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King Edward VIII
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Common Sense
The Progress
Editorial
March 4,2021
From the Staff
What if no one wants to
serve on boards?
For the past month our school board
(especially three members of it) have
been drug over the coals for the mishan
dling of the superintendent’s termination.
If they are recalled, that’s fair; it’s poli
tics. People get angry over bad choices
by elected boards.
But at some point and in some cases,
the endless cascade of personal insults
against them goes too far. A history of
our school board over the past decade
shows this virtual tar-and-feathering is
nothing new. Well-meaning people get
elected, then everybody gets mad at them
and they either get voted out or choose to
not seek re-election. Back in the 1990s
the school board released a statement
about hiring a superintendent saying this
may be the most important task they do
and they expect public criticism over it,
no matter what they do. Not much has
changed.
We are by no means suggesting that
people shouldn’t voice their opinions.
Political discourse is what makes a
democracy work. We say let your opin
ions be heard. Voice your discontent. But
it doesn’t have to be personal - in other
words let’s keep the worst vitriol aimed
at the issue, not the person.
Or to borrow from an old Christian
adage, maybe we need to hate the deci
sion, not the decider.
During a recent school board meet
ing’s executive session, one of the public
conversations while the board was away
was how people must be crazy to want to
serve on the school board. One person
said they had thought about it, but was
talked out of it, partly over the time it
takes and partly because board members
wind up bogged down in political fights.
One person said they had shied away
from running as they didn’t want to dam
age their professional life here.
What if this trend of good people
avoiding public service keeps going and
growing. We’ve already seen sheriff
deputies have to provide extra security at
a school board meeting this year - not ex
actly inviting to future candidates
What if it gets worse and we do finally
reach a point when everyone says no
thank you to serving on the mostly vol
unteer board posts for school board or
other bodies? Heck, we’ve seen people
go borderline ballistic because a non
profit, free event doesn’t meet their ex
pectations, lashing out at people standing
out in the cold, trying to provide some
thing for the community.
We saw someone post on Facebook
about taking the “jobs” of the school
board members. According to school
records, the average board member pay
in FY20 was $3,900 and the average in
FY19 was $2,860. The only benefit ex
pense is FICA/Medicare and workers
compensation, which are required. They
are paid for their meetings, but are ex
pected to field phone calls and Facebook
messages any time, and to come to the
meetings well-versed and attend school
programs throughout the year. It’s clearly
not the path to riches.
Low pay, high stress, plenty of in
fighting and at the end of four-years a
sizeable number of parents and commu
nity members dislike you more than
when you took office, all for about
$3,400 a year.
We’d ask the community to remain ac
tive, vigilant and vocal, but maybe some
times, offer a word of encouragement to
the community servants who sit on
boards or run for local office.
A simple, “I disagree wholeheartedly,
but appreciate the fact you’ll show up
every month and will keep showing up
when this hullabaloo dies down and we
are back to long and boring meetings.”
These board members are not the ca
reer politicians of Washington. Even if
you want to disagree or recall them, let’s
do it with respect.
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
See letter submission guidelines on the Letters to the Editor page or call us 706-253-2457.
Ponderings of a Simple Man
Py Caleb Smith
It ’s Hip to
be Square
“Clarke,” my editor
barked at me during our bi
weekly phone call. “I’ve got
a great new idea for your
‘Wanderings of a Wimpy
Man’ article for next week.”
I rubbed my head tiredly,
but didn’t bother trying to
correct him. If he didn’t
know my name after four
years, he was never going to
leam it.
Besides, ‘Wanderings of
Wimpy Man’ made for a
great title for my next book. I
made a note of it on the pad
of paper my wife insisted I
keep beside the phone. Not
that I needed it. My mind was
a steel trap. Information,
once entered, was never lost.
I didn’t miss much.
“..so what do you think?”
my editor said, a note of fi
nality in his voice.
“Uh, great. I just have a
few questions,” I said
meekly. “Number one, can
you repeat everything you
just said?”
The gist of the conversa
tion turned out to be that my
column wasn’t ‘cool’ enough.
He wanted me to appeal to a
younger demographic. Sto
ries about setting yourself on
fire with a poorly-wired
lawnmower don’t translate
well to the youth — many of
whom, it turned out, didn’t
know what a lawnmower
was.
After assuring him that I
would take his advice, and
promising I would check out
‘this hip, new singer, Brittany
Spears,’ I hung up the phone.
I’ll admit, I struggled with
what he was asking me. On
one hand, its important that I
always stay true to myself.
That I never compromise
who I am, no matter what dif
ficulties I may face.
On the other hand, he had
promised me a $20 gift card
if I snuck in at least one men
tion of something called
‘TikTok’. It was a hard deci
sion, one that one took a lot
of soul searching.
I walked out of my office
a few hours later, only to be
met with a shriek of terror.
“What happened to your
face?” my wife cried.
I sighed, “We discussed
this, my mother says that I
am an unconventionally
handsome ma-”
“No that, that!” she yelled,
pointing to my upper lip.
After a few minutes of con
fusion I realized she was in
dicating my new facial hair.
Goatees, as my editor had in
sisted, were cool. Beards
were not. It turned out that a
$20 gift card was about what
my dignity was worth. So, I
squared my shoulders,
slipped into my skinny jeans,
and TikTok’d myself shaving
my beard.
For the first time in my
life, I was cool.
It was horrible.
Fortunately, my editor’s
‘hip’ phase ended none too
soon and he quickly moved
on to other fads. I’ll admit,
I’m nervous about the con
tent of this week’s phone call.
All the meeting’s note says is
“Bare Wrestling.”
Fingers crossed that that’s
a typo.
[Caleb Smith is a long
time, award-winning, colum
nist for the Progress. Look
for his books at the Progress
office or on Amazon.]
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457 FAX (706) 253-9738
www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia. Entered
at the Post Office at Jasper, Georgia. 30143 as Mail Matter of Second
Class. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE PICKENS
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#Use Reboot
The. ploPle iAve
OTHER VOICES
School board needs lesson in leadership
By C. Ray Smith
Our school board seems to
have some problems with
hiring and retaining a super
intendent. The blame is not
only with the board but to the
voters of Pickens County.
Remember we voted them in.
Obviously, they are all
well-intentioned citizens but
three superintendents in such
a short period of time is a dis
grace. Is the board tndy qual
ified to serve or did we vote
on other reasons such as per
sonalities?
Often politics are a popu
larity contest, instead of
judgment of true qualifica
tions.
The role of any school
board is to ensure that school
districts are responsive to the
values, beliefs and priorities
of their communities.
Boards fulfill this role by
performing five major re
sponsibilities:
• Direction
• Establishing an effective
and efficient structure
• Providing support
• Ensuring Setting account
ability
• Providing community
leadership as advocates for
children, the school district
and public schools.
These five responsibilities
represent core functions that
are so fundamental to a
school system’s accountabil
ity to the public that they can
only be performed by an
elected governing body.
Authority is granted to the
board as a whole, not each
member individually. There
fore, board members fulfill
these responsibilities by
working together as a gover
nance team with the superin
tendent to make decisions
that will best serve all the stu
dents in the community.
A school board is not un
like a board in the business
world being responsible to
the owners. Perhaps a lesson
in leadership might be in
order.
Peter Drucker, the Godfa
ther of modem management,
defined leadership in this
way: "Leadership is the lift
ing of an individual vision to
higher sights, the raising of
an individual’s performance
to a higher standard, the
building of a person beyond
its normal limitations."
Note that the definition
says nothing about manage
ment. This is the type of lead
ership we need in our schools
including the board.
I venture to say that of the
three former superintendents
(Lula Mae Perry, Carlton
Wilson and Rick Townsend)
surely at least one was quali
fied. Perhaps not; or perhaps
the board did not give them a
chance to lead and did what
no board should do — med
dle. Let the leader lead.
If you want a good leader
who understands the job and
the interview before hiring is
clear, once they take the
reins, he or she should be al
lowed first get to know the
culture that he or she is to
lead.
Making changes in the
culture of any organization
takes time. If you hire some
one that does not work out,
the responsibility is solely on
your shoulders. Either you
didn’t do a good job in selec
tion, did not fully explain the
job or you (the board) did not
lead your new leader effec
tively.
The current board now
has three big strikes against
them and know little of what
their job is. Sometimes an in
competent board can find
themselves meddling instead
of allowing their new leader
to lead.
Chances are any qualified
superintendent knows more
about what needs to be done
than an elected (part time)
board.
Now might be time for
some of the board to resign
for the lack of competence
they have exhibited.
Maybe we should move
back to appointed school
boards by the grand jury as
Georgia used to do rather
than electing board members
and suffering with the best
campaigners who may bring
all sorts of baggage and
agendas.
[C. Ray Smith is a local
veteran & retired president of
National Financial Services
company.]
Are we
getting it
straight?
If you spot a
mistake, let our
editor hear about
it.
dpool@
pickensprogress.com
7065-253-2457.
Correction -
In last week’s edition it
was incorrectly stated that
Pickens County’s Public
Information Officer’s new
salary would be $24,700
when commissioners
changed the position from
part-time to full-time. In
fact, the new full-time
salary, not including bene
fits, is $36,000. This state
ment was also incorrectly
attributed to Commis
sioner Kris Stancil.
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI LOW RAIN
Feb.
16
65
33
.00
Feb.
17
69
40
.00
Feb.
18
68
44
.02
Feb.
19
47
42
.76
Feb.
20
59
43
.00
Feb.
21
74
54
.54
Feb.
22
56
37
.09
"Of course the voters think we need to end
no-excuse absentees. Just look how many used it!"