School District 204: June 2009 Archives

After hiring a search firm to get input on the criteria to look for in a superintendent to replace Stephen Daeschner, District 204 announced Wednesday it will appoint Deputy Superintendent Kathy Birkett to the position.

Some of us at the Sun saw similiarities between this move and the recent search for a Park District executive director. In that situation, the board searched the whole country to find someone, hiring Daniel Betts who was brought in but never seemed to fit and was soon gone. The next time around, the park board looked closer to home and hired Ray McGury, who seems a much better fit.

Similarly, the District 204 board hired Daeschner after a large search, but when he left, they decided to find someone who was already in the area and was familiar with the situation this time with Birkett.

Should our community groups and organizations look closer to home more often when looking for leadership instead of thinking the best candidate is going to be found elsewhere?

And what do you think of the Birkett promotion?

Neuqua Valley High School student Rodney Boyd Jr. says he was given a raw deal by not being allowed to run for senior class president. Though he was class president sophomore and junior years, the class council sponsors, whose endorsement is needed to run for the office, refused to approve him, citing a drop in performance.

Boyd ran a write-in campaign and believes he received a large number of votes, but the school refused to count them, though Boyd says write-in votes have been counted before.

On Monday Boyd's parents appealed to the school board to either redo the election or to count the write-in votes, but the board didn't budge.

Do you think Boyd's votes should have been counted, or as the district said, the student council devised its own policies and it is up to the council to modify them?