Grier's largest raise yet: $15,030
For those of you who would like a historical perspective on Superintendent Terry Grier's raises (courtesy of Sharon Ozment, chief finance officer):
Guilford County Schools Payroll Information: Terry Grier
1999-00: $164,000.04
2000-01: $164,000.04
2001-02: $179,000.04
2002-03: $179,000.04
2003-04: $182,329.44
2004-05: $182,329.44
2005-06: $182,329.44
2006-07: $187,873.20
2007-08: $202,903.08
The school board voted 10-0 10-1 (Darlene Garrett voted no) last week to give Grier an 8 percent raise, a reward for meeting goals set during the previous school year. So, what were those goals?
Superintendent Goals for 2006-07:
* Develop and implement a process to inventory the effectiveness of the programs and initiatives that impact the district's improvement of its thematic goals for reading scores, middle school achievement and high school graduation rates, as measured by evaluation of the effectiveness of programs and overall progress shown on the district's Balanced Score Card assessment.
* Develop and implement an effective instructional leadership development training program for school administrators.
* Establish project teams to meet with representatives from various employee groups to review the findings from various working conditions surveys and develop and implement strategies to improve the working conditions for these groups as measured by next school year's survey results.
* Strengthen MWBE program based on implementation of processes and improvement in percentage participation.
* Increase number of schools making AYP.
* SAT improvement based on statistical study.
Accomplishments (according to GCS):
* In 2006-07, 74.1 percent of Guilford County schools attained ABCs growth (expected or high growth), compared with 45.9 percent in 2005-06.
* Only 10 schools fell in the No Recognition category in 2007 compared with 35 schools in 2006. These schools failed to meet Expected Growth but had 60 to 79 percent overall proficiency.
* The number of GCS Honor Schools of Excellence increased from five in 2006 to nine in 2007.
* The number of GCS schools identified as “Low Performing” decreased from eight in 2006 to four in 2007.
* The percent of schools that made AYP increased 11.5 percent, from 44.4 percent in 2005-06 to 55.9 percent in 2006-07. This exceeded the state average of 44.7 percent.
* Eighteen out of 23 high schools (78.3 percent) made the percentage proficiency achievement part of AYP.
* Five Mission Possible schools made AYP for the first time since the implementation of NCLB, including: Washington Elementary, Aycock Middle, Welborn Middle, High Point Central High, and The Middle College at NC A&T.
* GCS had a higher percentage of schools making AYP than Cumberland, Durham, Forsyth, Mecklenburg and Wake counties.
* Eastern Guilford High School experienced the largest school fire in North Carolina’s history. Within 14 days, all students were back in class. Additionally, Eastern made AYP.
* Student participation in higher-level courses such as the Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) curricula has increased 149 percent since 2000.
* Non-white participation in AP and IB courses has skyrocketed 183 percent in that same time period.
* The number of AP exams taken by GCS students increased from 8,133 in 2006 to 8,393 in 2007.
* The percentage of GCS students scoring three or above on AP exams increased from 42.6 percent in 2006 to 46.2 percent in 2007.
* During the past seven years, the district's dropout rate has cut in half from six percent to 2.9 percent in 2007.
* The percentage of GCS students graduating within four years of entering ninth grade was 79.7 percent in 2007, increasing from 74 percent in 2006.
* The class of 2007 received more than $68 million in scholarships, an all-time high for the district and almost $12 million more than last year.
* The district organized several cross-department project teams to review the results of the various classified employee, teacher and student climate surveys. As a result, a $3 million plan was developed and presented to the board to address morale/climate issues.
* Under Dr. Grier’s leadership, GCS hired a MWBE coordinator to help in strengthening the district’s MWBE program.
* The district implemented an instructional leadership development program for 26 principals.
Comments (5)
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The increase from Grier's first year to the current year (his 9th) is 23.8 percent. Over that same period, prices as measured by the CPI-U have gone up 24.8 percent. So in inflation-adjusted terms, his salary has not grown at all over his tenure.
Posted on October 2, 2007 10:42 AM
I'm sure if you ask many employees they will say the same thing!
Posted on October 2, 2007 11:10 AM
As far as scholarship increases -- how did Dr. Grier have anything to do with them? Right now, my daugher and I are in the middle of researching scholarships -- this is the 2nd time I've been through this, as my oldest graduated in 2006. I'd like to know how the district has helped us with our scholarship searches? Everything we did and are doing has been up to us. Yes, the high school counselors will send in transcripts and publish lists of SOME available scholarships (which by the way, in the last list we received 3 of 5 listed had expired). All in all, the scholarships are found, researched and won by the students -- not anyone from admin or staff! From what I understand, the district's total scholarship dollars are not all based on academic winnings -- some are based on financial need, ethnicity, religion, art and/or music talent etc.
How is any of this due to Dr. Grier's doing?
The board of education needs to do a better job of setting, defining and measuring goals for the superintendant. Right now I can compare the bonus/goal system used to the dog training methods I'm using on my puppy -- praise and reward even if there's just a slight motion towards the desired command.
Posted on October 2, 2007 1:19 PM
waz up homies
Posted on October 2, 2007 5:36 PM
The scholarship information as collected by GCS means nothing. The only figures that count are the amount of scholarships actually used or intended to be used by our students. Counting all scholarships encourages students to apply for scholarships they do not want or need. The system needs to be changed.
Posted on October 4, 2007 12:30 PM