Terry Grier Outta Here
With Terry Grier outta here, I remember a joke he told before a speech at a Rotary meeting: "What's the difference between a dead possum on the road and a dead school superintendent on the road?" he asked, and paused. "There are skid marks in front of the possum."
It got a lot of laughs. I went up to him after the meeting and thanked him for being in Guilford County. I said that as long as he was here, I wouldn't be the most hated man in town. He laughed. (I'm pretty sure it was no contest.)
The San Diego school board frustrated us on this end. The board met, deliberated and adjourned several times over the past few weeks without taking any action. We had no sources among board members, for obvious reasons, and apparently neither did the San Diego paper. (Its Web site has nothing about the new superintendent yet.)
Reporter Amanda Lehmert, new to the paper and filling in for our schools reporter Morgan Josey Glover while she is on maternity leave, dogged that board night after night. running down countless leads and rumors. "No, nothing yet," she told editors about 1,000 times. Sometimes more colorfully. I know she's happy he's going. It's nothing personal; she can move onto a new story that will be happening here, not 2,473 miles away.
As long as I've been here, superintendents have left with a sizable -- though I'd bet still a minority -- population of people happy to see them go. I'm not one of them. The man made news.
Sunday update: The Chalkboard is looking to help in the search for a replacement.
What kind of leader do you want at the helm of the Guilford County school system? Do we hire from within, or recruit someone new? What should the new superintendent's top priorities be?
Leave comments there.
Comments (10)
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There are parties being reported across the county!
The celebrations have begun!~
Posted on January 19, 2008 8:21 PM
The man also left a trail of debris which is easy to spot thanks to Google as well. There are the questionable stops in CA and TN as well as past fires....
It just a question of what you choose to edit isn't it. See you tomorrow.
Posted on January 19, 2008 9:33 PM
Terry Grier has accomplished some worthwhile things in Guilford County and he is a hard worker. Over the years, however, I have noticed that he manages exceptionally well up the ladder of power and not so well (even poorly) down the ladder. People in the business community, most school board members, and some central staff/principals respect him. Down the ladder, he loses most parents, many teachers and other central staff/principals. It is completely understandable why Terry Grier gets such high marks from the business community and such low marks from parents and teachers. Until Terry Grier learns how to respect and work effectively with all stakeholders in a school district, any legacy he hopes to leave will be tarnished.
Posted on January 19, 2008 9:46 PM
He came, he saw, he got paid.
Posted on January 20, 2008 10:53 AM
There's a lot of that going around, Skeet. Not that John Robinson would know/care.
Posted on January 20, 2008 11:18 AM
Ask the rank and file teachers in Guilford County what they thought of Terry Grier. Maybe now they'll be able to give voice to their opinions without fear of being punished. Terry Grier's career as the superintendent of Guilford County Schools had one goal in mind; the furtherment and self-aggrandizement of Terry Grier. He took credit for so-called triumphs that had very little to do with his leadership and completely ignored the rising tide of violence in the schools. He handcuffed teachers who tried to discipline violent or disruptive students. He mouthed platitudes about narrowing the achievement gap and other politically correct cliches. His legacy will forever be the shambles he made of the three high schools in High Point and how he disrupted parents' and their children's lives by forcing an absurd "lottery" system. Dr. Grier could not have left soon enough and Southern California is still too close by half.
Posted on January 20, 2008 1:37 PM
The powers that be could care less about the "rank and file".
Posted on January 20, 2008 3:32 PM
He was quick with a joke,
and to light up your smoke,
but there's someplace that he'd rather be.
Posted on January 21, 2008 8:34 AM
Reading MJ Glovers' article on Resident's Defining Griers Legacy: One always is reluctant to disagree with Mr. Melvin., especially in public, but to characterize somebody as "courageous" and "thick-skinned" because they decided to go along with a scheme of two white ladies from High Point on the schoolboard, one of them a realtor, wanting to make the ol' alma mater/ neighborhood school more white by going and putting the grab on some third party's kids while claiming they are doing it for the benefit of the black kids already attending their school, could be described by many other more well-suited adjectives. Then again, I guess some would characterize going over Niagra Falls in a barrell courageous and thick-skinned.
Posted on January 21, 2008 2:55 PM
I would hope the school board has learned a lession from our last two sups. Select a person who is interested in the students, operation of the schools and is fiscally responsible to the tax payers. It would be good for the school board to learn from such a person!
Posted on January 24, 2008 6:43 PM