Is the School Board about to make another bad decision?

Sometimes, you just can’t wait and see what is going to happen.

Sometimes, you have to speak up before the deed goes down — just in case you can talk some sense into someone.

And that is the case when it comes to the Wayne County Board of Education’s upcoming decision about whom to hire to run your children’s schools.

The rumor mill is working, of course, and we have listened with interest, but did not put much stock into the name-dropping and Monday morning quarterbacking.

After all, the board seemed to get the last time its members met that this was a critical hire and that the absolute best and experienced superintendent is what was needed at the Central Office, especially since the consequences from the $5-million-plus budget deficit are far from resolved.

If you don’t believe us, just ask the beginning teachers who will soon find themselves without WCPS jobs.

And they did hire the N.C. School Board Association to assemble a choice of some really good candidates to interview and to evaluate. You remember, that cost you $20,000.

They also asked you what you thought — and the survey results were clear.

This community wants an experienced superintendent “with a proven record of success” — particularly in finance and budgets.

Surely, the board heard you. Its members must be taking this seriously and doing what is best for the district, right? 

But then we heard a name — more than once.

We heard the scuttlebutt from multiple people in and out of the school district.

And then we heard, from a board member, that a contract could be offered as early as Friday.

So, it is time to speak. We hope it is not too late.

The name we have heard is Dr. Tim Harrell.

Yes, that Tim Harrell. A current WCPS assistant superintendent who was on the leadership team during the district’s financial meltdown.

Now, we’re not blaming Harrell for the budget fiasco. By all accounts, he’s a decent man — an experienced administrator who was popular during his tenure as Southern Wayne High School’s principal.

And under normal circumstances, we might have scratched our chins and said, “Well, that is an interesting idea. A hometown guy, someone who is well-liked and who cares about the kids and the schools. Sure, he has no experience, but the district is operating OK now, so we can take a bit of a risk on someone who doesn’t have the years under his belt.”

But not this time. And it has really nothing to do with Dr. Harrell.

Sometimes, when you see an ad for a dog, you see a note that this is not an animal who should go to a first-time owner.

It is not a bad dog or a pup without potential, but it is not a beginner breed. It just isn’t.

Wayne County Public Schools is that — not a beginner breed. In other words, given what we’re up against, this is not a district for a first-timer.

Any fool can see why.

WCPS is still in the thick of a massive budget crisis — one that allegedly slipped by an entire experienced school board and was orchestrated, they say, by an experienced superintendent.

So, let’s say that it is true that Dr. Michael Dunsmore was the villain who masterminded this whole financial mess — and that the board members really were innocent lambs who did not see the writing on the wall or the budget trouble.

They have proven that they cannot spot the necessary warning signs and that they need an experienced hand at the district’s helm.

And that does not mean a rookie superintendent and yet another consultant.

There is absolutely no room right now for a learning curve.

So, you might ask, why in the world didn’t anybody see this coming and send up a warning flag? Why is this not something that was discussed with the community? 

And how is it possible that the most qualified candidate for our particular circumstances we could find for $20,000 was a would-be first-time superintendent who was right here in our backyard the whole time? 

Well, if you’ve followed this “search,” you likely also recall that the board made a decision to keep it private, to not release or discuss any of the names so that the privacy of the applicants would be protected.

It is not an uncommon decision. It is true that some people might shy away from an open-book hiring process.

But it sure seems a little bit convenient now, doesn’t it?

So, that brings up a question — why Dr. Harrell?

Why dismiss the overwhelming majority who declared, during public comment periods and through the survey process that saw more than 400 responses, that experience was critical?

We have a theory.

It is because Dr. Harrell is well-liked.

And because he’s inexperienced.

You see, the board has been under a lot of pressure lately about its decisions — or lack thereof — over the last few months.

You don’t suppose that the idea is to put someone in the office who does not have the experience necessary to know how to stand up to the board — and that somewhere, somehow there are a majority of members who believe that THEY rather than the superintendent should be in charge of setting the direction of the district?

Well, let’s give that a whirl.

These are the same people who sat back and watched a $7 million fund balance slip away without saying a word. These are the same members who are STILL employing high-priced consultants, one of whom charged a retainer and still billed the district $80,000 for answering board members’ phone calls.

These are the people who were already in charge — one of them for nearly a decade and several others, members of the Finance Committee.

And they think the district would be best left in the hands of the board? Pause and let that sink in.

The current board has not liked being asked questions, or having its decisions scrutinized.

In fact, avoiding those questions, and a true representation of what happens at board meetings (without the selective accounting and the conveniently missing commentary) has become its modus operandi.

In other words, transparency is still not Job 1 — no matter what the community says it wants to see more of.

Here’s the bottom line. We like Dr. Harrell. He is a good man. And he might very well make a fine superintendent some day.

We just don’t think that he is ready for such a big job in a district with so many challenges to overcome.

And we, like many, many Wayne County residents, do not think that those who made the mess should be involved in the cleanup — and that means that while the board should supervise the running of the district and ask the questions of those who sit in Central Office and answer to the community, its members should in no way be the sole determinant of the direction our schools will take — or the puppet masters behind the scene.

Dr. Harrell deserves better than that — and so do our children.

Unless, of course, we have decided that perhaps we can do without economic growth, residential and business investment and an Air Force base.

You said it loud and clear. We’ll echo your thoughts.

We need someone with experience for this job, and someone who can come in and make the changes necessary to move this district forward.

If the school board does not have such a candidate, its members better get busy and tell the School Board Association, who they just paid $20,000 to find a guy who was already in the room, that it’s time to solicit another round of applications — just like members promised they would when this whole process began.