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The upcoming School Board election is very important to Beaufort County
Regrettably, it is not likely that the Beaufort County Board of Education election will get much attention this year amidst all the hoopla of a presidential/gubernatorial election. That's a shame, because in many ways the school board election is more important than any of the others simply because it is the one place that voters can have a real impact undiluted by the millions of others who vote. The weight of your vote in a school board election is much greater than in any other, even the county commission.
The Beaufort County Board of Education is comprised of nine members elected for four-year terms. (Some wonder why we have so many members. It's one of hte largest board in the state. The answer is that it resulted from the 'politics of merger' when it was necessary to preserve as many city and county incumbents necessary to get merger passed. But that's a story for another day.)
The odd numbered seats are up for election this time and the even numbered seats will be up two years from now. Each seat is elected from a district of approximately the same number of residents as the other districts. Thus the lines are contorted. To find our which district you live in you may go to: this page and enter your name, birthday and county and you will be able to see all of the voting districts you live in as well as download a blank sample ballot for the November election.
Of the five seats being voted on in November only two districts have more than one candidate running. In District 1 Eltha Booth is unopposed. Barbara Boyd-Williams is also unopposed for District 3 as is Mike Isbell in District 9.
The only two districts in which there is a choice for voters are Districts 5 and 7. Bill Sprenkle is running in District 7 along with Carolyn Walker. In District 5 voters will choose between David Daniel, Mac Hodges and Proctor Kidwell. District 7 is roughly Washington Park and the River Road area. District 5 is made up of parts of Old Ford, Tranters Creek, Gilead and Chocowinity precincts with a little bit of Washington. Click here to view a map of the districts.
Even with only two contested seats this election has the potential for making a significant change in the Beaufort School Board. That is true because Robert Belcher is running for County Commissioner and will not return and because Mac Hodges could very well be replaced after 28 years as a result of a redrawn district.
Commentary
In my judgment, Belcher leaving the School Board is the best thing that will happen. If Hodges is defeated I would predict that the board will change in character and operation immensely. Perhaps that is wishful thinking but at least there is the possibility. Why do I say that?
The current board has, for the most part, been dominated by Belcher and Hodges. Both Belcher and Hodges were at the center of the $6.4 million budget overrun on the $33 million bond issue. They presided over the overbuilding of classroom space in some areas while leaving others overcrowded. Their own Facilities Audit documented an excess capacity of over 2000 seats. That's the equivalent of three schools or $20 million. Twenty million dollars is a lot of money to waste in Beaufort County. That is half of what you pay in property taxes in a year. Pure waste. It was the direct result of poor board leadership not developing a sound facilities plan before they spent over $40 million. By going six million over budget they robbed schools that had needs scheduled for "Phase II" which could not be met when the money ran out. Moreover, much of the overrun money was budgeted for annual maintenance but went instead for pet projects and vote buying by Belcher.
Belcher and Hodges were also at the center of the law suit brought by the School Board against the County for more money. But while they were suing for more money they were sitting on a million in funds balance that could have been used for what they were suing the county for. That was incompetence or if not then dishonesty.
Belcher, as chairman, presided over two student discipline cases that eventually went to the Supreme Court only to be lost by the School Board when the court held that the board did not follow legal procedures in disciplining the students.
Belcher and Hodges engineered retaliation against five teachers who opposed a new reading program being pushed by Hodges' wife, who worked with the Department of Public Instruction. The program was eventually found to be ineffective by the U. S. Department of Education, being riddled with political corruption. The teachers who were retaliated against filed suit and the School Board was forced to pay them an "undisclosed" settlement.
But of all the debacles during the Belcher/Hodges Era the worst was that they brought Jeff Moss to Beaufort County and kept him way beyond it becoming obvious to most people that Moss need to go.
We now have an excellent superintendent and a solid core of other members on the School Board but a change in leadership is long overdue. Having effective board leadership will, I think, unleash the effectiveness of an outstanding school superintendent. He deserves to have a good board to do what is need to make major improvements. He has, for the most part, a good staff and there are many excellent teachers in Beaufort County. Those teachers deserve much better from their leadership than they have gotten from Belcher and Hodges.
Poor planning and pure corruption has cost the taxpayers more than $30 million under Belcher and Hodges. They both complain about lack of money, but after Federal Stimulus dollars were given to the board they have yet to produce any documented evidence of measurable results from that money, yet Belcher and Hodges wanted the county taxpayers to pick up the funding when the Federal dollars ended. Belcher resigned as chairman when the board refused go along with him to sue the County again for more money.
The list goes on, seemingly endlessly.
To David Daniel, Proctor Kidwell, Bill Sprenkle and Carolyn I would say: Thank you for stepping up and being willing to run. Whichever of you is selected you will have your work cut out for you. I would offer the following suggestions:
1. The number one need in Beaufort County is a need to change the culture from that of "minimum competency" to one of excellence. Student achievement needs to be improved in quantum leaps, not in fractions. The board should develop a program that measures how much progress each and every student makes in relation to how much progress that student could reasonably be expected to make. The technology is already there to do that. The board should insist on an accountability system that discards measuring the percent who achieve the minimum level of competency and replace it with one that expect each student to perform at the level they are capable of performing, and then pushes them a bit higher.
2. The board must do a better job of planning, particularly with facilities and the maintenance of those facilities.
3. The board should provide leadership to get parents more meaningfully involved in their school. I don't mean more fundraising or Mickey Mouse stuff but meaningful involvement in the decision-making that will make a real difference. Parents should be treated as customers. They should have more choices about what happens to their children. Those choices should be structured to foster competition and exceptional results produced by that competition should be rewarded. The board must clearly articulate that it expects excellence and not accept minute incremental improvement. And that must come from the board. If the board supports and provides leadership in that way the superintendent and leadership staff is very capable of producing a "culture of excellence." But nothing less should be acceptable.
4. Meaningful involvement of parents in the decisions that impact their children is an imperative. But to achieve that the Board must change its method of operation--essentially the way they, as a board, think. They need to abandon the idea that it is their role to control what others do. This board spends entirely too much time behind closed doors and making decisions that not only exclude participation by parents but is, for the most part, hidden from parents and the public.
The chief reason parents are not more involved in their schools is because they have not been allowed to participate in the really meaningful decision-making. That is a learning process. Thinking of them as customers with choices would help change that. The fancy terms are cooperative or collaborative leadership based on participatory decision-making. The paradigm that must be changed by this board is in their mindset that they "know what's best" for everyone else and parents should just sit down and shut up. The time they now spend on giving out "warm fuzzes" at their meetings would better be spent on hearing about, and supporting, plans and results from parents and community people (particularly businesses) impacting student achievement in measurable ways. (There is nothing wrong with warm fuzzes. But that is not sufficient to produce the kind of improvement in student performance this school system and county need.)
5. The same change in the mindset of this board about teachers is also needed. Producers of high student performance should be valued. The "one size fits all" of this (and most) board's mentality produces mediocrity and denigrates the best to the level of the lowest common denominator. A three-inch policy book depicts the wrong approach. What is needed is a system that encourages teachers to seek excellence and then rewards them for achieving it with measurable results. Chief among those rewards should be the ability to make more of the decisions that impact student performance and when demonstrated results are achieved, the producers of those results should be given more latitude to make more significant decisions....such as how the work is structured and organized, how resources are allocated and used and who decides what. And teachers should be relieved of having to tolerate unruly students. That's the job of the administration and should not be dumped on the classroom teacher.
Belcher is gone. That's a good thing. Hodges needs to go. Twenty-eight years of the same ol same ol is far too long. Mac should have had enough character to resign when the court ruled against him on the way he treated the Eastern teachers. That in and of itself, in my mind, absolutely disqualifies him to serve, not even considering how much money he has wasted and the damage he allowed Jeff Moss to do. The school system is not his sand box. It is way past time for him to go.
Delma Blinson writes the "Teacher's Desk" column for our friend in the local publishing business: The Beaufort Observer. His concentration is in the area of his expertise - the education of our youth. He is a former teacher, principal, superintendent and university professor.
Go Back
The Beaufort County Board of Education is comprised of nine members elected for four-year terms. (Some wonder why we have so many members. It's one of hte largest board in the state. The answer is that it resulted from the 'politics of merger' when it was necessary to preserve as many city and county incumbents necessary to get merger passed. But that's a story for another day.)
The odd numbered seats are up for election this time and the even numbered seats will be up two years from now. Each seat is elected from a district of approximately the same number of residents as the other districts. Thus the lines are contorted. To find our which district you live in you may go to: this page and enter your name, birthday and county and you will be able to see all of the voting districts you live in as well as download a blank sample ballot for the November election.
Of the five seats being voted on in November only two districts have more than one candidate running. In District 1 Eltha Booth is unopposed. Barbara Boyd-Williams is also unopposed for District 3 as is Mike Isbell in District 9.
The only two districts in which there is a choice for voters are Districts 5 and 7. Bill Sprenkle is running in District 7 along with Carolyn Walker. In District 5 voters will choose between David Daniel, Mac Hodges and Proctor Kidwell. District 7 is roughly Washington Park and the River Road area. District 5 is made up of parts of Old Ford, Tranters Creek, Gilead and Chocowinity precincts with a little bit of Washington. Click here to view a map of the districts.
Even with only two contested seats this election has the potential for making a significant change in the Beaufort School Board. That is true because Robert Belcher is running for County Commissioner and will not return and because Mac Hodges could very well be replaced after 28 years as a result of a redrawn district.
Commentary
In my judgment, Belcher leaving the School Board is the best thing that will happen. If Hodges is defeated I would predict that the board will change in character and operation immensely. Perhaps that is wishful thinking but at least there is the possibility. Why do I say that?
The current board has, for the most part, been dominated by Belcher and Hodges. Both Belcher and Hodges were at the center of the $6.4 million budget overrun on the $33 million bond issue. They presided over the overbuilding of classroom space in some areas while leaving others overcrowded. Their own Facilities Audit documented an excess capacity of over 2000 seats. That's the equivalent of three schools or $20 million. Twenty million dollars is a lot of money to waste in Beaufort County. That is half of what you pay in property taxes in a year. Pure waste. It was the direct result of poor board leadership not developing a sound facilities plan before they spent over $40 million. By going six million over budget they robbed schools that had needs scheduled for "Phase II" which could not be met when the money ran out. Moreover, much of the overrun money was budgeted for annual maintenance but went instead for pet projects and vote buying by Belcher.
Belcher and Hodges were also at the center of the law suit brought by the School Board against the County for more money. But while they were suing for more money they were sitting on a million in funds balance that could have been used for what they were suing the county for. That was incompetence or if not then dishonesty.
Belcher, as chairman, presided over two student discipline cases that eventually went to the Supreme Court only to be lost by the School Board when the court held that the board did not follow legal procedures in disciplining the students.
Belcher and Hodges engineered retaliation against five teachers who opposed a new reading program being pushed by Hodges' wife, who worked with the Department of Public Instruction. The program was eventually found to be ineffective by the U. S. Department of Education, being riddled with political corruption. The teachers who were retaliated against filed suit and the School Board was forced to pay them an "undisclosed" settlement.
But of all the debacles during the Belcher/Hodges Era the worst was that they brought Jeff Moss to Beaufort County and kept him way beyond it becoming obvious to most people that Moss need to go.
We now have an excellent superintendent and a solid core of other members on the School Board but a change in leadership is long overdue. Having effective board leadership will, I think, unleash the effectiveness of an outstanding school superintendent. He deserves to have a good board to do what is need to make major improvements. He has, for the most part, a good staff and there are many excellent teachers in Beaufort County. Those teachers deserve much better from their leadership than they have gotten from Belcher and Hodges.
Poor planning and pure corruption has cost the taxpayers more than $30 million under Belcher and Hodges. They both complain about lack of money, but after Federal Stimulus dollars were given to the board they have yet to produce any documented evidence of measurable results from that money, yet Belcher and Hodges wanted the county taxpayers to pick up the funding when the Federal dollars ended. Belcher resigned as chairman when the board refused go along with him to sue the County again for more money.
The list goes on, seemingly endlessly.
To David Daniel, Proctor Kidwell, Bill Sprenkle and Carolyn I would say: Thank you for stepping up and being willing to run. Whichever of you is selected you will have your work cut out for you. I would offer the following suggestions:
1. The number one need in Beaufort County is a need to change the culture from that of "minimum competency" to one of excellence. Student achievement needs to be improved in quantum leaps, not in fractions. The board should develop a program that measures how much progress each and every student makes in relation to how much progress that student could reasonably be expected to make. The technology is already there to do that. The board should insist on an accountability system that discards measuring the percent who achieve the minimum level of competency and replace it with one that expect each student to perform at the level they are capable of performing, and then pushes them a bit higher.
2. The board must do a better job of planning, particularly with facilities and the maintenance of those facilities.
3. The board should provide leadership to get parents more meaningfully involved in their school. I don't mean more fundraising or Mickey Mouse stuff but meaningful involvement in the decision-making that will make a real difference. Parents should be treated as customers. They should have more choices about what happens to their children. Those choices should be structured to foster competition and exceptional results produced by that competition should be rewarded. The board must clearly articulate that it expects excellence and not accept minute incremental improvement. And that must come from the board. If the board supports and provides leadership in that way the superintendent and leadership staff is very capable of producing a "culture of excellence." But nothing less should be acceptable.
4. Meaningful involvement of parents in the decisions that impact their children is an imperative. But to achieve that the Board must change its method of operation--essentially the way they, as a board, think. They need to abandon the idea that it is their role to control what others do. This board spends entirely too much time behind closed doors and making decisions that not only exclude participation by parents but is, for the most part, hidden from parents and the public.
The chief reason parents are not more involved in their schools is because they have not been allowed to participate in the really meaningful decision-making. That is a learning process. Thinking of them as customers with choices would help change that. The fancy terms are cooperative or collaborative leadership based on participatory decision-making. The paradigm that must be changed by this board is in their mindset that they "know what's best" for everyone else and parents should just sit down and shut up. The time they now spend on giving out "warm fuzzes" at their meetings would better be spent on hearing about, and supporting, plans and results from parents and community people (particularly businesses) impacting student achievement in measurable ways. (There is nothing wrong with warm fuzzes. But that is not sufficient to produce the kind of improvement in student performance this school system and county need.)
5. The same change in the mindset of this board about teachers is also needed. Producers of high student performance should be valued. The "one size fits all" of this (and most) board's mentality produces mediocrity and denigrates the best to the level of the lowest common denominator. A three-inch policy book depicts the wrong approach. What is needed is a system that encourages teachers to seek excellence and then rewards them for achieving it with measurable results. Chief among those rewards should be the ability to make more of the decisions that impact student performance and when demonstrated results are achieved, the producers of those results should be given more latitude to make more significant decisions....such as how the work is structured and organized, how resources are allocated and used and who decides what. And teachers should be relieved of having to tolerate unruly students. That's the job of the administration and should not be dumped on the classroom teacher.
Belcher is gone. That's a good thing. Hodges needs to go. Twenty-eight years of the same ol same ol is far too long. Mac should have had enough character to resign when the court ruled against him on the way he treated the Eastern teachers. That in and of itself, in my mind, absolutely disqualifies him to serve, not even considering how much money he has wasted and the damage he allowed Jeff Moss to do. The school system is not his sand box. It is way past time for him to go.
Delma Blinson writes the "Teacher's Desk" column for our friend in the local publishing business: The Beaufort Observer. His concentration is in the area of his expertise - the education of our youth. He is a former teacher, principal, superintendent and university professor.
| Liberalism Unmasked: Part Two | Teacher's Desk, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics, Bloodless Warfare: Politics | Debunking the Gubernatorial Election |
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