Finding a replacement for retiring Superintendent Dr. Susan Purser by year's end is a top priority for the Moore County Board of Education, which recently fielded online surveys to gather input from both the community and Moore County Schools [MCS] staffers.
Survey results were presented during the Board's Monday, October 10 meeting, by Allison Schafer of the North Carolina School Board Association [NCSBA], which has been hired to help with the superintendent search.
More than three hundred Moore County residents and nearly eight hundred MCS staff members responded. School Board members also met with the staff from every Moore County School and conducted four town hall meetings to obtain feedback from the community.
The most important qualification for a new superintendent? According to both educators and community members, the number one qualification is experience as a teacher.
School Board Chair Laura Lang said it was “exciting that being a teacher was so important.”
Other qualifications that rounded out the top five included:
• Experience in finance, budgets and acquiring outside funding;
• Experience as a principal;
• Experience as a superintendent, with a proven record of success; and
• Experience in instruction and curriculum development.
“The top five characteristics were absolutely consistent” among the staff and county residents when it came to this question, Schafer said. Lang said she appreciated that people understood the budget challenges MCS faces — especially the fact that teachers have gone without a raise for four years.
Schaffer pointed out that residents and school staff provided consistent answers to most survey questions.
School Board members were also asked what they believe are the most important qualifications the next superintendent should exhibit. Schafer will compile those answers and bring them back to the Board at a later date.
The deadline to apply for the Superintendent position is October 17.
Board tries to loose extra school days
In a 5-2 vote, the Moore County School Board decided to begin the application process that would remove five additional school days from the 2011-2012 school year calendar.
During this year’s state budget process the NC General Assembly approved a bill that added an additional five instructional days to Moore County schools, by converting what were scheduled to be teacher work days to instructional days.
The option of applying for a one time waiver for the current school year was presented to North Carolina schools after Moore County Schools had adopted its calendar for the year.
During Monday night’s meeting three students from Pinecrest urged the Board to submit the application for a waiver for the current year, saying it will help to ease the stress of extra school days not only for students but for teachers as well.
NCAE President Debbie Kelly said the extra days — which are often half days — are a “half effort of teaching and half effort of trying to provided professional development.”
However, Board members Ed Dennison and Laura Lang said they have yet to hear any complaint from parents about the change and were reluctant to change the calendar at this point in the year. Both voted against applying for a waiver.
Board member Bruce Cunningham made the motion to apply for the waiver. Dr. Purser will began the application process.
Other Business
Other business during the School Board’s Monday October 11 meeting included:
• Board Member Dale Frye presented Growing to Greatness Awards to Moore County teachers and staff. Frye also presented the National Merit Semifinalist and National Merit Scholarship Commended Students.
• Board Chair Lang announced that the Public Education Foundation will host an “Are You Smarter Than a Moore County 5th Grader” on November 16 at the Owen’s Auditorium.
