A. W. Bolt did not receive my telepathic message at last night's school board meeting.
I was sending it with all my might: "Don't do it. Resist the temptation. HUSH! Let the meeting end on a good note....Don't speak...."
Aarrgghh.
He couldn't resist. A cringe-inducing debacle was the result.
Our school board needs PR training desperately. Some members can NOT stop shooting themselves in the foot. I left the meeting shaking my head and saying, "So close. That was SO CLOSE to being a nice, professional meeting."
What happened was this: after the normal and usual business of the work session was completed, board member Bill Veitch said what a great day his kindergartener had on his first day of school. He shared a little about it, mostly about how happy his son was to have an older student helper assigned to him to show him around. It was sweet, sincere, personal, and warmly received by the audience of teachers, principals and members of the public.
And then Mr. Bolt spoke. I swear, a collective silent groan went up from the audience. The man just can not stand to be outdone. I don't remember everything he said, except that it sucked every bit of good will out of the room in seconds.
So self-congratulatory. So self-important. Mr. Bolt informed us that after his morning in court he visited in four Hoover schools yesterday. Excuse me? I'm sure the principals loved that. As if they weren't busy enough on the first day of school, they had to deal with an officious school board member dropping in. School board members in the schools, football players out. That is messed up.
I would describe the scene at the end of the work session in more detail, but it was so embarrassing I think I've repressed the memory. There was Mr. Bolt's speech in which he took a slap at the news media, then a member of the audience questioned
why the football players weren't in school on the first days of school, and it just fell apart from there. It ended with lots of people talking over each other, the gavel banging, and the board members sprinting for the exits. It would be funny if it was not so awful.
The board did conduct business at the called meeting before the work session. All members were present except Mr. Defnall.
The board approved the hiring of Anna Whitney to be principal at the Crossroads School. Ms. Whitney replaces Brian Cain, who is now principal at Simmons Middle School.
A number of other personnel actions were taken. They are:
Appointments:
Family/Consumer Science teacher, Hoover High Senior Campus (replacement)
German teacher (.2), Hoover High Senior Campus (replacement)
Math teacher, Hoover High Senior Campus (replacement)
3rd grade teacher, Deer Valley Elementary (replacement)
Preschool teacher, Trace Crossings Elementary (new position)
Instructional Support teacher, Bumpus Middle School (new position)
5th grade teacher, Rocky Ridge Elementary (new position)
Academic Support teacher, Hoover High Senior Campus (replacement)
Physical Education teacher, Hoover High Freshman Campus (replacement)
Supervisor of Instructional Support Services, Central Office (replacement)
Changes of Status:
There are pages and pages of these changes. When new teachers are hired into the system, they are usually hired at the "0" step on the salary scale. When verification of their prior experience is received, their status is officially changed to place them in the correct pay grade. There are always lots of these at the beginning of the new school year. Changes are also reflected like this when a teacher obtains a higher degree and moves up on the pay scale.
Transfers:
Instructional Support Aide to Instructional Support teacher at Berry Middle (replacement for one year only)
Physical Ed. teacher at HHS Senior Campus to HHS Freshman Campus
Myra Miles was transferred from Physical Education teacher at HHS Freshman Campus to interim Athletic Director at HHS Senior Campus.
Resignations:
Third grade teacher, Deer Vally Elementary, personal
There are also a large number of classified positions on the report. These are all important positions, but I simply can not list them all because there are so many. If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me.
After the board meeting on Monday, I will recap the actions taken by the board. There are business actions, change orders and bids. I assume there will be more personnel actions then. I will detail those after the board votes on them.
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