CITY SCHOOLS Board set to begin its first evaluation of superintendent

The board president doesn't like the particular instrument being used.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown Board of Education will begin its first evaluation of the performance of the district's superintendent Tuesday.
School board member Kathryn Hawks Haney, chairman of the board's personnel committee, said the full board will begin the process at Tuesday's board meeting, but it won't be completed in one night.
"It will take more than one day," Hawks Haney said, explaining that the superintendent, Dr. Wendy Webb, will be asked to supply certain information as part of the review process, and it may take some time to gather that data.
"It will take a lot of discussion. We want to take our time and go over everything," she said.
Webb was hired as superintendent in August 2004, and her contract calls for an annual evaluation, but she hasn't had one yet.
Board President Jacqueline Taylor said such evaluations are normally done in October. Webb wasn't given one last year because she had been on the job for only two months at that point, she said.
Webb, who has implemented a number of major changes in the district's academic structure this year, said she is anxious for some feedback from the school board.
Procedure
The board adopted a 56-question superintendent's evaluation form in September that keys in on six areas: Relationships with the board, community relationships, staff and personnel relationships, educational leadership, personal qualities and business and finance.
Each board member will rate the superintendent on a scale from 1 to 9 (with nine being the highest) on each of those questions.
Taylor voted against that particular evaluation instrument, saying she felt the board's examination should focus more on teaching and learning.
The board has yet to approve a staff survey questionnaire that will also be used as part of the evaluation. A proposed survey form was removed from the Sept. 13 meeting agenda and hasn't come up for a vote.
The board will meet as a unit to review the questionnaire responses and consolidate the findings before meeting with the superintendent, Taylor said.