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A recent New York Times article said that students in Korea who fail to get in college have the option of attending a cram school to boost their chances of getting accepted to a college.

I have been working on an article about the Wade School that will appear soon in the Missourian. It's been difficult to find information on the history of the school. Reporter Elise Catchings and I searched through various archives and visited multiple historical societies, only to come up with many of the same articles and much of the same information. If you attended the Wade School and have memories of your time there, or if you are a history buff full of information on the Wade School, please share your thoughts with us!

Jim Ritter's situation as interim superintendent is not uncommon.

Employing an interim superintendent is becoming more popular, said Daniel Domenech, the executive director for the American Association of School Administrators.

The reason for increased popularity of interim superintendents is two-fold. Firstly, many superintendents retire at an early age and are young enough that they want to continue to work, but do not want to fully come out of retirement and lose their benefits or pension.

Working as an interim allows retired superintendents to go back to work for a short time, said Domenech.

"Interims are becoming more popular primarily because there's more availability," Domenech said. "It affords the district opportunities."

Secondly, districts can use the interim to set up the position for whomever is coming in full time.

"Interims have the opportunity to pave the way and set things up, so when the full time superintendent comes in, they're ready to go," Domenech said.

Domenech cites a lack of continuity as the main disadvantage of bringing in an interim, rather than seeking a permanent replacement for the outgoing superintendent.

"In general, a district prefers to hire someone full time, but sometimes the circumstances are such that it's not possible," Domenech said.

This was the situation when retiring Columbia Schools superintendent Phyllis Chase announced her retirement, leaving the school board with little time to find her replacement. In this case, Domenech said the school board made the best choice in choosing an interim, rather than scrambling to find a permanent superintendent. He said it would be worse to hire someone who is not right for the district.

"The circumstances are such that the board had its hands tied," Domenech said. "If she (Chase) had made her intentions known a year ago, the board would have had time to find a full time superintendent. But when the announcement is sprung on them, the right approach is to find an interim."

Domenech said that interims still hold as much power as a permanent superintendent would.

"They are still vested with the authority to make the decisions they have to make," Domenech said.

He noted, however, that it is unusual for a superintendent to work only part time, as Ritter has signed on to do.

"In that situation, we have to assume with his familiarity with the district that he's probably familiar with the assistants and pretty confident at their ability to carry on," Domenech said.

Ritter's appointment as interim begs the question: how much can an interim do in a year, especially if he's working part time? Do you think an interim can be effective?

--Written by Ashley Dillon

In a press conference held this morning, Columbia School Board President Michelle Gadbois announced that the board voted unanimously to appoint former superintendent Jim Ritter to serve as interim superintendent for the 2008-2009 school year.

Ritter's contract begins Sept. 1 and will run through June 30, a typical contract for a superintendent Gadbois said. Though his term officially beings Sept. 1, Ritter will begin work as superintendent today at 9:30 a.m. when he meets with the administration staff.

Gadbois said that Ritter will voluntarily be working full-time until his official start date in September. Since retiring superintendent Phyllis Chase has used her sick-leave for the rest of the month, she is effectively gone from the district. Once his contract begins, Ritter will be working half-time due to family obligations and other personal reasons.

The board offered Ritter a salary that equaled what Chase would have made this year and adjusted it for his half-time status. Since Chase made $180,000 before her departure from the district, Ritter was offered $90,000. However, Ritter didn't accept that offer, instead opting for a salary of $50,000, which he believed to be fairly comparable to the average teacher's salary in the district.

Ritter's primary goal during his time as interim superintendent will be to restore the community's confidence in the board and administration.

"I think we have some issues we need to resolve, but all the ingredients for a great school district are there," Ritter said.

Do you think Ritter is the right choice? What changes to you hope and think he is capable of making. What advice to you have for him?

The Columbia School Board met this morning for a scheduled team-building retreat. The meeting’s primary focus was to improve communication both among the board members and between the board and the district.

The team-building session, which was lead by Sarah Reed, president of Communication Center, Inc., launched discussion and awareness of communication.

Reed began the session by asking each board member to state what he or she hopes for in the upcoming school year.

Tom Rose said he hopes “for an improved sense of trust in the district.”

Karla DeSpain said she hopes for a “clear vision” among teachers, board members, parents and administration.

Rosie Tippin said she hopes the board will “be able to select a body that will lead (them)” and is a fit for the district.

Michelle Gadbois, who is the board president, said there is “trust-building to do” and he board needs to convey that it has a solid foundation.

Board member Jan Mees hopes there will be forward progress in the upcoming year.

Ines Segert hopes for discussion as well as an “open frankness.”

Steve Calloway, board vice president, said that he “would hope for us to arrive at a process that is more of a dialogue instead of a monologue.”

As part of the session, the board members discussed different perceptions of situations and how to best approach those, in terms of communicating.

Reed said the norm in our culture to formulate a response as the other party is speaking, and she encouraged the board members to concentrate on listening.

Gadbois said that is one thing she will do differently after having attended this session.

The board meets again Tuesday evening in closed session, presumably to talk about who will lead the district on an interim basis. Phyllis Chase announced her retirement last week.

In a recent article, the New York state senate introduced a bill banning bullying in public schools. The bill includes harassment based on sexual orientation.

The Columbia School Board will meet tonight in a closed session to discuss potential candidates for interim superintendent in the wake of Phyllis Chase's announcement Tuesday that she will retire.

Board president Michelle Gadbois said that she could not disclose any names of the people the board is considering for interim superintendent, but that there were several the board had in mind.

Gadbois added that she anticipates another closed meeting before the week is out. She hopes the board will reach a decision about the temporary position by the end of this week and announce it then.

Though her last paid day is Aug. 31, Chase will be taking sick leave until the end of August, Gadbois said. Essentially Chase is no longer with the district, so an interim is needed soon.

Phyllis Chase announced her retirement from her position as superintendent of Columbia Public Schools at a press conference today at 1 p.m. She will retire effective Aug. 31, she announced.

Read the news release here.

Read the Dr. Chase's letter to CPS staff here.

Watch clips from the news conference here.


What characteristics do you think the board should look for in the district's next leader? What do you hope the next superintendent will do the same? What do you hope he or she will do differently?

In a recent article, John McCain criticized Barack Obama on education.

McCain talked about a variety of changes to education he felt would improve it.

Changes:
From school choice
More local control
To direct public support to parents for tutoring

In each case, McCain said Obama came up short.

Education is becoming a hot topic. Which presidential candidate do you think is handling education in an ideal way?