School board hires Stellar as new superintendent

Dr. Art Stellar, 62, a 20-year veteran school superintendent, is the new superintendent of Burke County Public Schools.

The school board, on a 5-2 vote, gave him a four-year contract. The starting salary is $144,500, which will come from both state and local-supplementary funds, and includes annual increases of 3 percent or whatever the General Assembly approves for central office administrators — whichever is higher.

The school board also reserved the right to increase his salary at any time; it may not be decreased, however. The contract also provides vacation time and compensatory time off, insurance coverage, a matching contribution (up to 6 percent of his salary) to his annuity or retirement program and payment of premiums up to $5,000 annually for his "key man" life-insurance policy.

Stellar will start work today, three months after his last official day as superintendent of Taunton Public Schools in Massachusetts. The school board there voted early in 2008 not to renew his contract for 2009-10, despite that school district's record of achievements — higher test scores, improved attendance, lower dropout rates, more individual student honors — during his four years there.

According to press accounts, he received votes of "no confidence" from the teachers union and the School Committee. The School Committee also censured him for insubordination after accusing Stellar of failing to follow its directives.

At his press conference after Tuesday's school board meeting in Patton High School, Stellar said he did the right thing when he removed an underperforming, but popular, Taunton principal and would do the same thing again. Some School Committee members opposed that decision, he said.

Stellar said he's aware of the two-year-long controversies involving the school board and the Burke County community, but Stellar also said every school district faces challenges.

"That's kind of what I like about this business," he said. "Everywhere I've been I've been able to meet those challenges."

In addition to Taunton, he has been the superintendent of schools in Mercer County, W.Va.; Oklahoma City; Cobb County, Ga.,; and Kingston, N.Y., and was deputy and acting superintendent in Boston.
Stellar said his first priority in Burke County is to meet as many people as possible, particularly in the schools, to learn more about their immediate priorities.

He got off to a fast, if unplanned, start Tuesday in Patton's auditorium where a group of about two dozen people eventually surrounded and peppered him with questions.

Many asked why he wants to work in Burke County where — in addition to the school board controversies — there is high unemployment and poverty, where the school district had to cut millions of dollars (and dozens of jobs) from its 2009-10 budget and where per-pupil spending ranks 98th or 99th among North Carolina's 115 public school districts.

At his age and with his experience, Stellar said, "I can tell people the honest truth" without having to fear the loss of his job. "It's not a bad time to approach a challenging situation," he added.

The Burke County schools' financial situation and improving student achievement and attendance rates are among his priorities, he said.

Stellar also said he knows about the high schools' accreditation situation and will get started soon on helping the school board comply with the standards of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and Improvement.

Stellar knew in high school that he wanted to be a school superintendent. He set his sights on achieving that goal by the time he was 35 — "and I missed it by only three months."

He taught fifth and eighth grades and drove a school bus before moving into school administration. He has a bachelor's degree in elementary education, a master's in elementary school administration and a doctorate in education administration, all from Ohio University. He is an Ohio native.

Stellar and his wife, Debbie, an elementary school teacher, have two grown sons, Matt and Jon.
Stellar plans to move to Burke County, but said it may be some time before his wife, who's still under contract in Massachusetts, can join him here.

Stellar said he is an avid runner who's competed in several marathons. He also collects antiques and memorabilia. He is a member of the Methodist Church. He and his sons all are Eagle Scouts.