Here at SouthsideCentral, we’re glad to present opinions from citizens of issues of local and regional importance. Today, Jim Barczak weighs in with an OpinionCentral on his take of the problems with the Halifax County School System.<\/p>\n
\nTime for a changing of the guard.<\/p>\n
Rumors are that we are only two retirements away from balancing the school system\u2019s budget. May I make a recommendation to ask for the retirement at the top? And to paraphrase from the Star News Opinion from Brunswick County, North Carolina, dated Oct. 11, 2009, keep the search for a new superintendent transparent. As top administrator in charge of thousands of children the superintendent is no mere employee and should not be shielded from the public. There is no need to be secretive about who is interviewing for the superintendent\u2019s position. Personnel matters should not be decided in secret\u2026the people have the right to know who is in the running for such important and powerful positions. The school board should, at the outset make it clear that all interviews for superintendent be made in public, with finalist presenting their educational philosophy to the public including local educators. Those in the audience should be allowed to ask questions of the finalists. The school board should insist that the superintendent have an annual performance review done in open sessions. The people deserve to see how the superintendent and the individual board members interact, and they need to know exactly what the board believes each candidate\u2019s strengths and weaknesses are. The public has been in the dark for too long. A new superintendent will only be as good as the school board who selects him\/her. Are we looking for someone who is political? Or are we looking for someone who cares about instruction of our children? If the board wants to prove that it is competent in selecting a new superintendent, then there must be complete transparency. We need new leadership and we need it now. <\/p>\n
At the Board of Supervisors meeting tonight, which was open for citizen\u2019s comments, why didn\u2019t the superintendent speak on behalf of the school system, the teachers, and most importantly the children? There were only three school board members in attendance tonight with only Joe Gasperini speaking, why? The principal from the high school was there, why weren\u2019t other principals? There was one teacher from the middle school and four from Cluster Springs Elementary School\u2026where were the others? It is time to practice our First Amendment\u2026Freedom of Speech. Current administrators in the central office should not have a voice on who is chosen\u2026the buck stops with the school board.<\/p>\n
These are my view-points and only my view-points.<\/p>\n
Sincerely,<\/p>\n
Coach Jim Barczak<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here at SouthsideCentral, we’re glad to present opinions from citizens of issues of local and regional importance. Today, Jim Barczak weighs in with an OpinionCentral on his take of the problems with the Halifax County School System.<\/p>\n
[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,22,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-educationcentral","category-opinioncentral","category-politicscentral","odd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pwqFk-1IK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4236,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/06\/14\/jim-barczak-and-his-sour-grapes\/","url_meta":{"origin":6618,"position":0},"title":"Jim Barczak and his sour grapes.","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"June 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Anybody see the letter to the editors in both the News & Record and the Gazette-Virginian? Wow.","rel":"","context":"In "EducationCentral"","block_context":{"text":"EducationCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/educationcentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5020,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/08\/15\/oc-those-45-damn-kids-with-disabilities-its-their-fault\/","url_meta":{"origin":6618,"position":1},"title":"OC: Those 45 damn kids with disabilities. It’s their fault!","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"August 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"We'd have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for those 45 disabled meddling kids! Paul Stapleton, you're an ass. So the Halifax County High School missed making AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) because of the math SOL. So who does HCPS superintendent Paul Stapleton blame for that failure? From\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "EducationCentral"","block_context":{"text":"EducationCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/educationcentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9982,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/08\/21\/whos-going-to-be-the-new-danville-school-superintendent\/","url_meta":{"origin":6618,"position":2},"title":"Who’s going to be the new Danville School Superintendent?","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"August 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The search for Danville's new school superintendent unofficially begins today at 5:30 PM. The school board will hold its work session at the GW high school cafeteria and has asked for the public to comment on what they want to see in a new superintendent. Let's take a look at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Danville"","block_context":{"text":"Danville","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/danville\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"sclogo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/sclogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4226,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2009\/06\/14\/halifax-county-board-of-supervisors-fall-election-preview\/","url_meta":{"origin":6618,"position":3},"title":"Halifax County Board of Supervisors Fall Election Preview","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"June 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Its going to be an easy preview to write, but it's also a sad one. There's no competition at all for any of the four board seats. Unless there's a miracle write-in campaign, Halifax County will have the same Board of Supervisors that they've got now. J.T. Davis, Tom West,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Halifax County"","block_context":{"text":"Halifax County","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/locations\/halifax-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8558,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/04\/29\/jeff-reed-110-halifax-county-0\/","url_meta":{"origin":6618,"position":4},"title":"Jeff Reed 110 – Halifax County 0","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"April 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"After looking at that scoreboard, I wonder if the Halifax County IDA is having second thoughts... Jeff Reed used to be project manager at the Halifax County Industrial Development Authority before being unceremoniously dumped. A good economic developer won't be unemployed for long and he quickly found his new spot\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BusinessCentral"","block_context":{"text":"BusinessCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/businesscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11983,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2015\/02\/06\/jim-halasz-is-circling-the-wagons\/","url_meta":{"origin":6618,"position":5},"title":"Jim Halasz Is Circling The Wagons","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"February 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Gee, I wonder why Halifax County administrator Jim Halasz \"deemed\" this issue so important enough to \"interpret\" a personnel policy? From the \"I can't make this up\" department... From: \"Jim M. Halasz\"