I often find myself at a loss for words after the board of education does something incredibly stupid like extending Dr. Wardynski’s contract by two years after he has had exactly one evaluation. When last they met, they were still spreading the completely illogical notion that extending his contract–a contract that is binding not on Dr. Wardynski (he can quit at anytime for any reason, even without notice) but rather is binding on the district–shows that he is “committed to the district.”
I pointed out to the board just how illogical this “reasoning” was back in November, and I asked them for an explanation, some, any justification that actually makes sense.
Of course, as is their practice (if not their officially stated policy), they ignored my question entirely and voted to extend his contract by two more years.
So, once again, we see that the rules that apply to teachers, aides, and other district employees, just do not apply to Dr. Wardynski and his friends. Teachers are evaluated for a minimum of three years before they receive any form of security. Most aides never receive any form of security at all.
But for Wardynski our board created an individualized evaluation tool, evaluated him exactly one time, and extended his contract by 67%.
In what industry does this happen? It seems that the only one where it happens is in football.
And so when I am at a loss for words, I spend time thinking about the situation, evaluating it, attempting to make sense out of the senselessness that is the Huntsville Board of Education. Want an example? Right before he voted to extend the contract, Mr. Blair had the following to say:
Blair: “This is really more of a one way contract, right. So, then you talk about good faith and all that, so, even with the current contract, Dr. Wardynski could leave tomorrow. There is no penalty for him leaving tomorrow. There’s only a penalty if we fire him tomorrow. So then we would have some type of buy out. So I think that’s really the good will nature that you’re talking about that you’re willing to sign a contract for a longer term even though you could opt out of it along the way. But I think that’s really kind of the point because everybody’s saying well, this is to keep him here. That’s not really . . . you could go anytime you want.”
Wardynski: “It’s really about the folks I work with everyday, knowing that I’m going to be here. The community, business leaders, firms that are looking to come into this city do they . . . they’re looking for consistency in execution and consistency in direction.”
Blair: “I’ve thought long and hard about it. And I’m a football, I like football, and we see this often with a head coach and assistant coaches, and the assistant coaches have contracts in place, and they want to know that their system is going to be in place because otherwise if the head coach leaves then they don’t have stability. So, I’ve thought about it, I’ve thought long and hard about this whole thing.”
So, the reason for the contract extension isn’t to ensure that Wardynski will be around cause this is “really more of a one way contract.” The reason is instead to make all of Wardynski’s friends feel secure and stable.
So, on the same night when the board approved the resignation of eight more people and the immediate retirement of four people with three more leaving at the end of the school year, Blair wants us to know that he’s really not concerned about Wardynski. No, he’s concerned about those “assistant coaches” who work under Wardynski.
From September 4th through December 20th (assuming that Dr. Wardynski’s summary of the HR report was correct) 134 teachers, aids, and other district employees have either resigned, retired, or announced their intention to retire at the end of the year.
134.
Yeah, Mr. Blair, we get that you’re really concerned about all those “assistant coaches” out there who are so deeply worried about Dr. Wardynski leaving town.
We’re so glad that you’ve thought “long and hard about this whole thing.”
I wonder how many more of our “assistant coaches” are planning to offer their resignations and retirements because the board extended Wardynski’s contract?
The school board might want to think long and hard arming HCS teachers and principals, they might stage a mutiny. .:)
I somehow threw away the Huntsville Times assessment of Wardynski, but wasn’t it just kind of a luke-warm nothing review of his effectiveness as superintendent? I’ll try to find it on internet and read it again, but at any rate, their assessment was a let-down from the days when they had his picture in just abut every day’s paper.
Somebody at the times named Bonvillian was a constant cheerleader.
As I’ve said before,” the proof will be in the pudding” – translated: the students’ SAT scores, etc.
It depends on who scores the test. 🙂