Baldwin County School Board Meets 8:00 AM June 1

The Baldwin County School Board of Education has a Special Board Meeting scheduled at 8:00 AM, June 1, 2010.

They presumably will select their new Superintendent at that time.

Click here for District web page where the agenda may be posted once the meeting is completed.

Congratulations to All Graduates & Their Families

Today is Graduation Day ! Congratulations to all the new Graduates and also to their proud families !! Enjoy your day !

Alert Poster Strikes Again - More News On Stinson Alabama Job Interview

Again, one of this blog's outstanding posters comes up with news from the Baldwin County School District Superintendent search. Thanks (again?) anon 11:34.

From the Mobile Press-Register : http://blog.al.com/live/2010/05/finalists_interviewed_in_super.html

Baldwin County school board members took about an hour to interview each finalist in the superintendent search this week, with both men up for the job proposing change and collaborative leadership for the system of 27,000 students.

About Alan Lee's interview:

Lee faced the board for the second time on Monday, saying he might not have all the answers for Baldwin County, but he could "help people realize they have the answers, and I can guide the board and the people here to the best decisions."


School board President Tracy Roberts asked Lee to "help me feel better about your coming from a system that seems very small at 7,800 compared to Baldwin County with 27,000."


Lee said he would rely on experts that are most familiar with the system, make his expectations clear and work with all stakeholders to be sure the system reaches its goals. He said most of the concerns he had heard over the day could be solved through better communication between all involved.


"Openness is the key to addressing issues," Lee said. "Nothing is sacred and everything is open for discussion and consideration."

Lee said negotiating with state and even national leaders does not bother him, and he currently serves as the president of the State Superintendent's Association in Virginia.


Lee said he advocates technical training for all students, and is very protective of art and music in education as well as professional development. Regarding cuts to the system's personnel, he said principals should always be involved in decisions that so drastically affect their schools.


Lee said he would immediately create e-mail addresses for all county school employees, post the policy manual on the system's website, form advisory committees for schools, a planning team for the central office and begin learning the system's strengths and weaknesses.

About Don Stinson's interview:

Stinson met with board members on Tuesday, proposing sweeping changes to the way students are educated.

The Decatur system has about 7,000 students.

"I advocate the small learning communities concept," Stinson said. "We are
reinventing education, making it customized for learners. We need to get in touch with our students. For so long we expected one size to fit all, and it simply does not work for 21st century students."

Stinson implemented a system in Decatur that groups students according to interest in various areas like the arts, business, scientific research among other areas. Students remain in classes that infuse math, reading and other basic lessons as they relate to the learning community. The system also assigns an adult that mentors and tracks a student all through their school career.

Stinson said leaders must "imagine you can start over from the ground up and design a system to meet our students' needs. What's needed? Can it become real based on the finances available? Unless you have a 100-percent graduation rate, 100-percent success-in-life rate for your students -- you need change."

He said leaders must change their beliefs about education, and reaching that point "is almost a spiritual experience."

Change in Decatur meant implementing the small communities concept, and opening technology use like cell phones for project research. He said the changes took parts of successful systems across the country and created the Decatur model.

Stinson complimented the county on its high test scores and the open interview process.

He said he plans to mold new leadership in the system if given the chance, and would begin the process of change by finding out what stakeholders want the system to become.

And in conclusion:

Board members said both men were outstanding candidates, and that site visits to the out-of-state systems led by the finalists would be the last task before the Tuesday vote.

Just a Note

I've gotten sidetracked on some other things. So, thought I'd just jot a note with a mere pleasantry.

I don't know if you've run into www.restaurant.com before, but they are a pretty good way to stretch your dining dollar. They offer mostly $10 or $25 off dining certificates (some conditions apply, so look for those) for just a couple of dollars. At the end of every month they send out an email to their members (free memberships) with promo codes to use at checkout that reduce the cost even more. So, right now, a $25 off dining certificate that costs $10 most of the month, costs only $2 when you use the promo code "flag" when you are ready to pay for your certificates. The certificates are good for a full year from date of purchase and are very easy to use.

More and more Indy area restaurants are getting listed, so the selection could include a place you would have gone to anyway. We don't go out to dinner very often, but I always look through the restaurant.com list to see if a place we want to go to is there. And certainly when we are going on vacation, I check to see what locations are offered in those other cities.

Just one other caution, when you are trying to check out, they offer one of those crazy 'click here for free whatevers' -- but when you do, that site asks for way too much personal information. So, my advice is to avoid those offers -- just scroll all the way down the checkout page and click on the link that says something like 'no thanks, I'd just like to check out now'.

If you have any websites that offer good savings on stuff you'd like to suggest, post it here.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

And Then There Were Two

An alert contributor to the "New Maps Posted On Decatur Website", anonymous 2:27, gave us the news that one of the 3 finalists vying for the Superintendent post in the Baldwin County School district (Mobile, Alabama), dropped out, leaving only Don Stinson and Alan Lee. Thanks anon 2:27 ! You can read the entire article from the Mobile Press-Register website aI.com.

BaldwinCountyNow.com is also reporting this news. They add that:

The decision leaves Alan Lee, superintendent of Washington County Public Schools in Abingdon, Va., and Donald Stinson, superintendent of Decatur Township in Indianapolis, left for consideration.

Lee will interview with the BOE May 24 at 6:30 p.m., and Stinson will interview May 25 at 6:30 p.m. The Board hopes to name a new superintendent by June 1 to take office by July 1.

Councillor Vaughn Has Council Office Send Proof of Notice

I just received copies of two notices of public hearing for Proposal 132 from Melissa Thompson, clerk of the Council office, on behalf of 'President Vaughn'.

These notices were published on April 28, 2010, in the Indianapolis Star and the Court & Criminal Record. Both are signed by City Controller, David Reynolds. Having a subscription only to the Star, I guess I need to spend more time reading all that tiny print, instead of relying upon the word of the Council President or the accuracy of his agenda. My bad.

[amended to add : If only for myself and to be complete, I must add that these two notices were sufficient to satisfy the legal requirements for notice to the public of public hearing. Now that the Internet is as vibrant as it is, even as used by City government, the State Legislature could change the notice requirements to add the necessity of posting these on the various government websites and provide RSS feed or other automatic notice of same to the visiting public. But, Councillor Vaughn did not in fact break the law by holding a hearing for which there was insufficient public notice.]

New Maps Posted on Decatur School District Website

For those looking for the new Decatur Township school enrollment territory maps, they are now posted on the District website:

click here