When the Williamson County School Board convenes tonight at 8pm to (hopefully) bring the eight-month search for a new Director of Schools to a close, it's likely that former Marine Michael Looney will be offered the job over Dennis Dearden.
Looney, now in his fifth year as Butler County School Superintendent in Alabama, has placed first in two non-binding matrix evaluations conducted by the WCS Board in recent weeks. Looney was an overwhelming choice when considered against the other four semi-finalists. In that head-to-head comparison, Looney earned 44 points by being ranked above each of the other four candidates by eight of the 12 board members. Dearden earned 28 points while being ranked above each of the other four candidates by only two board members.
According to WCS Board Chair Pat Anderson (who ranked Interim Director Dr. David Heath above each of the other four candidates on the first matrix), the matrix results were much closer between Looney and Dearden after the second round of interviews. Those results, however, were not made public.
Interestingly, Board Member Terry Leve announced on his website that while he had ranked Dearden first on the initial matrix (one of the two board members to do so), he has since moved Looney into the top position after the second round of interviews.
Based on the foregoing, and the previous interview, my original ranking of 1) Dearden, 2) Looney and 3) Carroll, is now 1) Looney, 2) Dearden and 3) Carroll. I think it’s close. I think they all have strengths. I know they are different. Mr. Looney is a high energy motivator who immediately connected with staff and students during his tour of schools. It is my impression that he came in first with both staff and students, while I perceive that Dr. Carroll came in second with students, and Mr. Dearden came in second with staff.
The NBC affiliate in Montgomery, Alabama, WSFA Channel 12, reported on August 28 in a story by Bryan Henry that Looney's current salary of $121,000 to oversee 4,000 students spread across eight schools would likely increase by $60,000 if he's offered the task of handling 30,000 students and 37 schools in Williamson County.
Henry's story, filed the day after WCS Board members Barry Watkins and Susan Graham made a site-visit to Butler County, also notes that the average SAT score in Butler County (where students are not required to take the test) is 18.2. In Williamson County in 2008, the observed ACT composite was 22.77. (Henry's story incorrectly lists the Williamson County average score as 24 -- which is the district's current goal).
Tonight's 8pm meeting is open to the public. The decision the 12-member board makes will impact not only the parents and students of Williamson County, but every resident. Here's hoping everyone gets behind the ultimate choice once it's made.
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