D-49 Search Committee Upset With School Board
By Tak Landrockt.landrock@krdo.comwww.twitter.com/taklandrock
FALCON – The search for a new superintendent in D-49 continues but it is running into some hiccups.
The District’s Accountability Commission, or DAC, complains the school board is trying to keep the public’s opinion out of the mix.
“They don’t want us to pick a candidate and say this is the front runner,” says Ann Fletcher, a DAC member. She was one of the handful of volunteers who agreed to help the board formulate questions for the public to answer after a candidate’s forum.
Those candidate forums were held last week and gave the public a chance to meet the four finalists. The finalistsinclude: D-11 Deputy Superintendent Mike Poore, Former U.S. Congressional Candidate Bentley Rayburn, Dr. Brad Shoeppey with the Tulsa, Okalahoma School District and Dr. Donna Howell, a former superintendent with the Steamboat School District.
Afterwards, those who attended were asked to fill out a short survey, and that’s where the controversy starts. “We spent I don’t know, tons of e-mails and hours going back and fourth about the statements, how we can make it what the actual committee wanted.”
The volunteers came up with six questions to ask the public and a rating system. After the questions, you were asked to circle whether you agree, disagree or were undecided.
Fletcher claims at the last minute board member Mark Shook changed the format. “The board didn’t want any kind of rating system, so they took it out.”
Fletcher thinks this will make it harder to tabulate who came out on top. She also feels it dissuades the public from filling out the survey. “We explained to him (Shook) that people were tired at 6 p.m. at night and they’ve been working all day and they don’t want to fill out 24 questions.”
Shook says the volunteers were told at the beginning they wanted survey questions and they didn’t follow the board’s suggestion. “We wanted an essay question that told us what the people that gave their time to come and listen to the candidates, what they really thought.”
He tells NEWSCHANNEL 13 that allowing the public to answer essay questions also helps the board get a more in depth look into how the public feels about the candidates.
Shook also disagrees with rumors that the board members have already formed their opinions on the candidates who would be the best fit for the job. “The board hasn’t officially interviewed any of the candidates. We have only had a public forum, so we still have that process before the board gets to ask our questions.”
