|
Meeting |
|
Report |
|
February 14, 2006 |
| Click here for photos of this Meeting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 JONI
DAVISCMS TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS By Rick Jackson With our Charlotte Rotary tables set with Hershey's Kissey's and a barbershop quartet in our midst, our Valentines Day speaker, Joni Davis, addressed our festive group with the more sobering proposition of advancing the cause of the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System. Joni is a member of the recently organized CMS Task Force, a committee of Charlotte leaders who have formed the group to make recommendations to the county school board about critical issues such as management structure and a governance model. The process to select the committee and its direction included the need for a strong, diverse team, active civil engagement, a need for quality research and thoughtful deliberations. The first step, Joni explained, was the research phase which included professional assessment, review of other more successful school systems and plenty of community input. Town hall meetings were conducted along with focus group studies and public feedback. After the information had been gathered and processed, the group provided a summary of the task force research. The results revealed good success for CMS children, grades K-8 but high schools were underperforming. Other findings; Principals play a key role, the seating crisis is real, facility development and the finance strategy is adequate, and the community is fed-up with CMS board member antics. In their next phase, the task force made recommendations based on their research. It was decided that the committee would recommend a stronger focus on the core business of educating children and the county should keep one district, decentralized and subdivided by geography. The district should have one CEO/Superintendent and several "area" superintendents. A definition will be needed for the roles of area supervisors and the central office. It was agreed that the CEO/Superintendents role should be strengthened. The CEO/Superintendent would have a defined skill set including visionary skills, experience, a skilled communicator and a strong delegator. The CEO would have executive authority and would supervise the area superintendents and ultimately, would be responsible for the success of the district. Key strategies include student funding, student assignments, school autonomy, capital programs, all tailored to the needs of the students in their specific areas. The board should be intent on funding the students rather than the school. In addition, the task force defined the school board role as the creators of vision, budgets, policy and holding the CEO accountable. Structural recommendations for the board include trimming the current elected staff from 9 to 7 and terms would continue to be 4 years in length. Candidates would only be able to file in one district. Citizens would vote for one candidate in each area of the district. Finally, Joni shared the thoughts of those involved with the task force who believe the task force could be disassembled in the next 3 to 6 months when their recommendations have been heard, considered and implemented by the school board. A colorful speaker with a great sense of humor, Joni packed a lot of information into a 30 minute presentation. Helpful and interesting, we're all grateful to Joni for the illumination and hope that the hard work and thoughtful recommendations of the task force will create a better education for all of the children of Mecklenburg County. Head Table: Mary Rinehart, Carol Jordan, Herb Harriss, Kit Cramer, Mary Ciminelli, Peggy Wesp; Invocation: Myra Johnston Visitors & Guests: Catherine Browning; Health & Happiness: Phil Van Hoy; Song: David Erdman and the Beatles (Thomas, Alan, Meg, & Biff)
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Click here for Archives or use Search menu bar for Photos and Reports of previous meetings |
Copyright © 1998-2006. The Rotary Club of Charlotte. All rights reserved.
Revised: January 24, 2008.