Banda Approved as Superintendent, 7-0

Finally!  There was a bit of yakking tonight before they finally got to the vote.

Carr reviewed trip to Anaheim that she and Patu took last week. All good things - neither she nor Patu had anything of concern to tell the Board.

Banda spoke briefly to the audience saying it was a "bittersweet moment." He said, "You become part of a community and builds bonds and relationships." He said he was not just part not just of schools but of community. It was nice to hear that he has that goal. More on the media questions later.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Melissa, you should get in touch with Alonzo Ybarra about the Middle College High School situation.

http://www.mcnc.us/about/design-principle/power-of-the-site/


--Old School Music
Anonymous said…
Melissa -
I see that the board approved the revamped bus schedule at the meeting last night. They said they wouldn't move the MS/HS times earlier, but they would move some elementary schools' start times later. Do you know if they are moving back schools that are currently starting at 8:30/9am, or are they making the already horrible 9:30am 3rd Tier schools start even later at 10am? Was there any discussion of these specifics?

Thanks,
SPS Mom
Anonymous said…
I have the same questions, SPS Mom. And even though start times are not being moved back for MS/HS, won't bus times have to start earlier for those with bus service to meet the new 45 minute schedule? This seems like it is still going to enlarge the already large gap between start times for elementary and MS/HS, which is becoming a burden for our family.

Not sure what we are going to do if one of us has to stay home even later in the morning next year before getting youngest off to school. My employer's patience is already thin as it is.

Mom to more than one kid
mirmac1 said…
Nope. No specifics. Are you kidding?

Even the few of us that were there were kept in the dark. The Powerpoint wasn't on the screen, there were no handouts. Apparently the directors got the "specifics" via personal chats with McEvoy. So business as usual.
Watching said…
We have a middle school student and an elementary school child. There is 1 1/2 hours between middle and elementary start times.

However, our daughter's elementary school teacher opens her classroom at 9am everyday. She tutors children etc. My daughter loves going to school early. For these kids, they receive an additional 2.5 hours of class time per week- or 10 hours per month. I know other caring and generous teachers are opening their classrooms early, too. For us, it worked out in a positive manner. I appreciate concerns of others, though.
Jon said…
I like Banda, but I find it disturbing that, once again, the Board selected a superintendent by default after all other candidates withdrew. Banda appears to be much better than Goodloe-Johnson, and there was a reasonable selection process that got us down to three candidates, but, nevertheless, it is unsettling to see the Board again end up with whoever is left after everyone else pulls out.
Anonymous said…
Watching, that's terrific. Our kids aren't allowed into their classrooms or school until the bell rings unless they are accompanied by an adult, there for breakfast, or have a special meeting. Did you have to petition the principal/BLT to make this happen?

parent
dw said…
@Jon

No the board did not pick the last-man-standing. They made it very clear that they chose Banda over Husk, and after that choice was made Husk tried to make it look like she pulled out before she was passed over. I think that was indicative of the CYA behavior we would have gotten if she had been selected.

Not sure what happened with Enoch though. Sadly, I doubt we'll ever get the real inside scoop on what went down with him.
Anonymous said…
Jon, you are incorrect. Only one candidate withdrew from consideration before Banda was selected. The other withdrawal was done after she was turned down for the position, so it wasn't really a withdrawal.

Banda was absolutely selected as the best, or second best, candidate out of a pool of 40+ applicants.

Facts matter
Anonymous said…
To be fair to Husk, it is not unusual for a candidate for a high-profile position to be given the chance to "withdraw" once it becomes clear they are not going to be offered the job. We are sometimes too provincial in this town to be aware of such common courtesies.

I actually feel a little bad for Husk, in that there has been so much public discussion over the fact that her "withdrawal" was really a "she didn't get the job offer". It must be a bit humiliating. We really are a somewhat rude town sometimes.

Facts matter
Jon, for the last time, he was NOT the last one standing.

There just three finalists selected. One did drop out and the other two were still in the running.

That Sunday, Mr. Banda was called and made the offer. President DeBell had attempted to reach Ms. Husk to tell her of the decision but could not reach her.

She dropped out on the Monday morning. So both were in the running when the decision was made.
mirmac1 said…
"I actually feel a little bad for Husk, in that there has been so much public discussion over the fact that her "withdrawal" was really a "she didn't get the job offer"."

What! I feel bad for Banda, to have what should be a well-deserved celebration instead be grist for the racist, speculative mill. Husk's actions were ungracious. I guess she thought she had it in the bag because the business circles told her so.
Anonymous said…
Ha ha ha. Feel bad for Husk? I know I always tell my friends that I've withdrawn my application when I don't get the job. Yeah, that's the ticket.

-Sue in Zen Field

P.S. Wouldn't it have been really funny if there really was someone ELSE named Susan Enfield that commented here?
Dr. Susan N. Field said…
Beware! If any imposter assumes my identity on this blog, I shall pursue legal action . . .
Anonymous said…
The Board meeting was strange, especially the Superintendent's Update. I was expecting an update on the most current BEXIV proposal, since there was a work session and a BEX oversight committee meeting last week.

The "update" was Pegi McEvoy at the mic, with no powerpoint, no explanation of the current scenario, and just a lot of handwaving about how they were "refining" the proposal.
It was very odd.

It made me wonder if they were intentionally not discussing the details of the current proposal in front of Mr. Banda?

North End Mom
Jan said…
On Enoch: something in the very early materials had quoted him as saying that he was looking forward to the in person visit to see if this really seemed to him like a good fit. I really liked him, but it was pretty clear, he was only going to do this if it seemed like a really good win-win situation for both sides. I would love to hear his analysis some time (as well as the board's/committee's), but what everyone really thought is all conjecture at this point.

Dr. Husk: oddly enough, I sort of agree with Facts matter. I do think it is a common courtesy at times to let someone withdraw if they are not going to be selected. I suspect we are so thin-skinned on this issue because last time we DID get stuck with "the last one standing" -- AND she was MGJ (my recollection is that early indications were that the last person who dropped out was being preferred -- and when that person left, the board lacked whatever (time, energy, grit) to reopen the process. If MGJ hadn't turned out to be a flaming disaster as a Superintendent, none of us would care.

Banda: we are lucky. I hope that, as a District, we can pull ourselves together to give him the support he needs to succeed.
mirmac1 said…
Jan,

Given the Paul Hills, Frank Greers, Liv Finne dissemblers in this town, I DO NOT feel we are operating under the common rules of courtesy.

I know I'm certainly not! ; p
mirmac1 said…
Nice story about Banda's visit to Arbor Heights today.

Uh...the reporters outnumber the students. Great job AH!
Jan said…
mirmac1, you raise one of the great political issues (at least for me, I am not up to Locke and Hobbes) I wrestle with -- what to do about character issues -- honesty, courtesy, fair play, etc. when one side seems to have abandoned them completely. I am caught between the Scylla of "nice people are roadkill" and the Charybdis of "if I behave like they do and stoop to their tactices, I am no better than they are." Wish I could just tie myself to the mast and get through the damn strait!
Jon said…
Okay, you are right, the situation is different than Goodloe-Johnson. It is not the same last-man-standing that happened there. It is a stretch to have made the comparison, you have convinced me, and not correct.
dan dempsey said…
Jon,

You are a "class act" for admitting you were incorrect and not "withdrawing" from the conversation. Now if our leaders would only follow your fine example.
Anonymous said…
Melissa, can you cover the questions that got asked to Banda?

Parent

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