Board opinions varied on job performance for director, BOE

Aug. 7—The Cumberland County Board of Education's evaluation for Director of Schools William Stepp and its self evaluation showed a board with members at odds on their opinion of the job their director is doing and the work of the board.

Overall, though, average scores for the school system chief, who is completing his first year, were high.

"In looking at the averages, it looks like for each category it was a 4, meaning overall he was consistently meeting expectations as a new director," said Shannon Stout, 9th District representative.

Both evaluations are completed annually. All nine members of the board participated in the evaluations, though their responses were anonymous.

Stepp's evaluation included relationship with the board, community relationships, staff and personnel relationships, educational leadership, business and finance and strategic planning skills.

Board members ranked him from 1 to 5, with 1 meaning never meets expectations and 5 being always meets expectations.

One board member rated Stepp 5 in all categories, but opinions varied significantly among the other board members and the various categories.

One member ranked Stepp at 1 for the statement "Refrains from criticism of the board or members of the board," though Stepp garnered an average score of 3.78 in that category.

"There are differing opinions of board members," Patton said. "There are some extreme answers on both ends of the spectrum, so I'm not sure how valuable averages are."

Stepp's highest marks came in community relationships, with the board scoring him at a 3 or higher on every statement, including "Builds public support for the school district," "Participates actively in community life and affairs" and "Establishes strong relationships with public and private agencies."

Category averages were:

—Board Relationship, 3.80

—Community Relationships, 4.44

—Staff and Personnel Relationships, 3.78

—Educational Leadership, 4.19

—Business and Finance, 3.93

—Strategic Planning Skills, 4.07

"Overall, I think this is a good evaluation and points to a few areas where, by the scores, Mr. Stepp can take this and run with it as far as improvements that need to be made," Patton said.

In the board self-evaluation, board members were asked to rank the board's performance in the following areas: meetings, team building, board and director relations, vision and planning, board policy, student achievement, board-community relations, advocacy and budget and finance.

They ranked performance from 1 to 6, with 6 being the highest.

Then, board members were asked to rank the importance of each item, again using a 1-6 scale.

Patton pointed to team-building as one of the lower areas of scores on the evaluation, particularly the statement "The board is open and honest with each other, and with administrators, and able to maintain an attitude of mutual trust and respect."

"A lot of you feel you mostly disagree with that statement," Patton said. "I think that's something to keep in mind moving forward to find some ways to work on that."

The board scored itself high in board policy, noting it has an ongoing system to review and update policies annually and that board policies are administered consistent with the intent of the policy.

Average scores for each category were:

—Board Meetings, 4.17

—Team Building, 3.6

—Board/Superintendent/Staff Relations, 4.09

—Vision and Planning, 4.4

—Board Policy, 5.14

—Student Achievement, 4.29

—Board-Community Relations, 4.24

—Advocacy, 4.36

—Budget and Finance, 4.41

Stout suggested a work session be set to review the board self-evaluation and identify challenge areas.

"We've had a year under our belt to work together," Stout said.

Sheri Nichols, 3rd District representative, said, "Like Earl said, we need team-building."

That session will be scheduled in August at a date to be determined. Stout asked if the meeting could be held prior to the regularly scheduled board meeting next month.

Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.