|
In This Issue...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Retiring Terry McHenry to be Pajaro’s Interim Superintendent until December
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Retiring Terry McHenry to be Pajaro’s Interim Superintendent until December
Mary Anne Mays To Remain and Help with Transition
By Mary Bryant & Michael Thomas
Even after deciding to retire this July, Pajaro Valley School’s Associate Superintendent of Business Terry McHenry will get a promotion of a sort before leaving the County’s largest schools district at the end of 2006.
Beginning in June, veteran business chief McHenry will serve at the District’s Interim Superintendent. He will serve through December, but no longer. California school retirement rules limit how much he can work for the District after retiring. He may serve a shorter period if a new Superintendent is hired sooner.
“Terry is willing to stay on through December. … It really is the very best thing that could happen for our District,” said Board President Sharon Gray. “We have a lot of issues and a lot of things going on and Terry is perfectly well acquainted with those.”
Despite a balanced budget and rising student test scores, the District has been beset with “issues,” including the resignation of current Superintendent Mary Anne Mays, who arrived in Pajaro in 2002.
Among the challenges are a divided board, where three members including Gray stand charged with meddling with District managers and causing Mays to quit, spawning litigation and triggering rumors of other pending resignations.
Had McHenry not agreed to stay the Board would have faced a short-term crisis, the loss of the District’s top two leaders in less than a month. The Board has yet to reach a decision about when and how to recruit a new superintendent and chief business officer.
Dr. Mays had recommended naming McHenry, or if not McHenry then another assistant superintendent from her cabinet. County Superintendent of Schools Diane Siri also provided the District with the offer of help in recruiting and the names of retired school superintendents who have served in interim roles.
Gray said that she hopes McHenry will lead the process in recruiting a new superintendent before he leaves.
Given the recent difficulties Pajaro’s seven-member board has endured, Trustee Doug Keegan said he was pleasantly pleased with the process leading to McHenry’s appointment.
“It was a surprisingly smooth and easy decision process,” Keegan said. “We really were focused on the one person we ended up naming as interim. … There was no disagreement about that.”
Will Dr. Mays Stay? If So, How Long?
While the possibility of McHenry’s appointment had been bandied about since April when he first announced his retirement, Dr. Mays’ offer to stay on part time and help with the transition came as a surprise.
Mays said that she made the offer to President Gray during a private meeting on May 8. She then discussed the offer with the Board on May 10 in a Board session which was closed to the public.
“She has expressed her willingness,” Keegan said. “The response was very positive so I think it’s likely to happen.”
The Board will take up the matter at its next meeting, after Dr. Mays and McHenry develop a plan to include Mays on a part-time basis. Mays resigned in March naming three board trustees â€" Gray, Sandra Nichols and Rhea DeHart â€" as responsible for her decision. She has cited continued interference in day-to-day management by these trustees as her reason for leaving. She said the political upheaval on the Board distracted managers from focusing on student achievement.
“To raise student achievement you need everyone to be working as a team, and that includes the Board,” she said.
Dr. Mays has been widely credited with the District’s improving student test scores and a steady focus on student achievement.
Gray says she supports Mays staying on past June on a part-time basis.
“She is very strong in curriculum and everybody is pleased with our scores going up,” Gray said.
According to Gray, Mays has agreed to do as much or as little as necessary to make the transition smooth for the next superintendent, although Mays said she would not work more than three days a week and would only do so under McHenry.
“I see Terry as the lead and the person interacting with the Board,” Mays added.
Why did Mays change her mind?
“The level of support from the staff and community is what led me to agree to a limited role with the School District,” Mays said, adding that she was surprised by the immense outpouring of support for her since she resigned.
Trustee Evelyn Volpa said she was pleased by the idea that Dr. Mays might stay for a few months.
“I was very pleased. I think it is a very good move and keeps the focus where it needs to be,” Volpa said.
However, District parents and teachers want Mays to stay longer.
At the May 10 board meeting, parents submitted a petition calling for Mays to stay.
Even the Senior Program Officer for the S. H. Cowell Foundation wrote trustees protesting Dr. Mays’ departure.
“[Dr. Mays’] visionary leadership and steadfast focus on student learning were critical factors in persuading the Foundation to invest in the PVUSD. … until Dr. Mays’ arrival, we had not made grants to the School District,” Kenneth Doane wrote.
Carolyn Sevino is the president of the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers, the union group representing the District’s certificated staff. At 1,200 members, it is the largest in the County.
Sevino says that if a new board is elected in November â€" replacing members she believes are responsible for Mays resignation â€" the popular superintendent might stay.
“I think if there were some new people on that board, Mary Anne might consider coming back,” Sevino said.
While substantial improvements have been made in recent years, student performance at the District, which extends from Aptos through North Monterey, remains below State averages. Mays has said she wants to see every school performing above 800 API in the State’s rankings.
“Two more years with Mary Anne and we would have been out of program improvement [status]. She had a plan and it was working,” Sevino said.
Would Mays return to the District full time if the board was to change? Would Dr. Mays accept an offer to return to her old job?
“It would give me great pause. … I would have to seriously think about that,” Dr. Mays said. “I’m certainly committed to the District and these kids in helping them accomplish what I know they can do.”
|
Past stories related to this article...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
