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

With regard to education experts, Veronica Walter and Julie McKnight, Ms. Walter is a school counselor and not an educator. I think if you asked her, she would not claim to be an education educator. As for Ms McKnight, after nine years on the school board and the district is the state it is in now is proof positive that she is no education expert.

Tim Burke

Two items:
- You state that you did not take a public position on the referendum questions last November. Would you please explain the last paragraph of your letter to the editor, published in the Farmington Independent issue dated July 26, 2007. You state: “I can say categorically that whatever the levy amount the district proposes, I will oppose a 10-year levy referendum.” All three questions were 10 year requests. Therefore, I must assume you opposed them due to the above public statement.
- I don’t know what your definition of an education expert is, but I believe you do Veronica Walters a disservice by not acknowledging her years of experience in the education arena. I also believe 9 years of service on the school board gives Julie McKnight more than a passing level of knowledge into the challenges and workings of public education at the governance level.

Thanks, Craig Davis