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Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2007 > March > 13
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Mantia to Piqua: See you later
Karen Mantia
My colleague Doug Page is reporting that Piqua superintendent Karen Mantia will resign after six months on the job to take the superintendent’s post in Pickerington.
Mantia said this is purely a career move because Pickerington, a fast growing district near Columbus, is a plum job.
That may be so, but she really leaves Piqua holding the bag and that’s a shame.
Mantia spent most of her career in Northmont as a teacher and administrator. In 2000, she jumped from assistant superintendent in Northmont to superintendent in Sycamore, a wealthy, high scoring district in suburban Cincinnati.
She came to Piqua last August just days after retiring from Sycamore and she was a good catch for the district. Piqua, a post-industrial small city in Miami County, had been led through a 15-year revival by ex-superintendent Jerry Clark. Clark left the once low-scoring district in good shape despite its challenges as a high poverty city and helped make Piqua a more attractive place for a quality superintendent to consider. And the board was deliberate during a three-month search, seeking to find the best candidate to succeed Clark in hopes of continuing the momentum.
Now Piqua has to search again after getting less than a full school year from Mantia. Plus, she leaves at a time when her leadership is most needed as the district is on the ballot in May seeking a 2 percent earned income tax.
Pickerington is certainly a nice school district. It probably pays more than Piqua, but since Mantia already retired and was rehired I can’t imagine money is the big issue.
Doesn’t it seem like a superintendent who signs a three-year contract owes the school district at least more than a full school year unless very unreasonable issues arise?
Perhaps there is more to the story. If you are familiar with Piqua schools, tell us what you’ve heard about this move.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: Schools and Politics
School sued over leaf project
Driving into work, I was listening to Whoopi Goldberg’s radio show as they were discussing one of these school lawsuit outrages.
This time, a straight-A student in West Virginia got a low grade on biology project for which she was supposed to collect and classify leaves. Apparently, she was docked for turning it in late. The project was due on on a Tuesday but the student was out of school on an out-of-town student council trip from Sunday morning until Tuesday night.
The teacher initially gave her a zero for not turning it in. Later the student was given half credit, but that still gave her a B in the class instead of an A. In the lawsuit, the student’s attorney claims the teacher intentionally ruined her high GPA and asks for an injunction preventing the “B” grade from being assigned. The suit also asks for damages for “emotional stress, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of scholarship potential.”
On the radio show, the discussion focused on the facts of the case. Should the student have made arrangements to turn the project in earlier? Shouldn’t teachers make allowances for school-sponsored absences? Does the fact that this student has an A average mean she deserves an extra break?
But for me, the issue here is the notion that a grade dispute can be solved in court.
There is ample opportunity to resolve a dispute like this within the system. It starts with an appeal to the teacher. If the teacher is unreasonable, the student can ask the principal to step in. If the principal is no help, an appeal can be made to the superintendent. And if all else fails, there is an elected school board with a primary purpose of responding to the concerns of school district residents.
Through those steps is where the facts of the dispute should be hashed out, considered and judgement rendered. If a student follows that path and still doesn’t like the result I say tough luck. Life sometimes isn’t fair either.
What I wonder is if the student even followed those steps or if the family went straight from the principal’s office to see their lawyer.
What do you think? Is it fair game to take a school district to court to try to change a grade?
(Image credit: Blue Ridge Blog)
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Teaching and Learning
