News-Record.com

School leaders voted late Tuesday to give Superintendent Ter­ry Grier an 8 percent raise.

What was the basis for such a large increase?

And Darlene Garrett was the only one to vote NO.

What? Money for a big raise but none to correct the hugh deficit in the Arts?

Alan Duncan said last night that Grier's raise was tied to the salary increase teachers received this year (I need to check on the reason for the 8 percent, since my understanding is teachers received a 5 percent raise). The raise was also based on Grier meeting goals set for the previous school year.

Garrett said she voted no because she thought he didn't deserve the full 8 percent. Reason: the district fell behind in SAT scores.
"I do think he did a very good job," she said. "He substantially met the goals but not all of them."

Garth Hebert indicated he thought the raise was fair:
"My constituency is going to be shocked that I would vote for a raise for Dr. Grier.... The board set the goals. In all honesty to the man, he met those goals."

We are told that Grier gets a 8% increase, which is a very healthy increase on a salary base such as he has, because he met or exceeded his performance goals. That's fine, but the question is what were those goals? Did achievement of those goals ensure success of the organization, as they should for the CEO of any organization? If the CEO's goals are not aligned with the organization, then achievement of those goals does nothing for the success of the organization. If you will, the CEO succeeded, but the organization that he leads failed. Any organization in which executive goals are misaligned with the organization is an organization that is dysfunctional.

So, the question remains as to whether the organization succeeded in the past year? If so, what tells us that the organization succeeded last year? One can say that it was a tough year, with a lot of unforeseen challenges, but is that new? All organizations face unexpected challenges, so that is not a very good explanation. To suggest that the Eastern fire was an overwhelming distraction that prevented Grier from focusing on important issues is
misleading,

I often read criticisms of private companies that richly reward CEO's, when the company failed and lost money. Those are valid criticisms, and where is the difference here? I'm sure those boards would say that the CEO made his goals as well, even though the company failed. They would be wrong as well.

We are aware that the school board usually sets rollover goals for its leader, but what benefit is derived from that practice? It's time that solid, challenging goals are set for Terry Grier that are properly aligned with the needs of the organization. Until that happens, I see no justification or responsibility for Terry Grier to be unjustly rewarded for mediocrity. Of course, as Terry Grier always reminds us, he only serves at the pleasure of the board. If the board doesn't expect very much from their superintendent, then he will not disappoint them with anymore.

Since Grier said that there isn't any money for the arts program, what happened to the red camera money gotten from High Point? That was well over $1 million. I assume it will be put to good use?

The goals were pretty lame. I had to honestly admit that he did meet them. ( I note that SAT scores went down slightly, but if I were to be truthful with myself, he accomplished more for our community at the cost of improving the score, by enticing many kids who would normally not consider college entrance even a remote possibility to take the exam. Had he not done so SAT scores also would have improved modestly) I cannot with-hold his contractual agreement's stated benefits because standards were set in such a poor way. The percentage is based on the prior years increase of teachers pay, not the current years. It is not Terry's fault he did what the Board wanted him to do. He should be applauded for this, I believe that we have the right to expect the same achievement if the Board were to give more pertinent goals. I will treat him the same way I would want to be treated in his position. He was given a contract with stated goals and incentives, though prior to my Board membership, he must be treated ethically.

I am not defending Terry, I am being honest. My frustration with our Schools' performance is real and I guess I do expect more from a high paid executive than most. I really would have expected much more improvement and achievement from this position, but there were some rays of light with staff talent. Maybe when surrounded by better, motivated staff we can get more in the remaining 3 year contract. I also expect more from myself and the Board, our schools are not making ground. Our students are not better prepared. Instead of improving our best, we ignore them and try for mediocrity. Our goals are all oriented towards the lowest common denominator, not excellence as the letterhead might begrudge.

Maybe we should be discussing what goals the School Board should set for itself and for Terry and for our children.

Garth

The following appeared in the HP Enterprise on Sept 25:

"Another board member questioned how students would qualify for music competitions. Superintendent Terry Grier disputed the likelihood of elementary age students competing in such competitions like all-county chorus."

Statements such as this reveal how out of touch school officials are with the quality arts and music programs offered by our elementary schools.

Of course any parent of an elementary student would know that the elementary schools participate in their own All County Chorus every year at Smith High School. I attended the last several years with my own daughter. The event is packed with friends, parents and grandparents and CDs, DVDs and T-Shirts are sold to commemorate the students' achievements. Many of the participants go on to perform with the elementary All State Chorus.

Sadly students from many elementary schools will not have the opportunily to participate in the All County Chorus this year due to cuts in the music programs at their school. What is more, these cuts seem to affect a lot of schools with high enrollments of students from poorer households.

In addition to the chorus, my daughter performed with her elementary classmates at On Stage where they played instrumental pieces at the War Memorial Auditorium. Moreover, many elementary school students perform with the highly regarded Reflections program which is in its 40th year!!

Perhaps now we have some understanding of why school officials fail to recognize the value of our elementary arts and music programs -- they are out of touch with the achievements of these fine programs and out of touch with the accomplishments of our talented elementary students.

Garth,

I agree that lame goals = lame results. Let's be sure to increase the goals so that the district can improve.

If the goals remain the same, will he have to improve on each one next year to get another raise? Most companies I've worked for want results to improve every year. Therefore, this years results should be the bottom of the scale when next year's raise is calculated. In other words, if I increase my production by 20% this year I get a nice bonus. But, next year I have to increase production by another 20% to get a bonus. That way the company's bottom line is sure to increase year after year. If I simply meet the previous year's goals, I get no bonus. Will it be the same for Grier?

The goals remain the same as they have since 2/10/04:

1. Overturn the Board membership.
2. Get Grier Outta Here.

Until these goals are reached the students and taxpayers of Guilford County are the losers.

We cant forget this. The school board members are working very hard. Some of them have other jobs, Some are parents. We shouldnt forget that.

And yet we see and they admit to so many problems. There has to be a better way. Grier in my mind needs to be made more accountable and he needs to deliver!

Realistic goals must be set.

He needs concrete goals on AYP pass rate, SAT pass rate, AP passing rates. I would like to specific and concrete goals on Andrews, Smith and Dudley!

Garth,

I was shocked to have you abandon us on the drive for excellence.

In 2004, our SAT was 1011 which was 5 points above the state average. In 2007 our SAT was 985 or 19 points below state average. We went down 24 points in 3 years. These are the facts.

For us to below the state average is hard to take considering the educational level of our parents and the fact that we have so many colleges an universities in the area.

Dr Grier grabs credit whereever he can get it and I don't blame him for that. People heap credit on him for the Eastern fire recovery.
He worked hard, but how did the students do?
Eastern's SAT was 901, down 26 points. This is the lowest in at least 5 years. It is hard to say he did a great job when the scores dropped that amount.

Garth, you are a different person than the one that ran for office. Our system is not better. Major changes need to be made. Dr. Grier is a nice person that tries to do what the BOE wants done. The BOE seems to be at a loss in motivating Dr. Grier and the staff to set goals that would pull us up from the 55th (aprox) system in the state.

Too many School Board members forget to do what is best for the education of our children in Guilford County.

I am trying to get a copy of Grier's goals and outcomes scanned and posted online. When I do so I will create a new post.

Joe and others…
It does look like a different person, I can’t deny the perception. For who ever said Overturn Board Membership …, you are a voice of sanity, wish more would listen. Just be careful about replacements, the Board does not run the district now and probably will never.

Joe, about SAT, I am as upset as you and believe me you are one of our schools best assets, 99 more of you and we might wake up. I will not sink to the bottom on ethics but will honor a good and faithful critic. There is a war on, it is for the hearts, minds and futures of our children, I have not stopped the fight but if you believe I have, step up to the plate like Joe. By the way, I have and will make mistakes and it is only criticism that will help me learn. I am still sick about the raise, but I have to remain true to certain values.

Garth

Joe:

You have one thing wrong, dead wrong. Terry does not do what the Board wants, he convinces the Board to want what he wants. Sadly for Terry you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink. His success rate is probably only 50%, but closer to 90% on the things that he truly wants.

1 person with authority > 11 without and it is much easier to get 6 people to agree to do nothing than you might think. ie if he chooses to change things it takes 6 to say no, and believe me getting 6 to say no is not easy. That is why curriculum and schedules get jerked around so much.

Garth

Hey Garth, E.C. Huey is blogging about this today. He's got some choice words and his blog has been stepping it up lately, he's got a good shot at winning next year at the rate he's going:

http://erikhuey.wordpress.com/2007/09/28/griers-raise-garth-speaks/

I'm a teacher and I just made a donation to Huey's campaign on his website; that board needs about 5 others like Huey and maybe our schools (and mine) will get better.

Be careful teacher. There is wisdom in the old saw, "better the devil you know . . ."

I hope Mr Huey does not turn out like Garth. I voted for him because of many things that he had said. I did not expect him to fire Grier quite honestly but I am shocked that he voted for his 8% increase. He also said that he was against taxing authority. I am losing faith.

I was just wondering Morgan if you could investigate the newly formed Mardarin classes at the High Point schools. I have heard that EVERY child is forced to take this new class. I have heard this directly from one of the teachers. Why on earth would it be manadatory for every child at the school to take it? Is Spanish now mandatory? French? This particular teacher has stated that she will most likely not return next year as it is much to difficult to teach students that do not want to be there. This is such a shame to think that they will lose this teacher. I honestly believe that this is another of Grier's big attempts to make it look like kids are achieving. And by the way they are not!

I was just wondering Morgan if you could investigate the newly formed Mardarin classes at the High Point schools. I have heard that EVERY child is forced to take this new class. I have heard this directly from one of the teachers. Why on earth would it be manadatory for every child at the school to take it? Is Spanish now mandatory? French? This particular teacher has stated that she will most likely not return next year as it is much to difficult to teach students that do not want to be there. This is such a shame to think that they will lose this teacher. I honestly believe that this is another of Grier's big attempts to make it look like kids are achieving. And by the way they are not!

I will never have anything bad to say against Garth. He was the reason my son to return to the school that is five minutes from my house. My son is with his friends again. He is so happy!

Nice work today with your spread comparing Northern and Reagan. When I finished digesting it, I came down with one statistic that I believe tells the tale.

Construction Cost per Student:

Northern - $26,660
Reagan - $13,201

My basic math tells me that it cost twice as much per student for Northern as Reagan.

Other revealing statistics are Total Square Footage and building capacity:

Northern - 285,052
Reagan - 191,012

Northern - 1,600
Reagan - 1,400

Obviously, a school that has 50% per space for 15% more people is going to cost more.

And, let us not forget that Forsyth County Schools also built Atkins High at the same time that they were building Reagan, and both opened at the same time, on-budget and on-time, something that Northern has done neither. I understand that the opening date of January 2008 for Northern is still in doubt?

And, in all of this let us also not forget that the new Airport HIgh proposed costs suggest a whopping cost of $46,000 per student. I'm still not convinced that GCS is and can build schools in a cost-effective and timely manner.

Morgan, I you mentioned several times in your article that reagan is being expanded and therefore hinting that it didnt have enough space and consequently was not planned well in contrast to Northern.
I think that this is a bit of a red herring and it has nothing to do with the argument. One day Northern will get over crowded too. Wallys numbers are clear to me. Northern is not as cramped but does that mean that Reagan is too squeezed? I dont think so.
It seems to me that the article has been written to support the bond and not taxpayers.

Statman,

Yes, Reagan is crowded. Pffaftown is the fastest growing part of the Winston Salem area. But, to suggest that poor planning is to blame for the crowding at Reagan is misleading.

Both Reagan and Atkins were built at the same time with the same generic plans. Both were designed with an additional wing that could be easily and inexpensively added when growth dictated. Reagan's growth has quickly shown that it is needed, whereas Atkins' has not. The district included an additional $5 million on the 2006 bond to add the wing for Reagan, which taxpayers approved. Even with the wing being added, Reagan was stil far cheaper than Northern. As opposed to poor planning, it reflected good planning.

An analysis shows that the big differences to be discussed is the amount of space per student and the cost per student, as I showed above. Herein lies the reason for the much greater cost of schools in Guilford County.

The one issue that both Guilford Schools and Forsyth Schools may need to examine is whether they can afford to continue building high schools for only 1,200 students. Many other school districts build larger schools for 2,000 to 3,000 students. It would appear that the cost per student is cheaper if the planned school population is larger. In fact, some of the high schools in Guilford are already exceeding 1,200 students. Why not plan for larger schools, if they will get to that level eventually anyway? It is questionable whether the school district can build 1,200 students schools fast enough to keep up with the growth.

Statman, et. al:
I think readers can pick and choose from the comparison study and take away what they want: Wally World was able to find justification that Northern indeed is more expensive than Reagan; you look at the story and see a bias in favor of the school system. So really, I'm not going to waste time defending myself against charges that I am tooting GCS's horn (If you have read all three stories, you can see that is not the case).

The fact is to get a good picture of construction cost value, you need to compare apples to apples. The only apples to apples comparison I had was construction cost per square foot data. However, cost per student as well as overall cost are important. I included all three with the Northern/Reagan comparison. But there were no cost per student averages available on the state stats (to figure them by hand would have taken months). And you need to compare costs either for the same year, or adjust them for inflation. When you do that, the argument that GCS blows money starts to wither. It doesn't go away, but it doesn't have the same punch as it did before you actually look at the numbers.

When I spoke with Bill Powell, facilities manager with WS/Forsyth County Schools, he acknowledged that Reagan's per square foot costs would have been greater if they had bid in 2005. (My question: "Do you agree with Joe Hill that if Reagan had been bid in 2005 that it would have cost roughly $150 per square foot?" Powell's response: "Yes, in fact WSFCS documented $131 sq foot when the prices spiked early in 2004, and they continued up.")

In addition, my mention of overcrowding at Reagan is not a red herring (it would be just as relevant to point out if Northern built for 1,300 and after two years only 900 were attending). Forsyth school officials originally planned to build a larger school but county commissioners cut the total bond amount and Forsyth had to value engineer the project down. Unfortunately for them, more students showed up for classes than anticipated. That is a reality they have to deal with. Northern is trying to counteract that with shell space, but only time will tell.

I had a lot of information for this story, but unfortunately, for space reasons, it would not all fit on two newsprint pages. My true aim with this story was not to arm taxpayers in either county with eggs to throw at their school officials, but to help them assess what they really value in a school. Some taxpayers care more about cost than anything else. Some care about the features and are willing to pay a premium for things like 4,000-seat stadiums, parabolic lenses in the light fixtures and 4-pipe HVAC vs. 2-pipe HVAC. Some might be interested in doing what Forsyth does: only hire architects who are based in that county. Others might worry that will cut down on competition. These things interested taxpayers need to work out for themselves and articulate them with their representatives.

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