News Summary

By Lucas Sullivan

Staff Writer

Springfield City Schools Superintendent Jean Harper plans to recommend a candidate for campus principal of the Springfield High School at a special meeting Tuesday.

"We have three external candidates and one internal candidate," said Harper, who declined to give the names of the people being considered.

The announcement came at Thursday's board meeting and after the district said two weeks ago that Mark Stoll, current North athletic director, and Greg Newland, South's athletic director, would be athletic and associate athletic directors, respectively, at the new school.

Harper said she is following a timeline developed by education consultant EdWorks, a subsidiary of Knowledge-Works Foundation, an Ohio-based company that helps redesign urban schools for a "better educational experience."

EdWorks is assisting the district to merge North and South high schools at 701 E. Home Road. The 2,400-student population will be divided among three floors and a wing of the 384,000 square-foot building into four schools, each with a core curriculum, teaching grades 9 through 12.

Harper also said she plans to hire principals for each of the four small schools from within the district.

"It's important not to layoff any of our current staff," Harper said. "Absolutely it is important to start consolidating our staff as well as our students. We are not looking to layoff any of our staff."

Board member Don Reed took issue with Harper's decision to hire current principals and assistant principals within the district for the small schools, saying that was not the recommendation of EdWorks, who is being paid $577,000 for its services.

"I am concerned that we are paying a lot of money for EdWorks and not following EdWorks' advice," Reed said.

Teacher's union president Ed Rhoads said he agreed with Reed's interpretation of EdWorks' recommendation to look outside the district for principals.

Questioned again by Reed, Harper assured him that she was following the plan.

"EdWorks is consulting us," Harper said. "They are a consultant."

In other business:

• Treasurer Penny Rucker was given a contract extension through July 31, 2011 with a salary of $95,000 a year.

• Parents and students at North might notice some temporary fences and construction in the main parking lots for the next few weeks. The district is going ahead with construction on a new parking lot for the new high school. Construction is supposed to last for the next two weeks and will create about 175 to 200 new spots, according to officials.