Inside Report for Jan. 31, 2012
Search puts board itself in spotlight
As it has tried to settle on its next superintendent, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board has not only asked questions, but answered a few from the candidates themselves.
On Wednesday, after two days of interviews, the School Board narrowed the field from six candidates to one, Samuel King, superintendent in Rockdale County, Ga.
During the interviews, a question from candidate Marie Pitre-Martin sparked a revealing exchange.
Pitre-Martin, who served as assistant superintendent of middle schools in Baton Rouge from 2006 to 2008, now works for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, where she serves as director of K-12 instruction and curriculum.
“Your vision for the East Baton Rouge Parish school system going forward … I would love to hear your comments,” Pitre-Martin said.
Six of 11 board members responded, but rather than discussing their visions for the school system, they touched on what type of leader they think the district needs.
Board member David Tatman, who took office in January 2011 and has served as co-chairman of the citizens’ committee rewriting the school system’s strategic plan, said he wants a superintendent who is a visionary, who eschews “one-size-fits-all solutions.”
“Someone who is going to come and save a generation of our children, provide them with the education that they deserve in a meaningful way, in whatever way they deserve,” he said. “Somebody who leads this board, leads this staff, leads the way to the best school district in the state of Louisiana.”
Board member Vereta Lee, who joined the board in 2007 and was re-elected in 2010, said the next superintendent doesn’t “have time to learn on the job. We have a budget crisis here, we have teachers that are struggling to teach, and students that are struggling to learn. … We need someone to come in with a plan ready to help these children be successful in school.”
Lee wants someone who can “bring this board together because it’s not together right now.
“Some want a black superintendent. Some want a white superintendent. Some want a purple superintendent. Some want a man. Some want a woman. And we need what’s best for the children,” Lee said.
Board President Barbara Freiberg said she wants someone “who can communicate, someone who can work in cooperation with our state and local officials, and who can make hard decisions, because some hard decisions will be made.”
Board member Connie Bernard, who like Freiberg was elected in 2010, said she wants an enthusiastic leader who can communicate that enthusiasm to parents and community leaders “whether they are involved in our public school system or not.”
“They’re all important to us,” she said.
Board Vice President Tarvald Smith, who joined the board in 2004, said he wants a superintendent who will stay with the system.
“I have been on the board, in March it will be eight years. This is my third superintendent search,” he said. “The next board, hopefully, they will not have to go through another superintendent search. And if selected for this position, I hope you are in for the long haul.”
Board member Jill Dyason, elected in 2001, echoed comments of other board members but then hit a favorite theme. She said she wants someone who will “re-engage this entire community and getting those who are very disengaged back into the conversation.”
Evelyn Ware Jackson, elected in 2010, said she wants someone who believes in public education and who believes that public schools “should be treated respectfully and be allowed to actively participate in the process of educating our students.”
The School Board is asking King back for a second interview. The questions asked then may prove just as interesting, especially the ones King may ask.
Charles Lussier writes about education in East Baton Rouge Parish for The Advocate. He can be reached at clussier@theadvocate.com.