Steve Price New Superintendent of Hazelwood

Hopefully, this means that we are finally done with this guy and won't have to pay him on his contract any longer. Feel sorry for the people who have kids in the Hazelwood Missouri school system. They won't be happy in a couple of years. Oh well, he's their problem now.

acclaro- this Hazelwood position hit us all by surprise. The last thing I knew, Price was still in Oshkosh as a candidate to be their super. I had asked about his status in an earlier post this past week.

John posted a link to the St.Louis paper serving Hazelwood Missouri. I have registered with that paper and intend to offer my comments about the hiring of Price. The news article does not accurately reflect Price's performance while here in Middletown. I intend to let the people know another side of things, albeit, too late for the people in Hazelwood. At least they'll know what they have to deal with for the next few years and will know that all was not all peaches and cream as the article suggests. Please join me in posting your opinions about Price to the Hazelwood people.

I agree with the public servant positions, the lack of public outrage, etc. I believe this scenario of supers leaving one district to be recyled and reclaimed by another is epidemic. IMO, there needs to be a nation-wide network setup where a district that is shopping around for a super can review candidates on a super search website that allows for the district the super leaves to input concerning performance, weaknesses and strengths, etc. to benefit a potential receiving district. Might save some long term pain for some unsuspecting school districts as to potential problem supers. These are public positions funded by the taxpayers and they have a right to know what their money is buying and the quality of the character of the one running their district. When you go public with your position, IMO, you give up that privacy.

SupportMiddletown- the info. we received from the people in Mansfield must have done some good. The person dropped out before selection time and may have saved us some major heartaches down the road. Shouldn't we offer, albeit too late, the same favor that was accorded us? SOME of these supers have a habit of going from district to district, unrestricted, double-dipping, poor performing, without being policed, dragging once proud systems down like the Titanic. Need to have a network with performance histories on them so that the potential receiving district won't make the same mistake again. These are public positions after all.

Do you really think he'll change? I've talked to Price. He and I got into it at a pro-levy rally years ago at the old Seniors Center downtown, when I brought along the proficency scores from the last 5 years and asked him why they were significantly lower than any district around here and why we should give him more money to produce the same results that didn't appear to be improving. He became very irate and said to me, "well, I just don't see it that way". I asked again for him to explain how he saw it and got "avoid the issues" talk.

Got a hobby....picking on people who need to be banished. Some city leaders come to mind. Some school board members come to mind.

Sorry you find external banishment to be "sickening". The public, in all towns, must be protected and informed about these public parasites. An information network for potential super candidates is needed to protect unsuspecting communities from hiring destructive people. JMO

I think Price, or any official, may be a good fit somewhere, just not here.  Based on his marching orders when he was hired, he made "some" progress.  The problem was most of us disagreed with those marching orders and he failed to change over time or play nice with others.  The last few years most of us disagreed with his priorities but he wasn't a thief, a tabloid embarrassment, or particularly unqualified.  Informing other communities of your opinion may be one thing but if someone is suggesting that he be hounded to the ends of the earth so he can't get another job is over the line.

acclaro wrote: Was Dr. Price drawing his pay while also being an Adjunct Professor at MUM and doing consulting work? I remain astounded how either foolhardy or completely brain dead Americans have become, especially in Middletown. He gets a year's salary, pushed by a school board President who does alot of accounting work in the public sector, is at MUM all the time, and lands an Adjunct Professor role, while probably being paid by the school system.

Acclaro, If Price is being paid for teaching at MUM, I assume he's being paid on a per class basis with no benefits. But perhaps you know better, since you claim he's "at MUM all the time"? How do you know that?

Do you have some special information about Dr. Price's contract? The adjuncts I know who teach receive very little pay per class, which is why those who make a living doing adjunct work often teach multiple sections of courses at multiple institutions with no health nor retirement benefits.   But hey, what do I know about these things, I'm still learning English grammar.

Marianne- "not the rants of a few bitter people"....Bitter?....perhaps.....but with justifiable cause. Look at the record. Look at the accomplishments. Facts are hard to deny.

As to your comment concerning people not talking about Price. I don't hear people talking about Price either but since he is the topic here, I surmise that he will be discussed.

I did not read your earlier post Marianne regarding MUM. Having a father whom was a university President, I am well aware of the problems associated with Adjunct Professors, and also the benefits. UC has terrific Adjuncts, including one who is a senior executive at JNJ- Ethicon. Another I know is a top clinical psychiatrist with a thriving practice in Blue Ash. My understanding was Dr. Price was paid benefits for one year, so your point rings hollow, unless I misunderstood the plan he was extended. The vast majority of Adjuncts work fulltime in other positions, and therefore have benefits from their employer.

^Your screename is quite appropriate with that post.

acclaro wrote: I did not read your earlier post Marianne regarding MUM. Having a father whom was a university President, I am well aware of the problems associated with Adjunct Professors, and also the benefits. UC has terrific Adjuncts, including one who is a senior executive at JNJ- Ethicon. Another I know is a top clinical psychiatrist with a thriving practice in Blue Ash. My understanding was Dr. Price was paid benefits for one year, so your point rings hollow, unless I misunderstood the plan he was extended. The vast majority of Adjuncts work fulltime in other positions, and therefore have benefits from their employer. I've personally seen Dr. Price on numerous occasions at MUM prior to his contract buyout. In spite of your stereotypical belief, there are actually a few Phi Beta Kappa's on this site (and others), but there is no need nor effort to attempt to always be the smartest guy or gal in the room. Dr. Price didn't deliver.  Most know in Middletown those words are foreign, atypical, unfathonable, But in the real world, that's called being succinct and direct.

My comment about adjuncts had nothing to do with the quality of adjuncts, acclaro. I know that people who are professionally successful also serve as adjuncts. My statement about adjuncts concerns the pay and benefits they receive. I'm a bit suspicious of the claim "The vast majority of adjuncts work fulltime in other positions, and therefore have benefits from their employer."

So you've seen Price at MUM before his buyout. Ok, but you posted how he's at MUM "all the time"?    

By "contract," I was referring to Price's contract at MUM for teaching. If you have knowledge that he's getting benefits from MUM for a year, I'd be surprised.

I used to think this town's only hope for a quick infusion of jobs and money would be if we got a casino.  Now I'm wondering if we could have used the marketing dollars to entice a producer and network to produce a reality show about M'town.  One idea could be to televise contestants operating a few giant wrecking balls -- just leveling the hell out of everything in town. Call it "City in Ruins" or "This Town's A Wreck!".  Maybe another idea would be to set off a small nuke in downtwn and see if anything was impacted (or improved!) -- call it "Smoke 'em Out" or "Ghost Town".  Another concept would be "Are You Smarter Than These Fools?" where 5th graders from around the country compete in a quiz show against city council members and high school students from MHS in a battle of brains and common sense.

Why did Steve Price leave Middletown SD? I have looked on the internet and all I can find is that he left due to mutual agreement. Why was there such an outpouring from the community on wanting him to leave? I am truly worried about what HSD has gotten themselves in for. Demographically our district is almost opposite as yours and is almost three times as large. You all wanted him gone and several school districts he interviewed in did not hire him. This does not sound like it bodes well for HSD. Can we get some answers from those of you who have lived through his tenure in MSD?

HSD, to sum it up succintly, Price was brought in by the board to (1) improve performance in a decaying, struggling district (failed), (2) increase staff diversity (succeeded), and (3) get new levies passed (mixed results).  The public never bought in to #2 and #3.  He was able get passage of a levy for the construction of new elementaries and I think a couple operating levies but I think they were just renewals and not increased funding.  Many in the community questioned his poor bedside manner with teachers and others in the public.  He regarded hiring minority administrators and paying for diversity consultants to "re-wire" teachers' thinking more important than improving state test scores and maintaining discipline.  The latter issue became his undoing as the schools rarely expelled or otherwise held students accountable.  That said, maybe he is a good fit for your situation.  Good luck.