Announced at the 2-10-09 MDUSD board meeting, Gary Eberhart announced the resignation of Gary McHenry as superintendent of the school district.
For more information watch the podcast on now, or the replay at www.mdusd.net
I would like to say that this move will go a long way to unify the school district during this time of crisis. I wish Mr. McHenry well for his future and, more importantly, commend the board of education for their determination to change the direction of the school district to a more positive one, even if there was a price tag involved.
I am also happy to have beaten the CC Times posting by an hour. You can read their post HERE
MisterWriter
18 comments:
Woo Hoo!
I wish him well.
Now the hard part. This was something that needed to be done, of course. However, it's easy to criticize and harder to make positive change on your own.
Looks like we live in interesting times.
Dick Nichol is a good guy from what I can tell.. he's acting sup now? Was at 8th grade parent night at high school - missed all the action.. did Mchenry come to the meeting or was it effectively immediately or?
Nicoll... his last name is spelled "Nicoll".
Trust me on this one. :)
Does it count as a resignation if they are paying him $150,000? I thought a resignation meant quit.
There is already an article up on my google home page that says it was by mutual agreement. That's probably why there's a payout.
How about Dr. Allen Young? He's the one that I thought did nothing for our district except ask for yet another parcel tax in a county he does not live in.
Also, can we buy-out Gary McHenry's contract? Is that legal with public funds?
Here's the link to the CC Times article: http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_11675611?source=rss
Time to party!
Who was talking during public comment about there being some conspiracy to get McHenry out? McHenry saw the writing on the wall, and it said 'accountability.'
If Pittsburg seceded how would they all request transfers to other MDUSD schools?
McHenry who? ...time to move on. I wish all his cronies would follow him out the door.
Hmm, looks like the top dog took his toys and is going home. I sincerely am hopeful that things will go up from here!
It is legal to buy out any employee contract and I'm betting it's been done before. But, I'm wondering if the terms of the proposed buyout should be presented in open session and voted on by the Board.
Employee evaluations, complaints, etc. are appropriate topics for Closed Session. But, I'm not so sure about buyouts. Isn't that just another form of employee compensation and doesn't the public have the right to view the Board's deliberative process in these cases?
I think buyouts should be handled in the same manner as employee contracts - in Open Session of meetings of the Board of Education.
It is legal to buy out any employee contract and I'm betting it's been done before. But, I'm wondering if the terms of the proposed buyout should be presented in open session and voted on by the Board.
Employee evaluations, complaints, etc. are appropriate topics for Closed Session. But, I'm not so sure about buyouts. Isn't that just another form of employee compensation and doesn't the public have the right to view the Board's deliberative process in these cases?
I think buyouts should be handled in the same manner as employee contracts - in Open Session of meetings of the Board of Education.
Dorothy,
As much as I admire your diligence with the legal process of education, I might suggest that in this instance we have collectively achieved a goal to allow the district to focus on the future and it may be well enough to simply smile and wave. I think enough words have been written about the years of mess under his leadership, whether he directly created it or allowed it to continue. The old system did not work. As with the rest of the country the old way of doing business has failed.
Now the task at hand is to find new ways to generate revenue. There is nothing left to cut. In my opinion, that should be the focus of discussions - how do we raise money using a new model that will allow for stability and future growth?
MisterWriter,
I agree we need to find new ways to generate revenue. Of course, any new sources of revenue (from parcel taxes, sale lease-backs, etc.) take time and time isn't on our side. Until we manage to generate new revenue, we have no choice but to continue to cut costs.
In the meantime, I believe we can still find discretionary, non-personnel expenditures to cut (meals, allowances, conferences, etc.). I hope we can avoid cutting so many positions by looking at some of these other costs.
If anyone can take a critical look at our budget, and come up with sound recommendations, it is Dick Nicoll. It will be interesting to follow the changes to the proposed budget cuts now that we have new leadership. When Dr. Nicoll tells me that there are no more discretionary expenditures left to cut (no more padded budgets or cookie jars), I will believe it.
Dr. Nicoll will make a fine interim Superintendent. In fact, he'd make a great full-time Superintendent. Can we talk him out of retiring?
I'm glad that Dr. Nicoll was picked as interim superintendent, he'll do a good job.
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