Just got off the phone with Kathy Kelker, the chairman of the School District 2 board. Our failure to connect between last week's deadline and this week's deadline, by the way, was my fault, not hers. I was planning to get back to her in time to write a story yesterday, but I realized that the Outpost Home Improvement section would eat up all the newshole, so I put the story off for a week. Hope it's worth the wait.
Here's a quick overview of what she had to say. She cited most of the reasons we've heard for the decision not to renew Mr. Svee's contract: concern about the budget format, a tendency to overdelegate, failure to mesh with the board's strategic plan and vision. She said that he would claim that the failure to mesh was the board's fault, and she said he might be right, but that doesn't get the problem resolved.
She also agreed, generally, with his assessment that the district was running well and gave him credit for helping get the district past the strike. She said he was a steady, calming influence and didn't let things rattle him.
She said the board could not have adopted Mr. Svee's suggestion that he be given a one-year contract with the understanding that he could be let go without a further evaluation if philosophical differences could not be worked out in that time. State law requires an evaluation, she said.
As for whether there was any orchestration of the decision against renewing his contract, she said it could have appeared that way because the board seemed to reach consensus before the meeting that no one favored another three-year contract. But she said that she went into the meeting without knowing how the vote would turn out.
She also denied speculation that has surfaced on this blog and elsewhere that she had designs on the superintendent's job. "I'm a tenured college professor," she said. "Why would I want to do that?"
She predicted that Mr. Svee's departure would not have any long-term impact on the district's ability to pass bond issues and mill levies, primarily because those are difficult to pass in any case.
The board will meet next week to begin discussing the hiring of an interim superintendent, probably someone from outside the district, she said.
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10 comments:
She has tenure? Sexton fast tracked that one!
twice the pay and her unbridled thirst for absolute power come quickly to my mind.
In 1992 when she made her first run for the Legislature I was on a labor union committee that interviewed a number of candidates for potential endorsement.
Our endorsement of Kathy Kelker should have been a no brainer. Instead she was arrogant, conceited, confrontational and a 24 carat bitch. We didnt endorse her and while our endorsement didnt make or break the election, she lost badly. The next election cycle she changed districts and was trounced again.
The same night John Bohlinger was interviewed and because John was running as a Republican he wasn't going to get a rubber stamp endorsement. During the interview, I found him to be a man with a lot of soul and great compassion and a genuinely nice man. We endosed him.
It has been a privilege to work with Kathy Kelker. She is a strong chairperson, but she is respectful when board members disagree on an issue. We could be well served by more women like KK in leadership positions. Hillary Clinton could be described with all the adjectives you used in your comments about KK, but even though I'm a Republican and would never vote for Hillary, I admire her for her strong personality.
While I covered the board for the Outpost, Ms. Kelker was unfailingly polite and candid. My questions were sometimes bluntly stated, and they sometimes caused her discomfort, but she always replied in a kind and forthright manner.
Jim,
My experience exactly.
Can I add my agreement? I thought it was telling that someone kept referring to Kelker as a "bored doctor's wife," but when she mentioned she was a tenured college professor, suddenly she was attacked for having supposedly cajoled the chancellor into fast-tracking her tenure. Sounds like somebody's got a personal problem with the superintendent.
The schools ran better when the Masons controled the School Board and the Doctor's wives amused themselves by playing tennis at the Country Club and playing bridge.
saucer of milk, table of one, anon. Meow!
Under Kathy Kelker's guidance, the school board is rapidly bankrupting School District 2. Don't believe me; look at the annual reports. I believe Svee tried to do a good job, but the board micromanaged every decision he thought of making....and I believe that power hungry Kelker would take the superintendent's job in a second if it was offered to her. Hopefully people have enough brain power not to offer it to her. She would really destroy the school district.
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