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Criticism of superintendent was not factually based
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Published: March 11, 2009
I am writing in response to Tuesday's guest column by Paul Klaene. There are several issues with the assumptions drawn by Mr. Klaene that need to be clarified.
First, Mr. Klaene makes the assumption that the Iredell-Statesville Schools Superintendent Terry Holliday has violated the system's nepotism policy by hiring his wife. The truth is that the Board of Education makes all hiring decisions. Every month, there is a personnel report that is reviewed by the board and ultimately approved or denied. In fact, that personnel report is provided by me, not the superintendent. But the ultimate hiring decision belongs to the board. There are many husband and wife and family teams that work in I-SS. As the largest employer in the county, that would be expected. However, great care is taken to make sure that family members do not supervise and ultimately evaluate each other per the system's nepotism policy.
The board also sets salaries and approves contracts. It is true that Dr. Holliday signed the contract of his wife, Denise, in his capacity as the secretary of the board. As secretary of the board, the signing and execution of that contract cannot be delegated to anyone else. It is not a conflict of interest, nor is it nepotism, for the superintendent to execute a contract that has been rightfully approved by the board. Mr. Klaene's contention that by his being able to move his wife, the superintendent ultimately supervises her is just not based on fact. It is standard contract language in every contract that the superintendent may move employees. As with hiring decisions, any such placement decision or move would also have to be approved by the board. The board has that ultimate authority.
Another assumption drawn by Mr. Klaene was that Mrs. Holliday is not qualified to hold her job.
Ultimately, the board decides who is qualified and not qualified to maintain a position by approving or denying employment. By the board's approval of her hiring, the board has stated she has the requisite education and skills to maintain the job. The contract does not say that she has to maintain a principal's license. It says that one might have such experience or other senior leadership experience that gives the person holding the job the required knowledge and skills. By approving her employment, the board has agreed that her previous experience as an instructional facilitator and experience in overseeing our classroom instructional model in the past is sufficient to maintain the position.
Finally, Mr. Klaene attempts to compare Ms. Holliday's employment with a principal who did not have the required principal's certificate. Such a comparison is dangerous and not based upon the facts. The job description does not list it as a necessity to have a valid principal's certificate. The only job that requires an active principal's certificate is the job of principal. While principal experience is listed as one possible career path in the job description, we have established that it is not the only path to that position. In fact, that requirement could be dropped because Mrs. Holliday's position is a coordinator position, which is the lowest level administrative position. A practicing principal likely would not want the job as it would be a cut in pay from principal to coordinator, were they to assume the job currently filled by Ms. Holliday.
I hope this addresses some of the concerns raised by Mr. Klaene.
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