Director Interviews Scheduled -- TAKE ACTION!!

The five semi-finalists vying for the position of Director of Williamson County Schools are scheduled for public interviews next week in the Carolyn Campbell Room at the WCS Central Office located at 1320 West Main in Franklin.

Local residents are invited and strongly encouraged to attend these interviews and hear directly from the individuals seeking to lead Williamson County Schools as they are interviewed. The schedule is as follows:

• Monday, August 3, 6pm - Dr. David Heath (Interim Superintendent WCS)
• Monday, August 3, 8pm - Dennis Dearden (Senior VP, Partnership for Excellence, AZ)
• Tuesday, August 4, 6pm - Dr. Barry Carroll (Supt. Limestone County Schools, AL)
• Tuesday, August 4, 8pm - Michael Looney (Supt. Butler County School District, AL)
• Wednesday, August 5, 6pm - James Wilson (Former Supt. Fulton County Schools, GA)

At a special called meeting at 6pm on Thursday, August 6, the School Board will choose which of the candidates to bring in for a second interview. Time is short to let your school board reps know how you feel about the candidates.

One of these men will very likely be named to lead Williamson County Schools before the end of August. The position affects not only students and parents in the county, but ALL residents of Williamson County. Corporations have found Williamson County a desirable location in part because of the quality school system. The attractive schools help sustain property values here AND keep the residential tax burden relatively low because of those business and sales taxes. If our schools begin to suffer as a result of poor leadership that lacks vision such a decline will ultimately affect your property value -- whether you have children in the public schools or not.

So, email the Board members and let them know your personal thoughts on this important decision. Let them all know you are interested and engaged in how this situation is resolved. It's too important NOT to get involved.

Heath One of Five Set for Director Interviews

Dr. David Heath, the interim director of Williamson County Schools, is one of five candidates the Williamson County School Board intends to interview August 3-5 in the ongoing search for a replacement director following the Board's decision to remove Dr. Rebecca Sharber late last year.

Search firm Ray & Associates presented the five candidates to the Board Monday night during a special meeting. This comes after Ray & Associates embarked on a nationwide search for candidates that culminated with three individuals being interviewed for the position and subsequently rejected by the Board on the grounds of lack of experience and/or vision.

Along with Heath, the other five candidates -- who all happen to be male -- are: Barry Carroll of Athens, Alabama; Dennis Dearden of Oro Valley, Arizona; Mike Looney of Greenville, Alabama; and James Wilson of Atlanta. Wilson actually oversaw the construction of Centennial High School in the late 1990s while working for Williamson County Schools.

Anything other than the hiring of Dr. Heath will be an absolutely stunning move given how this process has unfolded. Perhaps the Board will surprise everyone by choosing someone other than Heath (Wilson, perhaps?) but there is simply nothing to suggest that this is headed any other direction.

Is it truly possible that there are no qualified females for this job? Doesn't that seem odd? Is it truly possible that only a handful of people are interested in leading the public schools in one of the wealthiest counties in the United States? Doesn't that seem strange? Is it truly possible that Dr. Heath is going to be handed this job when all is said and done? Maybe we'll all know by the middle of August. Is it truly possible that those who voted for this move will be re-elected come election time? Wait and see.

Brentwood to Vote on "Guns in Parks" Issue Monday Night

The Brentwood City Commission's meeting agenda for Monday, July 13, at 7pm includes a vote on a resolution that if passed by simple majority (4 of 7) would prohibit handgun carry permit holders from bringing weapons into the city's parks. In addition, Resolution 2009-56 would prohibit handguns on "bicycle pedestrian trails and greenways that are part of the City's park system" according to a note included with the agenda posted recently on Brentwood's website.

Brentwood City Attorney Roger Horner authored a four-page Legal Services Memorandum (viewable in the attachments) on July 1, 2009, that was sent to Mayor Betsy Crossley and the other City Commissioners regarding the "Prohibition of Handguns in City Parks". In the document, Horner notes that such a prohibition would apply to the entire park as municipalities cannot allow guns in certain areas while prohibiting them elsewhere in the same park. Municipalities are free, however, to prohibit guns in some parks while permitting them in other parks under state law. Horner's recommendation to Brentwood officials is against such "piecemeal prohibition" and instead would affect the following parks and locations in their entirety:

• Crockett Park, Granny White Park, Tower Park, River Park, Deerwood Arboretum and Nature Center, Owl Creek Park, Primm Park, Concord Park, Maryland Way Park, Pleasant Hill parkland (not yet developed), more than 14 miles of bicycle/pedestrian trails, and more than 75 acres of greenways. The prohibition would also extend to parks and recreational facilities owned by the City of Brentwood in the future.

After citing numerous reasons to "opt-out" of the law signed by Governor Bredesen in June, including that ". . . the potential for violence would increase in proportion to the number of guns that are carried into the parks", Horner recommends passage of Resolution 2009-56 with the following statement:

The City Manager, Chief of Police and Parks and Recreation Director strongly support this proposal to 'opt out'.

If passed, signs at least 6 inches high and 14 inches wide explaining the maximum penalty of 11 months and 29 days in jail and a fine not to exceed $2,500 for the misdemeanor must be installed by September 1 in prominent locations on affected properties. Approximately 25 signs at a cost of $75 to $100 each are estimated to be needed in Brentwood bringing the General Fund cost to $2,500.

Other gun-related new business on Brentwood's July 13 agenda includes a vote on Resolution 2009-57, a resolution that would prohibit possession of weapons at "meetings conducted by the City of Brentwood or within any building owned, operated or managed, or under the control of the City of Brentwood." City staff recommends passage of this resolution as well, citing reasons offered by Horner in the memorandum regarding guns in parks.

If history is any indication, a recommendation by city staff in Brentwood usually leads to adoption or passage of the issue at hand by the elected officials. Let Mayor Crossley and Commissioners Dunn, Little, Reagan, Smithson, Sweeney, and Webb know where you stand on this issue before next Monday night.

Heath One Step Closer to Removing "Interim" from His Title

Reporter Maria Giordano gets credit for her update in today's Tennessean regarding Interim Director of Williamson County Schools David Heath officially applying for the post formerly occupied by Dr. Rebecca Sharber prior to her ouster in January at the hand of the School Board. If you missed our post from late May regarding the issue, you can still find it here.

Consulting firm Ray & Associates will present their chosen semi-finalists from among this second round of applicants during a July 20th meeting. You know, JULY, when if parents and students are thinking about anything, they're thinking about school. Right? Could it be coincidental that Heath's application becomes official at the start of a LONG holiday weekend? Is it coincidental that the school board could make their decision while many families are away on vacation? Is it coincidental that Heath himself just promoted an "assistant principal" at Brentwood Middle School to replace the previous principal he reassigned earlier this year? You know, making it clear that promoting from within is the logical solution to the current situation.

We've said it before and we'll say it again, if the School Board wanted to replace Sharber with Heath there were more cost effective ways to create a smooth transition that would NOT have cost taxpayer dollars. IF Heath gets the job this summer remember to compare the names of who votes in his favor with the list of those who voted to fire Sharber. Here's that list again, just to jog your memory:

THOSE IN FAVOR OF FIRING SHARBER:

Pat Anderson (8th District)

Susan Graham (7th District)

Mark Gregory (11th District)

Terry Leve (6th District)

Tim McLaughlin (4th District)

Janice Mills (2nd District)

Barry Watkins (9th District)

THOSE OPPOSED TO FIRING SHARBER:

Gary Anderson (5th District)

James Bond (12th District)

D'Wayne Greer (1st District)

Janine Moore (3rd District)

Bill Peach (10th District)

Brentwood City Commission Votes to PARTY on Taxpayer Dime - in Cool Springs!

Monday night's Brentwood City Commission meeting included a vote on the city's annual employee recognition dinner scheduled for this coming November 13. The dinner is budgeted at just over $12,000 of taxpayer funds. The motion passed unanimously among the seven commissioners during the evening's New Business portion (after a resident requested that it be removed from the consent agenda where it was originally scheduled). Not a single commissioner voiced any alternative idea to reduce costs, reservation about spending that kind of taxpayer money outside the city, or concern of how Brentwood residents may view such a voluntary expenditure of taxpayer dollars.

The dinner will serve approximately 275 city employees a selection of chef's choice butler-passed Hors d'Ouevres during a reception, a two-entree buffet with upgraded beef carving station, and more at the Embassy Suites in Cool Springs. All this for the low, low cost of $36 per plate plus 22 percent in taxes and fees. Of course, those taxes and fees won't make their way into Brentwood's coffers since the Embassy Suites isn't located in Brentwood.

So, the residents of Brentwood will pick up a tab in excess of $12,000 for a private party for Brentwood city employees and the tax revenue will go to Franklin. (Maybe we can get Franklin officials to send a trolley or two over to Brentwood for a day or two as payback? Maybe on luminaria night? Just saying.) This on top of a 1.5% market pay adjustment across the board for city employees totaling more than $159,000 that also passed unanimously Monday night. 

At a time when the economy is sagging, jobs are scarce, and Brentwood's housing boom is a distant memory, this is a local example of the same type of behavior that caused an uproar on a national level -- spending taxpayer dollars on a private party (AIG) while those same taxpayers are making tough choices on personal budgets at home.

The very least the city commission could have done would have been to ENSURE that the money spent on this party would stay in Brentwood. The catering could have been provided by a local business owner. The event could have been held at one of the schools, one of the country clubs, or, like many companies do, it could have been held in one of our large Brentwood parks. Then it would have allowed the "Brentwood family" to bring their actual families out to celebrate the good job they do running the city. Such a choice may have necessitated moving the date from November if they didn't want to rent a nice tent for shelter, but the current economic environment is different than it was last year or the year before and some concessions could have been made. Even the tent option with tables, chairs, and linens, and a local caterer would have cost LESS than the approved $12,000 expenditure. This isn't about whether or not Brentwood city employees are doing a good job -- they are. This is about the wisdom of the elected officials and how they are choosing to spend taxpayer dollars.

Instead, Mayor Crossley, Vice Mayor Little, and Commissioners Dunn, Reagan, Smithson, Sweeney, and Webb voted UNANIMOUSLY to endorse sending in excess of $12,000 of taxpayer dollars to another local municipality for the purpose of a private party. 

Editor's Note: We propose, given the Friday the 13th date of this private shindig, that the evening's entertainment may be comprised of a screening of everyone's favorite hockey-masked, machete-wielding psycho, Jason, on a big screen in the Embassy Suites ballroom.

Brentwood's Mayoral Election Process

The following email was sent to BrentwoodWatchdog@gmail.com earlier this month:

to : BrentwoodWatchdog@gmail.com date : Thu, May 14, 2009 at 9:36 PM subject : Great job! mailed-by : gmail.com

We enjoyed the series on the School Board.  Appreciate your time and dedication.  About time we get some straight talk!

 

We have no facts on this, and want to be kept anonymous, but we've heard some disturbing rumors recently about the election for Brentwood's Mayor.  Not that Mrs. Crossley wouldn't be a great mayor, she will, but we heard that there was some kind of last minute effort to keep Commissioner Webb out from being Mayor.  That would be a shame if true.

In seeking clarification of what those "rumors" were, the sender replied with the following email:

to : Brentwood Watchdog date : Fri, May 15, 2009 at 7:37 AM subject : Re: Great job! mailed-by : gmail.com

Something about only Mr. Webb's name being on the ballot and there being write in votes.  Guess he would know. 

 

We don't really follow this stuff all that much, just talk around coffee.  May be all rumor anyway.  And we really like Betsy Crossley, so it was a good choice.

Other readers also inquired about how the City Commission chose the Mayor and Vice Mayor. For those unfamiliar, while Brentwood residents elect City Commissioners, the Commissioners themselves choose the Mayor and Vice Mayor every two years at the first meeting after the election. This year's May 5 city election was followed by a City Commission meeting on Monday, May 11, 2009. During that meeting Commissioner Betsy Crossley was elected Mayor and Commissioner Rhea Little was elected Vice Mayor. This was done by a paper ballot being handed out to each commissioner, collected by a city official, and votes being read out loud by the city attorney.

This is how the votes were cast that night. First, for Mayor:

• Commissioner Betsy Crossley voted for Paul Webb
  
• Commissioner Anne Dunn voted for Betsy Crossley
  
• Commissioner Rhea Little voted for Betsy Crossley
  
• Commissioner Joe Reagan voted for Paul Webb
  
• Commissioner Regina Smithson voted for Betsy Crossley
  
• Commissioner Joe Sweeney voted for Betsy Crossley
  
• Commissioner Paul Webb voted for Paul Webb
  

By a 4-3 vote, Betsy Crossley was elected Mayor.

And for Vice Mayor:

• Commissioner Betsy Crossley voted for Rhea Little
  
• Commissioner Anne Dunn voted for Rhea Little
  
• Commissioner Rhea Little voted for Rhea Little
  
• Commissioner Joe Reagan voted for Joe Reagan
  
• Commissioner Regina Smithson voted for Rhea Little
  
• Commissioner Joe Sweeney voted for Rhea Little
  
• Commissioner Paul Webb voted for Joe Reagan
  

By a 5-2 vote, Rhea Little was elected Vice Mayor.

This week the following email was forwarded to BrentwoodWatchdog@gmail.com by another reader with information that confirms that both Crossley and Little in fact WERE elected by write-in votes.

to : brentwoodwatchdog@gmail.com date : Tue, May 26, 2009 at 11:57 AM subject : Fwd: Brentwood Mayor and Vice Mayor Election Question mailed-by : gmail.com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Hedgepath, Debbie <hedged@brentwood-tn.org>
Date: Tue, May 26, 2009 at 11:20 AM
Subject: RE: Brentwood Mayor and Vice Mayor Election Question

Both ballots included only the names of persons who had indicated to the City Manager that they would be interested in the position, but also allowed Commissioners to write in the names of other persons.  For Mayor, the ballot listed Paul Webb and “Other.”  For Vice-Mayor, the ballot originally listed “Betsy Crossley” and “Other,” but Betsy’s name was removed after she was elected Mayor by the majority of the Commission.

None of that information was shared publicly the night of the election. There was no explanation of what names comprised the ballots. There is evidently no policy on how the city commission elects the Mayor and Vice Mayor beyond that it be done by a majority vote of the commission. However, would providing a ballot with names of all commissioners or no commissioners be a better way to handle the election? The idea that only the names of persons "interested" in the position were included is valid given the amount of time required to serve. Clearly others were interested in the positions though since "others" were elected and accepted the position.

In the first email we received, the writer mentioned the rumor of "some kind of last minute effort to keep Commissioner Webb out from being Mayor." You'll have to decide for yourselves if there was such an effort given the fact that Commissioner Webb's name was the ONLY name listed on the Mayoral ballot and Commissioners Dunn, Little, Smithson, and Sweeney opted instead to write-in another name. (Of course, this COULD NOT have been coordinated in advance by any of those four given Tennessee's strict Sunshine Laws.) It is interesting though that the newest member of the Commission, Rhea Little, chose to write-in a name not listed on the Mayoral ballot and then subsequently received votes for Vice Mayor from the three commissioners whom he joined in not voting for Commissioner Webb for Mayor. Incidentally, the only two Commissioners to NOT vote for Little (who received an overwhelming majority of votes from the Brentwood public) were Webb and Reagan.

Perhaps in the future an option would be for the commissioners to open the floor among themselves for nominations for Mayor and, subsequently, Vice Mayor. This would allow only those "interested" in serving to accept any possible nomination. It would also make the election process more transparent to the public. What do you think?

When Spending $50,000 is "Visionary"

The Williamson County School Board currently has its hands full with the ongoing saga to find a replacement for the ousted superintendent Becky Sharber. As is well-known throughout the area, the 12-member board voted in December to fire Sharber effective January 1, paid Sharber full pay and benefits through the end of her contract in June, hired a search firm for $24,000 to find a new director, named Dr. David Heath interim superintendent and gave him a raise of $26,838 on elevating him to the interim title. When the school board members are up for re-election you may want to recall how they voted on this particular issue.

THOSE IN FAVOR OF FIRING SHARBER:

Pat Anderson (8th District)

Susan Graham (7th District)

Mark Gregory (11th District)

Terry Leve (6th District)

Tim McLaughlin (4th District)

Janice Mills (2nd District)

Barry Watkins (9th District)

THOSE OPPOSED TO FIRING SHARBER:

Gary Anderson (5th District)

James Bond (12th District)

D'Wayne Greer (1st District)

Janine Moore (3rd District)

Bill Peach (10th District)

Those who voted in favor of the firing have spent in excess of $50,000 of taxpayer dollars with ZERO results. Meanwhile, board member Terry Leve continues to spin the search on his own website and in e-mail updates as not really costing that much. Visit Leve's webpage to see the full text but here's a portion:

On May 14, I had the privilege to meet with officers from Brentwood Middle School’s PTO and Viking Athletic Club. We discussed the status of the current search for a new Director of Schools, the recent leadership change at BMS, and the critical importance of detailed and timely communication. For example, we discussed the misconception that the Board has spent $75,000 on a search that has not resulted in the hire of a new superintendent. Such is an inaccurate rumor. The Board has not yet paid its consultants, but will owe them only $24,000 if the search is successful.

While $75,000 may be inaccurate regarding the search, Mr. Leve, neither is $24,000 a true representation of the cost of this debacle. You're not even including the $78,000 in salary plus additional benefits paid to Sharber from Jan. 1 through the end of her terminated contract in June.

Mr. Leve has been an outspoken person on this issue and served as the lead negotiator for the board while coming to a contract agreement with search firm Ray & Associates. Here are Leve's reasons (sent in a May 12, 2009 update) for NOT choosing one of the final two candidates brought forth by the search firm:

"While both candidates have tremendous backgrounds, they both lacked the ability to communicate a clear, concise or powerful vision.  As I mentioned during our deliberations, one candidate when asked about personal beliefs, thoughts, philosophies, etc. only responded with "the research is inconclusive" and that the candidate did not believe in having a vision because that was up to the community.  The other candidate was so verbose that, by the time the allotted time for the interview had expired, only one-third of the questions had been asked.  The Board was left wondering about this latter candidate's vision, leadership and time management skills."

So, the candidates lacked a clear, concise, and powerful vision according to Leve. Pot, meet kettle. Mr. Leve and his "visionary" cohorts met back on March 26 to set goals and a vision for where Williamson County Schools are headed. Leve commented on it in his March 26 web update:

On March 26, the Board met again to discuss its goals.  The specific goal we discussed was:

By 2012, students in Williamson County will be well prepared to be successful in a global environment as evidenced by:

• WCS students will achieve an average score of 24 on the ACT.

• After collecting pre/baseline data, 90% of a random sample of WCS students will score proficient on a 21st Century Skills Assessment - such as the College Work and Readiness Assessment or the River City Assessment.

To accomplish this overreaching goal, we discussed three focus areas: learning, teaching and operational.

That's right, the visionaries who saw fit to oust Becky Sharber with full pay and benefits 6 months before her contract expired, opted to pay a search firm $24,000 to find a new director, and now appear to be leaning towards hiring the interim director from in-house, believe Williamson County students should be successful in a global environment by achieving an average score of 24 on the ACT and having 90 percent of them score proficient on a skills test. That's their big vision. Test scores. How will they achieve such lofty heights, you ask? Well, Leve and his fellow board members have sussed out a clear, concise, and visionary solution of three focus areas: learning, teaching, and operational. 

While Leve and the board offered concerns about a candidate's vision, leadership, and time management skills as an excuse for not offering them the job, Williamson County residents may have some concerns about the vision, leadership, and money management skills of Leve and the other 6 board members responsible for the current situation.

Meanwhile, rejected candidate Dr. Terri Breeden, (whom Leve says he supported) is working in her Virginia district towards having ALL children graduate bilingual by implementing foreign language programs beginning in kindergarten. Dr. Breeden also said during her interview that she believed there needed to be a sense of urgency to make this the number one school district in the nation. 

Sorry Dr. Breeden, Mr. Leve and the board have their goals and vision already set. No place for aggressive foreign language education and pie-in-the-sky dreams of being the best school district in America. We're too busy with our interim director reassigning principals from Blue Ribbon Award-winning schools back to the classroom --- wait a second, that's pretty visionary right there; not to mention clear and concise. Dr. Heath, Terry Leve, and the school board -- a match made only in Williamson County.