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Schools hurrying to answer SACS CASI's concerns

Burke County School Board Controversy

More articles about the Burke County School Board Controversy

By Steve Welker | The News Herald

Published: November 25, 2009

Updated: 11/26/2009 06:00 am

Morganton, NC - School officials and community leaders are hurrying to complete the Burke County Public Schools' initial response to SACS CASI.
A small committee met on Monday and a larger working group will meet this coming Monday at Central Office to draft a plan for reacquiring full accreditation for East Burke, Draughn, Patton and Freedom high schools.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement on Aug. 25 placed the county's four high schools on probationary accreditation.
The council certifies some 13,000 schools' compliance with standards for educational quality. SACS CASI did not question the Burke County schools' academic standards. Rather, it said the school board wasn't meeting standards for governance and leadership, vision and purpose and communications and relationships with the community.
SACS CASI will send a review team back to Burke County on Dec. 14-15 to study the schools' progress. But, by Dec. 4, SACS CASI wants to see a plan for correcting problems — three in particular.
Soon after she was sworn in as a new board member, retired school administrator Susan Stroup contacted Dr. Donna James, SACS CASI's North Carolina director and volunteered her services to work as a liaison between the school board and SACS CASI.
Stroup then called Superintendent Dr. Art Stellar.
"I said, 'We've got to get to work on this,'" she said.
The school board had six meetings in September, but only one, on Sept. 8, included discussion of SACS CASI. The board met once in October and several public speakers commented about the accreditation issue, but the board took no action. The board cancelled its only meeting in November. The board's next meeting is scheduled for Dec. 7 — three days after SACS CASI wants to have the outline of a plan of action.
Stroup spent hours Wednesday working on the outline with Judy Lowery, whom Stellar assigned to replace Associate Superintendent Rick Sherrill and Career & Technical Education Director Jonathan Clontz as the school district's contacts with SACS CASI.
Sherrill and special counsel Richard Schwartz, a Raleigh attorney, both prepared plans for the board's response. Stroup said the working group may draw on them. She and her running mates in the November election also proposed a plan for answering SACS CASI's concerns.
"Donna James really liked the SWAT plan and it's very good, but it doesn't have specific goals and timelines," Stroup said.
To help the working group's planning, James sent a template they can follow.
"I really feel they (SACS CASI) want to work with us," Stroup said. "Donna James has been very helpful and cooperative and she's pleased to see we're moving forward."
The working group that met on Monday included Stroup; Dr. Stellar; Lowery, who directs Career Ready and doubles as the schools' public-relations director; Brian Bowman, an East Burke High School teacher and chairman of its team preparing for a SACS CASI accreditation review; Michael McNally, president of the Burke County Chamber of Commerce; and Rob Hairfield, a school board member and chairman of its Finance Committee.
Hairfield's presence might surprise some people, because he is the only board member named in SACS CASI's complaints.
Stroup explained, "When I got to work on this and contacted Dr. Stellar, he told me he wanted one of the previous board members on the committee. I suggested Rob because his name was on No. 11 and I felt it would show good faith in his part."
"No. 11" is next-to-last among 12 problems cited by SACS CASI. Specifically it concerns the board's response after the community learned that Hairfield distributed racist e-mails earlier this year. SACS CASI told the board "to ensure that all conditions of the censure of board member Hairfield are concluded" by Sept. 25.
Stroup said Hairfield met in September with members of many minority groups in Burke County and will meet with them again on Jan. 6.
"We also are searching for someone who does diversity- and human-relations training to come to a board meeting in January or February and work with the board, perhaps on ideas for minority recruitment. That's been a priority for a long time, but it's been a challenge," Stroup said, adding, "I think it's a good goal for all of us — that we can always can learn more about other cultures, faiths and ethnic groups."
Stroup said she and others at Monday's meeting urged Stellar to expand the working group to include more stakeholders, including representatives of minorities.
"Everyone has a stake in this," she explained, including Burke County's taxpayers, property owners, business people, educators, parents and students.
Among those invited to attend the coming session are the Rev. George Logan representing the African-American and faith communities and Daniel Gutierrez, a Hispanic and English as a second language teacher. Still to be named are a representative of the schools' classified staff and parents, especially those with high school students who would be most directly impacted if their schools lost accreditation, Stroup said.
Another one of SACS CASI's immediate concerns is the response after the council told the school board to expand its search for a new school superintendent "to include a process to gather and utilize significant stakeholder input."
Although board members Sam Wilkinson and Buddy Armour urged the board to delay its search for a new superintendent and comply with SACS CASI's order, the board interviewed candidates in September and hired Stellar less than six weeks after receiving SACS CASI's letter.
Stroup said Lowery has documentation about the superintendent search, including details of on-line surveys and contacts with local groups and businesses.
The third immediate concern is an ethics policy.
The board in September received an ethics policy suggested by the N.C. School Boards Association. Stroup said the group will review it and policies from other school districts to create one for Burke County board members to approve and sign.
"The hard part is what happens if you have a board member who violates one of those policies," she remarked.
It's not a problem for SACS CASI if the school district can't comply with that standard or others immediately, Stroup emphasized. What's needed is a plan to fix things.
"Each of the 12 issues SACS CASI is looking at has several parts," she said. "They're not expecting that by May we will have all of them solved. They're expecting to see progress."