You seem to think that I would have some magical power if elected. I would be one of six and it would take three others agreeing with me to do anything about Meeks, or anything else for that matter. There will be three carry over board members who have worked with Meeks to guide the new members with their experience.

As for experience with Meeks, I have more experience with him than any of the board members who hired him six years ago had. What did they know about him after a couple of interviews and a reception? Were you one of them? Did you really have enough experience with Meeks to make that decision?

But to answer your question directly about what I would do with Meeks if left to my own devices, I would give it some time. I would learn about his philosophies and how he might propose to work with the new board differently than he did with the current board. I would look to make a decision about whether I would vote to renew him by about mid-year.

If the decision were taken to not renew, if that decision were taken, I understand that would leave almost no time to search for and hire a new superintendent for the new school year, but I think we have three or four current staff members with superintendents licenses who could serve as interim superintendent and give us the time to consider what direction we’d want to go for the next superintendent.

If the decision was to renew Meeks, I would want to have the opportunity to negotiate a completely different looking contract than is currently in place. I am in favor or having the superintendent’s (and other administrators’) contracts more closely follow the level of benefits for other work groups, particularly the teachers’ contract. Whatever the board wanted to pay him should substantially be reflected in the base salary.

Tim

I am far less concerned about Julie’s actions concerning Dr. Meeks’ contract than I am with completely new board members participating in such a critically important activity. How can new members who have never worked on a regular basis with Dr. Meeks make an informed decision?

Arguably one of the most important tasks of a school board is the positioning and maintenance of the district’s superintendent. Hinting or suggesting that the superintendent might need to be replaced is a big time issue. This is not an area for experimentation or the exploitation of personal agendas. The sensitivity of this topic and the future of our educational community demands a deliberate and thoughtful handling of this topic.

As a voting member of the community, I need to know what your plans are for Dr. Meeks. If a candidate is harboring a negative opinion towards Dr. Meeks, I need to know why and what their intention is if they are elected to a board position. I was disappointed that this was not brought up at the first candidate forum and can only hope that it will be discussed at Thursday evening’s forum.

Thanks, Craig Davis