Local News - July 2003

Superintendent rates ‘satisfactory’

Published July 2, 2003

By JEREMY ASHTON, LTN Staff Writer

Lincoln County Schools Superintendent Jim Watson has received some good grades from the Board of Education.

The school board gave Watson a “satisfactory” rating for his job performance over the last year during a closed portion of a work session held Friday at the Florence Soule Shanklin Memorial Library.

“I certainly think we chose the right person as superintendent, and he has continued to work with others to move our school system forward,” board member Jean Dellinger said.

On the evaluation document, developed by the N.C. School Boards Association, the board rated Watson’s performance in the areas of policy, personnel and educational programming as “satisfactory,” indicating he met board expectations.

He earned an “outstanding” rating in the areas of support services and facilities and internal and external relationships.

“Overall, I thought Dr. Watson performed at a competent level, and in some areas did reach the outstanding category,” board member Fred Jarrett said.

The board specifically recognized Watson for his leadership and ability to bring a team approach to issues.

“He continues to involve people in decision making,” Dellinger said. “Not only does he involve the board and his senior team and school personnel, but he also is meeting with some of the high school student representatives, which I think is very important.”

Fiscal planning and budgeting was another area singled out as a strength.

Jarrett pointed to Watson‘s work with the board and county commissioners to develop a local budget. Through a series of meetings between the parties, the school district saw an increase of $956,000 in current expense funding and $292,000 in capital funding, allowing each side to walk away “winners,” Jarrett said.

The one area board members identified for Watson to improve on was time management. They felt Watson could do a better job of keeping appointments and contacting people when he has to miss them.

Over the past year, 17 of the district’s 18 schools subject to state ABCs testing met or exceeded expected academic growth.

North Lincoln High and St. James Elementary schools are weeks away from opening as scheduled.

And Watson and his staff have been able to work through a “difficult year” that saw the loss of several top administrators for a variety of reasons, Jarrett said.

Watson and the board completed negotiations Friday on a contract extension through June 30, 2007. As part of the contract, next year’s evaluation will be closely tied to how well the school system meets a set of goals agreed upon by the superintendent and the board.

The extension has yet to be executed, and details of the contract were not immediately available.

—————

Staff Writer Jeremy Ashton can be reached at 704-735-3031 or jashton@ltnews.com.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

Terms and Conditions