Reverend Kilroy Delivers A Sunday Sermon

Last week my phone started ringing and emails/texts poured in. Almost everyone began with: “Have you heard?” Why no, no I hadn’t heard. Today Kilroy puts up a post addressing what’s going on. Go read the post.

Those who sit at the right and left hand of the Red Clay God (Merv) better take a hard look in the mirror. Though school superintendents make many request for school board approval it is the school board who makes the final approval with no veto power on the super’s part. In the big picture the super’s failures are the board’s failures.

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I am dishearten to hear (rumor of course) some board members want to throw Merv overboard midstream (before the end of his contract). Those who think Merv may be the problem are just as much the problem.

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So I urge the Red Clay school board members who are sowing a coup to back off (rumor of course). Think about it, should we demand each board member who approve the Markell priority school agenda even in a water-down version to step-down?

I commented on the post:

I guess the decoder ring is no longer needed!

Yep, the rumors have been flying – and the number of people who contacted me about this last week was stunning. I thought a coup was supposed to happen quietly?

It’s no secret I’m not a Merv fan (that’s not personal), but this covert (overt?) plan leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It’s badly done. It’s also clumsily and sloppily done which is what concerns me the most. The way this was handled doesn’t exactly display effective leadership or inspire confidence.

I also don’t understand the timing? Maybe this would make sense if RCCD had lost the referendum – at least that would be some sort of reason. What is the reason behind this? I have a lot of theories.

I keep thinking that this move doesn’t have much to do with Merv. Do I think it’s time for him to move on? Probably, but I have a huge problem with the way it’s being handled. It seems there’s a replacement already chosen, and if the name I keep hearing bandied about is true then I vote to let Merv stay superintendent forever. 😉

I’m not sure exactly what brought this on, but my bet is that it’s bigger than replacing a superintendent. Many of those who contacted me in favor of ousting Merv couldn’t clearly state their reasoning (some even asked me to help them form arguments for getting rid of him) – which tells me that they are pieces on a chess board and not the actual players. Identify the players and we’ll find the reason.

Know what else I don’t understand? Why I even know about this. Why has a personnel matter spilled out into the general public? This should have stayed within the confines of the Red Clay School Board, and the fact that it hasn’t makes me wonder if this is even the idea of the school board, if this plan even originated there?

Superintendents come and go, but this unnecessary drama along with all the loose lips concerns me. A divided board is fine – it shows thought and discussion of issues rather than a rubber stamping them. What isn’t fine is that I, and many others, found out about this plan in the way we did (I went to a neighborhood party last week and heard about this. WTH?). I was quite surprised by some of the people who reached out to me. I am not what you’d call their natural ally – which tells me that this secret spilled out because there aren’t enough votes to make this happen and they’re trying to build support. I guess we’ll see.