The Turner Report has confirmed that the Springfield School District gave serious consideration to Joplin R-8 Superintendent C. J. Huff for the position.
Huff has been Joplin's superintendent since 2008, when he was hired to replace Dr. Jim Simpson, who took a position as superintendent in the Lindbergh School District in the St. Louis area. Before Huff was hired in Joplin, he was superintendent of the Eldon School District for four years and at one point early in his career was a principal in the Springfield School District.
Huff's path to the Superintendent of the Year honors started with his actions following the May 22, 2011, Joplin Tornado, when he famously declared that school would open on time, despite the loss of six buildings in the tornado. In this video, he famously declares it again in front of a packed audience at the Wisconsin State Education Conference.Jungmann, who worked his way through high school and college as a sports reporter, first at the Lamar Democrat, then working for me as sports eidtor of the short-lived Lamar Press newspaper. He began his teaching career at Lamar High School, became a principal and later superintendent at Monett and currently is in his first year as superintendent of the Liberty School District.
13 comments:
The biggest rat of them all is trying to flee the sinking ship.
Mr. Turner, he not only was the Missouri Superintendent of the Year, but he was a quarter finalist for the National Superintendent of the Year. As I recall, he was trumped by a superintendent whose district had made solid gains on ACADEMICS, an area where Dr. Huff has failed miserably. It's not very showy, when you think about it. Boring old studying and computing and all that. Not much for the media to latch onto.
I wonder how his loyal fan base on the board is feeling about the news that he was going to run off and leave them to clean up the gigantic mess that he and Bessie made. And those running for his benefit? Feeling betrayed? You should. The rest of us have for years.
Now, that's two top administrators leaving before their dream schools have become fully operational. Isn't that just curious? It becomes curiouser and curiouser around here every day. You'd think they'd want to stick around for the bragging rights, wouldn't you? Huh. Interesting.
Holy cow, the mighty have fallen. That happens when the truth starts seeping out and staining your superhero costume. No matter how much BF laundry soap you use, those stains are just set, gosh darn it. Keep trying to get away though, CJ, we're all rooting for you to get out of here!!
And if you've seen the video of him at one of the press conferences, you can see him overwhelmed with emotion when he sees his former coach. Seems like a really nice guy. Looks like Springfield got a prize.
I wonder if Huff ever watches his very first opening day speech. Sure had everyone fooled. Wish it had been the truth.
He wasn't passed over, he was run over by the truth. Thank God the children of Springfield will be spared our sorrow.
Sure are a heck of a lot of VIPs leaving town these days. Did they run out of fame and glory or is there something bigger we should know? I hope Turner can tell us soon. The Globe never will. I notice their forums are set up so that at the city council forum the pro-Rohr folks can be present, but the school board forum is closed, so the anti-Huff folks can't be present. It's such an obvious bias it's pathetic. I wonder how Ms. Stark feels seeing all of her little champions trying to get away as fast as they can.
Ms. Stark, in case you haven't guessed no one would be sorry to see you go. Here a suggestion, retirement.
People trying to get out before they get labeled with the consequences of the mess they made.
The "leaders" who stake their claim on BS are equally susceptible to BS - this is why so many people who thrive under them are cut from the same "kiss up, kick down" cloth. When new folks step into the abandoned leadership roles, these barnacles will quickly shed their loyalty to the past administration and attempt to attach to the new. Whether or not that works is contingent on whether the new leaders are the same types as before.
We really have had too much of these types here in town, from the Neosho lawyer who is most responsible for making a mess of MSSU to the school board to city administration.
All narcissists incapable of serving the community because service to others is incompatible with being a status-seeking control freak.
Then there's Carol Stark, who hides beyond journalistic idealism when it's convenient and doesn't interfere with personal interests. A coward afraid to stand up to anyone who isn't already on the ground
We keep waiting for CJ to send us an email saying this is wrong and he's not looking around. So far, not a word. No one working in Central Office is qualified to run the place, not that the current leader is a good leader. We can only hope this report is correct and he is going to leave shortly.
The damage that Huff and Co did to this district is devastating. Academic progress lags far behind the state average, morale is at an all-time low with another round of teacher flight in progress, teacher pays is $7,000 below the state average while admin pay is at or above the state average, the district is broke from supporting so many non-teaching personnel paid high salaries and going on many, many expensive trips. Students and patrons are not happy with the current method of education, and distrust of the Board and the administration at all levels could not be worse. It is past time for Huff to go. The entire administration needs to be revamped, and common sense needs to be restored. That will not happen if we maintain the same school board. Please do not vote for the status quo; vote for new people with the courage to clean the district up and put it back on the right track: Fort, Koch, Guilford.
Maybe Bright Futures can help him pack and get situation somewhere else. That would be the best investment in education for Joplin's kids.
Post a Comment