Reader comments
Jordan east board seeking a 'superman'

is a fool. These parents are snobs and they will be breathing down the neck of the new super so much that he or she will not be able to succeed. All those who filed for the position should carefully rethink that act.

Why don't they offer the Job to the Current Superintendent, Barry Newbold?

Not know the people the old JSD and be expected to improve morale? Hmm!

What a bunch of carping nay-sayers. This is one of the greatest opportunities education has seen in this state in a long time. Dr. Bennion has impeccable credentials and has been very thoughtful and inclusive in guiding the transition team and preparing the ground for the new superintendent. Educators from around the country are watching this and at least 12 are interested enough, brave enough and qualified enough to lead the new district down this exciting road. The new board has hit the ground running and is up to the task before it.

Go ahead an keep stomping those sour grapes. Pretty soon you'll have a nice vinegar.

New superintendent will be nothing but a puppet to the new board. Pull my strings and I will say what you want just pay me. Newbold is also a puppet along with his little sidekicks so the new guy will be no different. School boards runs the show who are we kidding.

The most critical thing here is not the nay-sayers (although those very nay-sayers would have you think they are more important) it is, in fact, choosing the right person.

While the school board has final say in most aspects of the district, the super will be the one doing the leg work. It's an enormous job and it's good as least a dozen feel up to the task.

Mr. Newbold will continue to work for JSD (west side) and that is a significant job as well. While he may be very qualified to work in the new district, he obviously chose not to apply and be considered. His choice. No problem there. He will continue to do what he's done in the past, and his #1 priority will likely be managing the enormous growth on the west side while the remaining JSD grows back to 80,000 kids within then next 7 years.

At a salary of $195,000, no one from the current Jordan Distrit applied to be superintendent of the new school district?

That tells me either A...the salary is not high enough (unlikely); or B...no one who really understands the job would take it (more likely). Who in their right mind would want the job of creating a new school district from the ground up while dealing with a grossly underfunded budget, state legilators who despise public education, meddling local politicians, and whining parents with unrealistic expectations?!!

What happens when this new district experiment falls grossly short of all those promises made during the election (reduce class sizes, cut taxes, re-build schools, re-open closed schools, increase teacher pay, open a new middle school in Draper without closing other schools--just a few of the changes mentioned)? Who will take the fall? You can bet it won't be the mayors and other city officials who made all those promises. It'll be the superintendent. Good luck to you!

I feel sorry for whoever gets the job. It should be smooth sailing for the first year, maybe two, but then the honeymoon period will be over. At that point you'll have Draper pushing for a middle and High school, and Sandy area schools that are a third empty demanding to stay open. Parents will also be requesting personal time to discuss how their child's teacher is treating them instead of going to the teacher.

You'll also have groups pushing for vast curriculum changes and a shortfall in budget because the new district has increased costs but cut income per school. At that point a job change out of state would be likely.

It is too bad the East side mayors decided to hire Dr. Bennion and his two partners at a price of $200,000 plus to do the work that the new school board should be doing. Perhaps that money could have been better utilized by hiring two or three new teachers and begin the process of reducing class size as promised in the pre-vote marketing of SB71 by the mayors and the east side legislators!! What a sad way to spend our precious education dollars. By the way, this is just the beginning of duplication of services that will eventually cost the education budget hundreds of millions of dollars. Like I said, what a sad day!!

Why isn't anyone talking about the fact Midvale Elementary is an unreinforced brick building that would tumble down in an earthquake? Shouldn't the new school district make tearing down and rebuilding that school a top priority? Or is the safety of the district's poorest children not that important?

Answer to Wondering:

Most of the District (and State) schools aren't up to Earthquake standards. The legislature even voted down an Earthquake study this year in the subcommittees because it would cost too much to protect our kids if those studies showed the schools were inadequate. It had a price tag of 200K, but a potential cost of close to a billion for needed upgrades. They did however stick pre-school software at a 3.5M pop onto the omnibus bill after it had been previously defeated by vote on the floor. It goes to show where our politicians hearts are--next to their pocketbooks. I blame Stephenson who leads the Education committee.

I doubt Midvale would topple over, but agree that building should be rebuilt in the same lines of Copperview and Heartland, tearing down and starting over. To do that, the new district which will still be paying off the 2003 bond, must have the voters approve a new bond. It would be interesting to see if voters would approve that considering they wanted to reduce property tax, but I am sure if they feel that this is a need it will be approved.

This entire thing is a fiasco waiting to happen. I pitty the new Supt. for the east side, for all the reasons that have been posted. Cottonwood Heights folks are going to find that schools that aren't full cannot continue to be open, that the new man won't have a magic wand as they had hoped. Increase teacher morale? Not a chance, when all the money is being spent on the split.
Meanwhile, the west district gets Barry and his "good ol' girls club." All the while, Howard Stevenson and the voucher idiots are trying to make public schools operate like a for profit business. What a mess!

How about Rich Kendall, recently retired Commissioner of Higher Education?

If you honestly think it's such a mess, what are you doing to fix it? All I hear from you, "Fiasco," is a bunch of whining and complaining. What does that solve? What does that contribute? How is that at all productive?

It's so easy just to sit back and bellyache. If you really see problems, get with the program and try to contribute a little.

I admire immensely the dozen or so people who have applied for the job of superintendent. Will the job be easy? No. Will there be challenges? Of course. But these 12 people are willing to meet that challenge, and contribute their skills and talents and work to make a difference. Now that takes character.

Yeah Barry and his good 'ol girls club are going to have their hands full especially when they are exposed to all their short comings

The problem was that uneducated and unqualified people (the Utah Legislature) created this mess in the first place. The people who voted for the split are uninformed and illiterate as to what is actually takes to run a school district. The people on the transtion team are doing their best, but there is no magic wand and without money (something the rest of America gives its kids), the East side will continue to provide what Utah always provides: a stack em deep, teach em cheap education. That's why only 30% of Utahns hold college degrees (and the vast majority from mediocre colleges). The east side people who think this is going to bring about fabulous education are the same morons who think parent-run charter schools are great. Get outside of Utah and see what the rest of America gives their kids with the higher salaries that well-educated people make - it sure isn't cheap charter schools and ill-conceived new school districts. In fact, there have been only two or so new school districts created across America in the last century, due to how insurmountable some of the issues are.

I have great faith and confidence in Dr. Newbold. He is a man of integrity who was also was runner up for National Superintendent of the Year just a few years ago. Under his leadership Jordan School District received national recognition as one of the most successful districts in the United States. Superintendent Newbold is very wise to stay with Jordan District and not apply for the new district. I wouldn't even consider such a job and I could have applied. My integrity and commitment to teachers, parents and kids would be consistently compromised.

Our legislature created this nightmare and they will face voters. I for one will speak my displeasure with my vote. Hopefully other taxpayers will follow suit. Retired folks and people on fixed incomes should be outraged by such fiscal irresponsibility demonstrated by our legislature for allowing this to happen. You will pay heavily for this poor legislation which will result in fewer options for students and increased taxes for everyone else. This is all unnecessary and a waste of limited resources. By-the-way, many folks being paid $200,000 to help shepherd this through will be very positive to the folks who butter their bread.

Sounds like one of Barry's Sidekicks defending him.