Open Letter To The School Board – Reprimand the School Suprintendent
Gentlemen:
I understand that Board Chairman Andy Griffiths will propose at Tuesday’s meeting that the Board reprimand the Superintendent for his mishandling of the HOB daycare center financial fiasco, particularly his failure to notify the Board for almost a year. I strongly urge you to support Chairman Griffiths proposed reprimand. The evidence clearly calls for such a decision. Further, this is not the first time that the Superintendent has failed to timely inform the Board about an important matter; the NMSI contract comes to mind. Hopefully, it will be the last time.
In voting to reprimand the Superintendent, you will send an unambiguous message that he works for you. I believe that your interaction with Superintendent Porter has been other than unambiguous since he took the job.
As we all know, Porter is the first appointed superintendent in the history of Monroe County. His predecessors were all elected and thus independent of the Board. You were all accustomed to dealing with a superintendent over whom you had no authority. When Porter came on board, those old habits remained and you have allowed him to act as if he were something other than your employee. It is that treatment, I believe, that has led Porter to think that he does not always need to keep the Board fully informed of his actions or inactions.
If you vote to reprimand the Superintendent, it will be incumbent on you to continue behaving vis-à-vis the Superintendent as if he is your employee, which he is. In short, Tuesday’s vote is not a one time event. Rather, it is the beginning of a new relationship between the Board and the Superintendent.
Larry Murray
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