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Top rating opens road for Tellone
By ROBERT KING, Times Staff Writer BROOKSVILLE -- Superintendent Wendy Tellone has been on the job less than nine months, but she already seems to have erased doubts about her ability to lead the school district. School Board members gave Tellone what they described Tuesday as the best evaluation they've ever handed a superintendent, then agreed to vote next month to extend her contract. On a scale where 1 is unsatisfactory and 5 is excellent, Tellone's average score was 4.65. Clearly, Tellone's rating topped anything that John Sanders, her predecessor, received in six years on the job. Harold Winkler, who in 1992 became the district's first appointed chief, was rated on a slightly different scale. All of this falls on a woman who was given the superintendent's job by the slimmest of margins, a 3-2 vote in September that reflected grave doubts board members Gail David and Sandra Nicholson expressed about her abilities. David expressed doubts last fall about Tellone's judgment and expertise. But now she praises Tellone on several fronts, including her work ethic, visibility at schools and accessibility. Nicholson was concerned last fall about Tellone's ability to follow board directions and her relative inexperience in finance and school construction. Now, she praises Tellone for having a clear vision for the district and high expectations of her staff. Both said Tellone has gone out of her way to communicate with them. "It's a real credit to her that she realized the board had some reservations, and that she has worked on them," Nicholson said. As a whole, the board gave its best marks to Tellone for being readily available to solve problems, showing genuine concern for schoolchildren, and in keeping open a free flow of information. The board members who supported Tellone in September -- John Druzbick, Jim Malcolm and Robert Wiggins -- gave her strong marks across the board. Malcolm said the climate she has created is one of the best he has experienced in his 91/2 years on the board. After the board met Tuesday to discuss her evaluation, Tellone said simply: "I am very pleased." Board members agreed to vote June 18 on a one-year contract extension that would assure Tellone of a job through Aug. 31, 2004. Tellone's contract calls for annual evaluations in May and a decision by September on whether her contract will be extended. Tellone asked, and board members readily agreed, to postpone discussion about a pay raise until after salaries are set for teachers, support staff and administrators. That means her pay will likely be discussed in August or early September. While it was impossible to describe Tellone's evaluation as anything but positive, board members did point to a few areas where she still needs some improvement. Druzbick said Tellone must slow down, delegate more and avoid putting too much on her agenda at one time. Nicholson said Tellone should not be so quick to accept blame that belongs to others, as she has done once or twice at public events if things haven't gone perfectly. Her most pointed criticism came from David, whose marks -- while good -- were still lower than those of the other board members. David questioned Tellone's decision to hire a human resources director, Barbara Kidder, who lacked a degree and work experience in human resources. Kidder's background is in teaching and school administration. David said she was uncomfortable with some other areas of Tellone's administrative restructuring and felt that changes were a "done deal" before she had any say about them. And David said Tellone needs to be less dependant on school finance director Carol MacLeod when it comes to building the district's budget.
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