JACKSON Tenn (April 9, 2015) – An audience of parents, teachers and other school faculty, packed the board room of the Jackson Madison County School Service Center for Thursday night’s meeting.

The night had come for the school board members to discuss and take possible action on the contract of Director of Schools Dr Verna Ruffin and consider approval of a budget which includes the Vision 20/20 plan.

Vision 20/20 is the name given to the JMC School Board’s restructure and reorganization plan.  The plan includes a transportation and rezoning aspect, repurposing of school buildings, and an intent to capture and reallocate dollar savings for the district.

This board is unified in almost every aspect of Vision 20/20.  Just as they at one time were unified in their 100% confidence in Dr Verna Ruffin.  A lot has changed for her since she first arrived in Jackson almost two years ago to take over the reins of the system of over 12,000 students and employees.  A once 100% approval rating by board members is now 66 – 70 %, and approval rating with faculty has as well waned.

Jim Campbell, JMC School board chairman said, a lot of the fear and frustration is because the board has had to make dramatic changes in the way education is delivered.  However, some board members say it is the leadership style of Dr. Ruffin which many employees find abrasive. Ruffin is also criticized for being unwilling to acknowledge her own mistakes and using poor judgement in dealing with staff.  Clifft, Bracher, Alvey and Neely say there are employees, who want to remain anonymous, but privately tell board members they are afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation.

At Thursday night’s board meeting the board was split along clear lines as to whether Dr Ruffin’s contract should be extended.  Board members Truman Murray, Jeff Head, Jim Campbell, Janice Hampton, and Joe Mays supported the extension.  Murray and Campbell said it would be too disruptive to the Vision 20/20 plan in place to try to  search for a new superintendent.  Campbell added, he didn’t think it was fair to make Dr Ruffin totally accountable for the current mood among staff because the board had put a lot of pressure on everyone with the changes that are planned.  Campbell said when they get further in to the implementation and staff can see the changes he believes they will feel better.  It is very understandable the employees feel the way they do right now and we, the board, are sensitive to those fears, Campbell told the crowd.

Janice Hampton blamed the board for Ruffin’s failures saying the board had not offered Ruffin leadership and guidance.  Hampton said there were some in the room and in the community that wanted to see her fail.  Some want her gone because she is a woman, others want her gone because she is African-American, said Hampton. She said if the board did not extend the contract they were failing the children and the community.

The other board members did not share the same feelings.  Dave Bratcher, David Clifft, Bob Alvey, George Neely voted not to extend the contract.  Bratcher complimented the superintendent’s financial management skills, knowledge, and connection with leaders in the community.  But he also talked about declining morale, and the difference between the perception the superintendent had of the job she was doing versus the evaluation board members had rated her related to employee relations and board relations.  David Clifft said that while he recognized Ruffn’s long hours, and work ethic,  he could not see Dr Ruffin being able to lead the system to where the board wants to go with Vision 20/20 because of the fear, and distrust by faculty he has heard regarding Ruffin.  Bob Alvey said he had lost faith in Dr. Ruffin and could not see any reason to extend her contract, George Neely offered only a ray of hope for his vote in the future by saying he would not extend her contract at this time but if she did make the changes and becomes the superintendent he thought she could be he might consider an extension in a year.

The difference among the board members on Thursday night was never about Vision 20/20 or addressing the need for better practices.  Every board member has stated their faith in every child’s ability to achieve at their highest level.  It is their passion that lead them to a split vote on Thursday.  David Clifft has for years promoted the idea of rezoning as a way to cut costs and reduce the non-learning time for students.  Bob Alvey has been a strong advocate of technology in the classroom and for addressing the school buildings long before this board’s plan. Dave Bratcher and George Neely are  leaders in the effort to get reading programs in the classrooms as early as possible.  Vision 20/20 is the culmination of not just a year but years of work.

Board members voted five to four to extend the contract one year.

The four board members who voted not to extend Dr Verna Ruffin’s contract did so based on their individual experiences of addressing concerns with Ruffin about her leadership and communication style.  A problem they believe creates distrust and fear among faculty and does not give the Vision 20/20 plan the best opportunity to be successful.

Of the five board members who did vote to extend Dr Ruffin’s contract three of those have also expressed some if not all of the same concerns of the dissenting board members but they believe that to have to look for new leadership at this time creates a greater threat to the potential of Vision 20/20. Truman Murray and Jim Campbell also expressed that they felt the issues Ruffin has with faculty should be addressed but they felt it was something she could do.  Winning over faculty and getting what Campbell has called their “buy-in” to what the board is proposing is essential for it to be successful, said Campbell.

The board’s vote to extend the contract only one year means that the issue will come up again in 12 months. That is also when four board member seats will be up for re-election.

After the meeting Ruffin said she is glad the board extended her contract. She told the audience she really wants to be superintendent in Jackson, Tennessee and she is ready to move forward with the plans to restructure schools and get more money focused on educating children.

In other action:

The board approved on first reading the 2015 – 2016 budget and approved a contract with Younger and Associates to provide public relation services to the system for the Vision 20/20 plan.

@keithsherley