Roy Exum: Kelly Could Win It

  • Saturday, October 22, 2016
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum
I am neither a sleuth nor an odds maker but I’d say there is about a one-in-three chance that Interim Hamilton County Department of Education Superintendent Kirk Kelly could become the permanent superintendent of our public schools next Thursday. I am assured something squirrelly is happening on our newly-seated school board. It has been seven months since the last superintendent tucked tail and ran from a growing posse, and there could be an underlying reason for the fact that not even a search firm for a permanent leader has been chosen.

That Kelly was chosen as Interim in mid-April from a field of three finalists was shocking. It was even amazing that Kelly wiggled into the final three but when he was chosen over prominent educator Jill Levine and retired Marine Col. Shaun Sadler, it was apparent the district’s fabled “good ole boy” (GOB) network was alive and well. I will always believe it was a well-orchestrated play between three educators and two blacks on the board. (Kelly, who has been in HCDE for about 20 years, is black.)

The GOB has dominated public education in Hamilton County since the county absorbed the city schools in 1995. Every GOB who got their jobs – and keeps their jobs -- through the pipeline wants an in-house superintendent. To allow an outsider into the tight HCDE circle would be tragic to the failed principals that have been “kicked upstairs,” contracts with cousins, and a whole lot of mutual back-scratching.

It is believed the GOB tradition is a direct result of what we learned last winter - that our public school system is the worst among Tennessee’s metro districts and why parents and the public are both furious. We have 60 percent of our third graders who read under class level and just as many who actually graduate but must take remedial courses before enrolling at Chattanooga State.

But last April the school board awarded Kelly the Interim post on a 5-4 vote and now there is a definite chance Kelly could win the permanent job next week using the same ideology. Get this: four of the five who nominated and elected Kelly as interim are still on the board so if one more board member can be swayed, the knee-jerk reasoning would be “why waste the time and money when what we’ve changed is obviously working?”

Within a week of his appointment this spring, Kelly promoted Jill Levine into the new role as director of instruction. Levine then picked two of the best principals in the district and made them assistant superintendents reporting to her. As if on cue, the seven-month stall by the board has allowed the results of Kelly’s tenure to become readily noticeable and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the board, already appearing dysfunctional and addled as a group, ditches the search for a leader in favor of the Kelly-Levine ticket.

No fewer than six board members praised the school district’s dynamic approach at an agenda meeting this past Thursday and three said they “dreaded” going through the selection process for “somebody you can Google.” If Kelly is nominated, and there is a second, the whole paralyzing selection process, with its advisory committees, lengthy interviews and hours of meetings could be averted with five votes. For example, the school board would immediately save $35,000 it plans to spend with a search fund.

Now, stir in the fact Nashville’s school board is believed to be already dissatisfied with their new superintendent after just two months, and Birmingham just fired their latest choice in less than a year. In Huntsville the voters just elected two of their superintendent’s biggest critics, which quickly sent him packing, and, as one Chattanooga leader pointed out, “With our (HCDE) history, no superintendent candidates are exactly knocking on our door.”

In total honesty, keeping Kelly would inflame those who are begging for change and a new direction but thus far the Interim leader and his initial team have quelled a lot of distrust by the board, corrected a total lack of communication, and put some fires out that could have been serious. There is a huge lawsuit facing HCDE following the rape of an athlete in January and most of the board feels that the HCDE, with a budget in excess of $400 million, is badly outdated as a true business venture with over 4,000 employees.

Kelly’s first priority as a permanent would be to find and hire a proven business leader to be over the operations of the schools. Everybody knows money is scarce and physical changes are begging to be made. The popular belief is that educators know nothing about running a business and visa-versa. By changing the search from superintendent to a chief operations officer, there would only be one hire and everybody connected to the GOB keeps their jobs. Who would ever think up a plot like that?

The HCDE just named a public relations director but the schools’ real need is a “front man,” a leader who can energize both the entire community and the neighborhoods of each school. Two different school board members mentioned that no future superintendent “who we can hire will do everything we believe he (or she) should because nobody like that exists,” which further sets up the set-up for next week, don’t you see.

Face it, Kelly is a known entity and there is definitely a feeling among some board members, “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” As board member David Testerman said, “There are a lot of things that aren’t broke!”

There are three firms that have been chosen to lead superintendent searches. The school board’s attempts to determine whether the three should be ranked 1-2-3 in voting or with just a single vote could have been a comedy skit on color TV. In a 10-minute harangue that was embarrassing to watch, Chairman Steve Highlander was 10 minutes late in saying, “We are acting like children!”

If that’s the case next week, the odds on Kelly slipping into the permanent throne increase dramatically. Right now the board doesn’t stand together on anything and the timing is darn near perfect for the GOB to implement the long-range strategy.

royexum@aol.com


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