Monday, March 10, 2014

Huff: Besendorfer will not be replaced

When C. J. Huff took the helm of the Joplin R-8 School District in 2008, there were four superintendents.

When Assistant Superintendent Angie Besendorfer resigned to take over as chancellor of Western Governors University Missouri that left only one.

An article posted about 15 minutes ago on the Joplin Globe website indicates that is the way it is going to stay.

Citing the economic downturn, Huff told the Globe Besendorfer will not be replaced. Huff said Besendorfer's duties will be divided among the remaining administrators.

"I feel really good about the team I have in place," Huff told the Globe. "I think we can more than get by without the position."

Of course, there is no mention that nearly every remaining upper level administrator in the Joplin R-8 School District has his or her position because of total loyalty to Besendorfer. Many of them, as noted in previous Turner Report posts, are not qualified for the positions they hold.

So it should be an interesting situation. At a time when the district is in desperate need of a veteran hand who understands the need for financial solvency, C. J. Huff is going to spread the work around to a bunch of underqualified Hessians.

Considering that his first move was to make Tina Smith, who has no educational background, the chief operations officer of the district is not a good sign.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

No better sense than Huff has, I guess we should all be relieved. But there is no one in the ad building who knows how to run a district or ensure learning is happening. It's time to clean house completely, take our district back, and protect our children's futures. The board can't do it as it stands now. There are only two people on the board that care about learning, and they always vote with the other five. We need some board members with backbone that can stand up to Steele, Flowers, and Landis. Huff has to go and his group of followers with him.

Anonymous said...

If she wasn't needed, then why the hell were we paying her 130 grand and more a year? I bet there are many more who could be cut and never missed.

Anonymous said...

"I think we can more than get by without the position." I think you can more than get by without a lot of the superfluous jobs you've created. Put the money in the kids and teachers. Maybe the teachers will quit leaving. There are more going this year than ever before.

Anonymous said...

A little of topic. Huff needs to change his photo, be reminds me of the cat from Alice in Wonderland. But when it comes to money and power he's the Mad Hatter.

Anonymous said...

If there is no Assistant Superintendent, who will take over when Huff leaves? If there is no clear #2 with any experience maybe he feels the board will not be able to take any action. We need a board that will remember to keep the citizen's interests in mind and not just the school's.

Anonymous said...

Get rid of Tina, too..she is just plain mean & with her everyone is a liar until she decides....does she use a Magic 8 Ball?

Anonymous said...

How Can Huffy be relieved of his duties? Let's do it! He's milking the Cash Cow dry! He's also picked my Money Tree bare out back .