John Foley of Toledo, Ohio and 30 year employee of Toledo Public schools was given the job as Superintendent of the Toledo Public Schools.
The vote was 4-1 in favor of the appointment, with Darlene Fisher voting no. Robert Torres welcomed Mr. Foley with the words "we have traveled a long road." Mr. Sykes welcomed Mr. Foley who he called Dr. Foley with congratulations for the accomplishemnts of the district.
The long road that was traveled was very unnecessary and a road that has divided the school system and the community. If Mr. Foley was the best person for the job and the board agreed, what was the purpose of hiring a search firm to look for a superintendent, when we had the best person "right under our noses?"
$49,000 down that long road, two
families lives made very public, one who walked in and got blindsided when this could have been decided when Dr. Eugene Sanders resigned in December 2005.
What a shame and then they want to say that they did this for the kids. When someone says they are doing something for the kids, my eyes will truly be open because anybody can say the words but few can walk the walk.
Look for the same old same old. Institutional memory is a dangerous thing.
According to The Blade...
As you begin to read the details of this decision, it is best for me to explain my no vote today. We were asked to approve the details of a Superintendent's contract that we were just shown today. So we had 40 minutes to review all of the terms of this important contract. We were being asked to vote on the contract basically as it was drafted without full input by all board members. That in itself is a reason to vote no. However, on Tuesday, I did send an email to the Board President asking for a draft of the contract so I could provide input before terms were agreed upon but was not afforded that opportunity. I asked that we include performance measurements in Mr. Foley's contract, that a golden parachute not be included because of our responsibility to taxpayers to use tax dollars wisely, and I asked that we include an annual performance evaluation date as specifed by the ORC. After the vote, I encouraged Mr. Foley to conduct a board retreat so we can move toward working on our low performing schools. Our next meeting is Tuesday May 29, at 5:30 where we are supposed to learn of the details of the budget plan for 2008 and then we'll have 30 days to approve such documents. Currently the board has not been briefed on the budget plan so I look forward to learning how they plan to address the $12/13 million shortfall. D.Fisher
I, for one, would like to thank you for making the effort to communicate directly with you. Yes, I do appreciate the information but how can you be expected to approve a document that you haven't had a chance to review?
I don't understand all of the information at each board meeting but it seems like this isn't the first time this has happened - how much time DO they allow you to review something before you have to vote on it?
For what it's worth, I wouldn't be willing to vote at all on something I hadn't had a chance to review.
So does this mean: 1. those who voted to approve it did have a chance to review it and you did not or 2. some voted and never reviewed?
Neither option is good.
What does the Blade mean by the statement, "This morning
Thanks for explaining your position Darlene.
It is a shame the way this all took place. It seems like the board is just rushing to put this all behind them.
I'd like to congratulate Mr. Foley and wish him the best. I'm certain he'll do an excellent job helping to move TPS in the right direction.
I'm pleased that despite the rocky road, the board has come to an excellent outcome for the future of our schools.
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