News-Record.com

I watched News2 for a couple of hours this morning and the focus of conversation was "Icy Roads" and "Be careful, drive slow, accidents reported", yada, yada, yada.... but not one comment from the talking heads along the lines of "Why hasn't the school system called a delay"?

GCS updated its Web site at 10:13 saying buses had been instructed to proceed to destinations using extreme caution. Would kids actually still be waiting at bus stops to be picked up? Middle-early college classes were canceled. No after-school activities. A real mix-up.

Doug,

Those who made it to school are having a normal class schedule. My children are still at home waiting for the bus to pick them up. Their school told me that if they don't show up, they'll be counted as absent.

There were some kids on the buses when the decision was made to pull off. I understand those kids sat on the buses for almost 3 hours.

Oh, and yes - the early and middle colleges are closed now, but the buses aren't going to take the kids home. They have to find their own transportation home.

Sounds like a fiasco.

Would a two-hour delay have been the right call, or cancellation?

I would have called a one hour delay to give extra time to assess the situation. If more time was needed, I would have changed the delay to 2 hours. Ultimately I would have called off school.

Those who were unable to get to school today are being counted absent. They are missing instructional time.

I'd like to know the percentage of kids who were in attendance today.

I think that last Thursday's decision to close was wrong and there were probably parents who complained about it. But, today's decision was an even worse one imo.

They should've called school off, period.

You can't take chances with mothernature, regardless of the affect it will take on the school's agenda for making up classes.

The lives of our children, and those who are driving on these inclement weather roads, should have taken precedent, than worrying about when these children will have to make up for these classes.

Just getting an update on the N&R, tells me that with all the wrecks that have occurred, that it would've been a no-brainer in this situation.

My opinion is they screwed this up as many ways and times as possible. The Weather guys actually got it exactly right and apparently the system decided to ignore it all! Sillyness. Kids on buses for hours, some taken to the nearest schools, no after school care... The High Schools are practically empty due to postponed exams. The list of mistakes made today is extensive. I just hope no one, child or parent, ends up hurt when this mess is over with.

S.N.A.F.U. from stem to stern!

Predicting the weather isn't easy, but the schools should always err on the side of caution. Parents need to be understanding if and when school is delayed or cancelled and the weather isn't as bad as expected.

Having said that, Guilford County Schools clearly dropped the ball this morning. Perhaps the superintendent was too busy house-hunting in California to pay attention to the weather here.

Perfect weather is almost reason enough to take a job in SD.

Me thinks Mr. Grier is, all but in person, already in San Diego.

My kid got to school, was told his parent must call to get permission for him to go home even though school was cancelled. I couldn't get through on their phone, probably as a result of the other 1,000+ parents trying to get through.

So I told him to come on home regardless.

Major foul up.

It was a somewhat tongue-in-cheek comment, but there is a serious point worth considering. Why is the Guilford County School Board allowing Terry Grier to hang around as a lame duck? Will his lame-duck status affect his performance while he's still here?

My feeling is that the moment Dr. Grier accepted the San Diego job, the school board should have appointed an interim leader to take his place. The citizens of this community deserve a superintendent who works for them, not one who works for San Diego. It's fine that he wants to leave, but we shouldn't pay him while he's waiting for his San Diego contract to kick in.

But bold leadership hasn't exactly been a strong suit for this school board, has it?

If he's still under contract, could the board in effect terminate him now without some kind of big payoff?

That's a good question and I don't know the answer. But if the board didn't address this scenario when they drew up his contract, then the School Board's attorney didn't do her job. The board should always reserve the right to terminate a superintendent who has signed a contract with another school system.

And don't forget - Grier still has two years left on his Guilford County contract. I'm thinking if nothing else, the board could say, "We'll let you out of your contract early if you'll waive your right to the next six months of salary."

Sounds fair.

By the way, I'm going to put up a post on the Your Voice at the Table blog later on the subject of the superintendent search. I'd like to defer this discussion over there. Thanks.

Anytime there is water on the ground and the temp is right around 32F you can have what they call flash freezing, particularly if there is wind. What this is is a thin layer of ice forms on wet roadways that may have not been frozen only seconds before. This happened to me this am where the road was fine and as soon as I got out and began walking across the lot I started sliding while walking. I suspect this is what happened to many of the motorists today.

Expecting some GCS guy to call this right 100% of the time, especially given all the varieables, is unfair and would have the kids staying home half the year. I think they did the right thing pulling the buses over.

(note: If this meterological phenomonon should occur while a "Choice plan" is either in effect or threatened, GCS is 100% responsible)

News2 reporting five school buses involved wrecks due to ice this morning.

School officials talked with Meteorologist Eric Chilton late last night and he recommended a 2 hour delay. The school system responds with a statement "due to unforeseen weather circumstances"

Unforeseen? It's a crock!

I just saw Grier on Channel 2 stating that the "majority" of buses were on time this morning. What is he talking about? Maybe he meant the buses in San Diego, but certainly not in this county.

He also said that the weather forecast was for an 18% - 30% chance of precipitation. He must not watch either Eric Chilton or Van Denton as they both called for greater percentages last night.

I sure am glad this guy is leaving - the sooner the better.

The statement from GCS says, in part:

"At 3:45 we reviewed weather resources on the internet. There was a 18 to 30 % chance, little to no precipitation; rain was expected after Noon when temperatures would be above freezing ...

"At 5:45 all reports and conditions indicated that roads were conducive to travel and no changes were expected ...

"By 7:15 we were getting initial reports that conditions had changed drastically in the NW part of the county ..."

Obviously they made diligent efforts to assess conditions. It seems to me, however, that under difficult circumstances they simply muffed the call this time. Fortunately, no children were hurt. But there was much inconvenience and confusion.

And the ones who went to school watched videos all day!

Doug, You editorial on Griers legacy was pathetic.

Doug, we were really pleased by your kind words about West End Ministries the other day. We have indeed accomplished a great deal, thanks to the many folks who partner with us. I'd like to invite you over to see the computer lab we've got in the Community Center. We've taught 40 people to use computers since last September. We're training an elder worker to use eBay and a young ex-offender to take the photos and PhotoShop them.

Doug,

Did you happen to see the Channel 2 6:00 news on Tuesday? They directly contradicted Grier's claims regarding the weather forecast. In fact, they went so far as to replay their weather forecast from the day before and guess what? Eric Chilton was 100% accurate in his forecast.

It was quite refreshing to see a local media outlet contradict Grier.

The Grier Legacy editorial was interesting, particularly the part about Grier "bristling" when anybody implies he had anything to do with the "Choice" PLan. We're paying this guy 350K per anum to design and implement education poilicy and he lets the design and implementation of this plan, probably the defining moment in his tenure here, in the hands of some politicians???? With no input from him???? I'm either upset that he is lying or we paid him for nothing.

Nevertheless, the CP is Grier in a nutshell. Deny, deny, deny. Smooch politician butt, smooch politician butt, smooch politician butt. Get paid.

I had to laugh at Mr. Melvin's (although he may, like Caesars of old, have me paraded in the Colosium and have Mr. Brown book a pride of lions to tear me apart for saying this) and other Greensboro interests' comments about Grier being "courageous". I mean, the man, his policies and cronies have done serious, divisive damage to High Point which may take years to heal. It would be like somebody from High Point, like Mayor Smothers, saying I think the CWP and The Clan were "courageous" and "thick skinned" for their 1979 actions. Just totally silly.

Thanks, Trish. I'd like to do that.

I did not see the WFMY news but don't doubt that there were ample, specific warnings to help GCS make a better decision yesterday.

Although roads were not icy this morning, the temperature was close enough -- about 33 -- to make it the wise move to call a two-hour delay.

If he's still under contract, could the board in effect terminate him now without some kind of big payoff?

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Doug, Stormy over on E.C. Huey's blog made an excellent point about this and I thought it was worth sharing (and I'm paraphrasing here):

Dr. Grier is the one who chose to end the relationship, not the school board, despite being under contract to GCS for two more years.

I'm no lawyer, but it seems to me that this would relieve the school board of any obligation to keep paying Dr. Grier until his San Diego job kicks in. They didn't fire him - he sought out and obtained a different job.

Sorry to harp on this, but it bugs me (and many others) that the outgoing superintendent is continuing to collect a Guilford County paycheck while essentially working for the San Diego schools.

js,

Let me paraphrase Alan Duncan from a conversation we had yesterday.

He recalled in 1989 when the University of Michigan's basketball coach accepted another job just before the NCAA tournament but asked the AD, Bo Schembechler, if he could stay on through the post-season. Schembechler said no, he wanted a Michigan man to coach the Michigan team. Schembechler installed Steve Fisher, who coached the team to six straight wins and the national championship.

Duncan said his inclination is that he wants a Guilford County man to run Guilford County schools.

We'll see what other board members say.

Well, if that's his inclination, why didn't he and the other board members address this long before Grier resigned? Shouldn't they have put some language in Grier's contract addressing what would happen if he left early to take another job? At the very least, it seems we will be paying Grier to work on his San Diego plan for at least a few weeks while we're waiting for the board to figure out what to do next.

That's a nice anecdote from Alan Duncan. But it doesn't match how he and the school board are handling this situation.

It seems to me that might be an unusual sort of thing to put in a contract. Anyway, the board definitely should address this tomorrow.

In general, I think the board should try to make its parting with Grier amicable. An acrimonious separation could send a bad message to anyone who might want to be the next superintendent. Remember, rarely does someone take a job like this with the idea that he or she will stay forever. They expect that, when the time comes to leave, the board won't make it difficult.

However, the board also do what's best for GCS, not necessarily what's best for Terry Grier. Hopefully, the board and Grier will agree on what's best for the system.

Doug, er...your last paragraph.... Why would they start thinking this way now?

Why would such language be unusual, Doug? According to this week's Rhino times, Grier's contract does include spell out what would have happened had he been fired. Why wouldn't you also define what happens if the superintendent quits in the middle of his contract?

I don't see how that would be unusual in the slightest. Isn't that what contracts are supposed to do - spell out any future contingencies so that confusion (such as we are experiencing now) can be avoided?

I hear what you are saying about Grier leaving on amicable terms and I agree that would be preferable. However, the school board's responsibility should be to the citizens of Guilford County, not Terry Grier. They should not bend over backward to appease him on the way out just in the name of keeping the peace. Certainly, Guilford County taxpayers shouldn't pay him to work on San Diego's school plans, but that's exactly what appears to be happening.

I think the school board should make it clear he's expected to devote 100 percent of his work time to GCS school business. But can it dictate what he does with vacation time, or Sunday afternoons, or holidays?

I suppose we can discuss what the board should have put in his contract to cover this situation, but what's the reality the board is facing? Does it want to, in effect, fire Grier and have to fork over a year's severence rather than keep him on for five more months?

Remember, this is a board that gave the superintendent good job reviews. It likes his performance. Suddenly, why does it want to get rid of him immediately? The only justification for that would be if it is convinced it's in the county's best interest to do so.

I expect the board will have a lot to talk about tomorrow. Unfortunately, probably in closed session: "personnel matter."

Sigh...you and Allen really don't get it, do you? I guess Saint Terry can do no wrong in the N&R's eyes.

Heck, why don't we go ahead and pay him until his contract runs out in 2010, even if he is in San Diego? After all, you guys seem to think education in Guilford County will fall apart in his absence. Maybe his blessings from afar could tide us through these dark days ahead.

You're right that we don't get it.

It sounds to me like you're saying the school board should enforce language it should have put into Grier's contract.

I understand some are contending that Grier has voided his contract by signing another contract with San Diego. I'm OK with the school board testing that theory in court if:

1) If it has a reasonable chance of winning and won't cost GCS more than it saves to do so.

2) It is better for GSC for Grier to leave before June 30.

3) It won't make the school board look like a gang of jerks to potential applicants for the superintendent's job.

4) And there is strong interim leadership in place the day Grier departs.