Sorry, hit the wrong button
Why I want to continue to be a member of the School Board. First and foremost, I have a passion for public education. It is my firm belief that universal, free (no tuition to the students), quality, public education is the absolute bedrock of this republic. In its best form, public education produces students ready to become productive citizens with the skills necessary to participate in governing process and the economic vitality of the nation, state and county. I want to continue my "full throated" advocacy of public education.
Second, I love this county and this school district. Frankly, any success I have had in this world started with my wonderful family but was pushed foward by the many outstanding and caring teachers, coaches and administrators that guided me along. I owe this school district and I hope my service on the board is, in some ways, paying back that debt.
Third, I believe, with the right leadership, we can create a world class school system in this county. We are not there yet obviously. But, we are moving in the right direction in so many fronts. We have to remember to focus on education and the other issues, though important, can't dominate our thoughts and discussions.
Fourth, and although there are other reasons, I believe I bring to the board a voice of reason. I am not always right. But on every issue before the board I try to vote and move the board in a direction that focuses on the whole child; the child's academics, their extracurricular activities and their overall character.
Mold and outdated buildings The first reason I got invovled in local politics and the school board was because of the condition of the facilities when I moved back to Walton County. My brother was coaching at Paxton School and I went into his locker room and the floor was about a half inch deep in water. I found that locker room was emblematic of the problems with facilities throughout the county. Since I have been on the board I have vigorously fought for new and re-modeled facilities. We still have some bad spots. The 6th Grade Building at Walton Middle School is very old and we need desparately to replace it. There are other pockets of building problems, but, I believe they are the exception now and not the rule. If there is a specific building you think needs attention, let me know.
Involuntary Transfers Sadly, there is not a whole lot the school board can do in the personnel area. Florida law, especially after the Bay County case of McAlister v. Bollinger, which made it clear that the Superintendent is solely resposible for transferring, hiring and firing all administrators and principals. The school board can only reject a recommendatin of the superintendent for a very few, narrow reasons that rarely exist.
A teacher, who's working conditions are determined by the contract the district has with the union, can be forced transferred under some fairly limited conditions. Would we know as board members if someone was forced to transfer outside those conditions? Only if the person or someone else complained to us. On occasion, when I see a transfer in the personnel recommendations to the board, I will ask if the transfer is voluntary or not just to see. But, really, we would need the teacher to follow the grievance procedures in the contract for the Board to ever get to the question.
Principals and Assistant Principals do work under a one year contract. I have been advocating to change that. Many teachers tell me that they will not apply for administrator positions because of that one year contract. We do have a problem in this county right now. We do not have enough qualified, trained people to move into those principal and asst. principal jobs. I have proposed a " lead principal" position to seek out folks who might be interested and getting them the training they need to fix this problem. No luck yet, but, we do need to address the lack of a large pool of potential applicants for those jobs.
Superintendent's Job I did think about for about three days this year. However, I have a pretty good day job and would not want to abandon the law practice and clients that I have built the last 20 years. But, the compliments are kind.
By the way, I am not naive. I suspect that there have been Board members in the past that have attempted to use their position to have friends, family, etc., hired in specific jobs. I have been accused of the same thing. But, with a just a few exceptions, I have never spoken to a principal or superintendent about hiring anyone and only did so then when I was specifically asked my opinion. It is just not a good practice for school board members to be in any way involved in the hiring and firing practice. Now, if we think the Superintendent has gone "nuts" over hiring, there are ways to rein him/her in such as abolishing the position or not budgeting the position.
TO all the guys who have posted such kind words for me, thank you. It is humbling and I deeply appreciate your support.
Mark
