By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
In a grand display of scrupulous scrutiny, Piedmont Board of Education members spent more than five hours deliberating the contract and evaluation of their superintendent.
The board met Monday night at 6 p.m. and convened into executive session at 6:31 p.m.
As the minutes turned into hours, it seemed the night would be a long one.
First, there were technical difficulties that delayed the members for half an hour. At 8:15 board members requested caffeinated beverages, apparently to sustain them through what would be a long night. By 10 p.m. a board member poked his head in to say they were almost finished and working on the last section of the evaluation.
At last, at 11:15 two board members retrieved Superintendent James White for a conference in executive session. Thirty minutes later everyone emerged and returned to open session. The meeting ended just before midnight.
The lengthy evaluation ended with White receiving a $4,000 a year pay raise and another year added to his contract.
Board President Steven Cox offered an explanation of the late hour.
“The superintendent’s evaluation is done annually,” Cox explained, “and each board member has the opportunity to discuss what he sees as the strengths and weaknesses as we progress through the document. As a group we assign a score to the areas covered in the evaluation. As we are discussing the current evaluation we are brainstorming and coming up with goals and objectives that we would like to see accomplished or addressed over the next year. Those (identified) items will be evaluated during the next evaluation.”
Board member Greg Duffy said it was a long night.
“It was a long discussion and everyone had their input. It’s typical to give a raise,” Duffy said. “We looked at 2.5 percent and 3 percent but decided to do a flat amount somewhere in between. His evaluation reflected overall satisfaction from the board in meeting the goals and criteria of the document itself.”
Nearby in Yukon, Superintendent Jason Simeroth received a 2 percent pay raise which adds up to about $3,450 a year. The board decided upon the raise after less than an hour after reviewing his contract and evaluation.
State law requires an evaluation of a superintendent be performed at least once a year. The evaluation is five sections with two to three subsections.
