“We’re flat-out killing our principals in trying to give teachers the time they deserve in the new teacher evaluations,” Ringstaff said.
“Some things are practical in principle, but just can’t be done (in time allotted),” said board chair Peggy Pesterfield.
“My concern,” said board member Richard Shaw, “is who is going to be running the schools when we’re doing these evaluations.”
“We’ve received a lot of information, and we’re going to get trained,” said board member Dawn Robinson. “Our teachers are tremendously challenged, and when the government steps in we need to take some of the demands off them. We’re losing teachers all the time.
“We need to streamline all these things, because they have been proven to make teachers better,” she added.
“We’ve discussed some of these things (training and evaluations), and we’re trying to determine if they’re working or not,” Ringstaff said. “We don’t want to waste our teachers’ time.”
“The new teacher evaluations have caused a lot of stress,” he added. “It’s huge and it’s a very big task. I do believe it will improve our teachers, but I think it is even a bigger stress for the principals.”
The city board is expected to discuss these changes throughout the school year.
Other school board topics of discussion:
n Board member Robinson brought her colleagues up to date on some legislative issues in Nashville.
She said she was glad to read that U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander is planning to drop out of his GOP leadership role in Washington to spend more time with education in the state.
- The director of schools announced that Prisavia Croft has been named an assistant principal for Principal Kelly Kiser at Blythe-Bower Elementary School.
- Cleveland High and Cleveland Middle band director Zach Riggins has accepted additional responsibilities as a part-time administrator at Blythe-Bower.
- Ringstaff recognized Cleveland High School wrestling coach Eric Phillips for being selected as TSSAA’s Coach of the Year. This award makes coach Phillips eligible for Southeast region and national Coach of the Year honors.
Ringstaff also recognized Cleveland High football coach E.K. Slaughter for being selected as the Tennessee Titans’ High School Coach of the Week. Slaughter is now eligible for the NFL team’s Coach of the Year honors.
- Ringstaff complimented Arnold Principal Kellye Bender on the school’s recent parents conference. “This is another way of working outside the box,” the director of schools said.
- The director also congratulated Cleveland High school and Principal Autumn O’Bryan for being ranked ninth in the state for ACT scores.
- The board approved minor changes in policy regarding relationships and press releases for the media and general public and the use of school facilities by the community and civic organizations.
