcash@iss.k12.nc.us Mr. Charles Kelly (District 6) 132 Blueberry Hill Drive Statesville, NC 28625 704-873-7578 cskllll@bellsouth.net Mr. John B. Rogers, Jr. (District 3) 851 Wesley Drive Statesville, NC 28677 704-873-7777 johnrgrsjb@aol.com Mrs. Karen Watson (District 7) PO Box 4533 Mooresville, NC 28117 704-660-8018 ktwatson@iss.k12.nc.us Mr. Keith Williams (District 4) 1724 Jones Street Statesville, NC 28625 704-878-6559 keith.williams@iredellmemorial.org Dr. Kenneth Wilson (District 1) 293 Rash Road Olin, NC 28660 704-876-4515 kenwilolin@yahoo.com

No Decision Today

The Courier-Journal in Louisville Ky. and The Daily Independent in Ashland Ky. are both reporting that the Kentucky Board of Education did not make a selection for the new education commissioner today. According to the reports, the Board chairman, Joe Brothers, said that they still have four candidates after the day long meeting that began around 7 a.m. and didn't end until after 4 p.m. Brothers said the board will continue to do background checks on the applicants and review information and data it has requested from the four finalists. But he said he’s confident the board will choose the next commissioner at its next meeting, scheduled for Friday, July 17 at the board’s offices in Frankfort.

Both papers quote Dr. Holliday talking about the Kentucky Education Commissioner position. The Daily Independent reports: “This is my pinnacle job, this is the job I’ve always gone after, leading at the state level,” Holliday said. Holliday, who is 58, said if he’s hired he expects to remain in the job for at least nine years. The Courier-Journal reports: "This is the job I always wanted," said Holliday.

Isn't that just about what he has been telling everyone in Iredell County about the I-SS superintendent's position? And all this time he has been looking for his pinnacle job. Well I hope he gets that job. It won't take long for the citizens of Kentucky to realize where they want to stick that pinnacle.

Holliday Praised in R & L Editorial

Post updated on July 9th.

The Statesville Record & Landmark has an editorial in today's paper in which they talk about Dr. Holliday's bid to be Kentucky's next education commissioner. Here is a link to the on-line version of the editorial.

Kentucy bound?

The editorial states that Dr. Holliday's selection as one of the finalists for the Kentucky position is an honor for I-SS and that it comes on the heels of Holliday's selection as NC Superintendent of the year and the selection of I-SS for a 2008 Baldrige National Quality Award.

The editorial does not mention the selection process for the Superintendent's award. There was no statewide vote taken and the I-SS teachers/teacher assistants were not asked for their opinions. Dr. Holliday simply submitted his own application for the award and had his buddies in the Central Office write letters of recommendation. Then the NC superintendents association looked at the applications submitted and decided whose turn it was to receive the award this year.

Speaking of the Baldrige award, the editorial does not mention the amount of money that the Baldrige effort has cost the school system. In the time that Dr. Holliday has been superintendent, I-SS has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in salaries for Central Office administrators whose primary job is to push the Baldrige model, thousands of dollars a year for Baldrige materials, thousands of dollars for Baldrige Consultants, thousands of dollars for Baldrige training, and thousands of dollars for travel to Baldridge seminars. This is all money that could have been used to provide the resources needed in the classrooms and to keep the 70 Teacher Assistants from being fired this summer because there is no money left in the school budget to pay them.

The editorial also mentions the improvements in SAT scores and graduation rates but does not mention that those improvements are due to the dedication of the teachers and teacher assistants and that those improvements were attained in spite of the Baldrige model and not because of it. The editorial does not mention the amount of stress that all the assessments and data collection has put on the teachers and students. The editorial does not mention the number of excellent teachers who have left I-SS and have gone to other school systems where the value of the teachers is appreciated and where teachers are freely allowed to use their skills for the benefit of the students.

I say that Dr. Holliday's application for the Kentucky position is just another example of his self promotion and that I am proud to be one of Dr. Holliday's vocal detractors.

I wanted to add that saying that the Baldrige award is an national award gives it way more credit than it deserves. It is true that the Baldrige is a national award in that any school system in the country can apply for the award. But in reality only 11 school systems applied for the award. That means that I-SS was selected the best of those 11 applicants. There are thousands of school systems in the US. If the Baldrige model is such a great educational method, as Dr. Holliday advocates, then why are there so few school systems using it? There are thousands of school systems achieving great successes without the burden and cost of adopting the Baldrige model. I am sure that, with the right leadership, I-SS could do the same.

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.