MONROE - New Glarus Public Schools superintendent Barbara Thompson was selected on a contentious 4-3 vote by the Montgomery County Board of Education to be their next superintendent, according to Montgomery local media.
The vote is being reported as divided "along racial lines" and "preceded by outbursts from board members," according to a report in the Montgomery Advertiser.
Black board members voted for Thompson. White members, who all wanted to continue the search process, voted against her, the article stated.
Board members debated whether Thompson was qualified, because New Glarus is a small school of about 850 students compared to the Montgomery school system, which has nearly 4,000 employees and 32,000 students.
Debate also surrounded the selection process, with white board members accused black board members of not following proper rules to bring Thompson's hiring to a vote and of not calling her references.
"I beg you in the best interest of our students to call the references. We don't want to make a mistake. Let's not be fools," one white member said.
"In New Glarus she looked like she was a principal who had two assistant principals." Vice Chairwoman of the board, Melissa Snowden said.
Snowden was among the Montgomery school officials who visited New Glarus recently.
One black board member said the board members who questioned Thompson's references and salary were using stall tactics.
Thompson was the only finalist for the job after Samantha Ingram, superintendent of Fairfield County Schools in South Carolina, withdrew on Monday.
Beverly Ross, chairwoman of the school board, said she called Thompson shortly after the vote and Thompson accepted the job.
Thompson reportedly has a base salary in New Glarus of $125,000 that is worth about $175,000 with benefits.
She told reporters, in a phone interview from her house, said she and the board would start discussing details of her contract, including salary negotiations, in the next few days, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
Thompson said she hopes the Montgomery school system will focus on what is important now that she has been named superintendent.
"We really need to move forward here, and think about what's important here and that's the children of Montgomery," she said. "We need to focus on the issues that matter and that's drop-out rates and test scores. We need to be looking more in that direction."Andrew Hellpap 7/2/09
The vote is being reported as divided "along racial lines" and "preceded by outbursts from board members," according to a report in the Montgomery Advertiser.
Black board members voted for Thompson. White members, who all wanted to continue the search process, voted against her, the article stated.
Board members debated whether Thompson was qualified, because New Glarus is a small school of about 850 students compared to the Montgomery school system, which has nearly 4,000 employees and 32,000 students.
Debate also surrounded the selection process, with white board members accused black board members of not following proper rules to bring Thompson's hiring to a vote and of not calling her references.
"I beg you in the best interest of our students to call the references. We don't want to make a mistake. Let's not be fools," one white member said.
"In New Glarus she looked like she was a principal who had two assistant principals." Vice Chairwoman of the board, Melissa Snowden said.
Snowden was among the Montgomery school officials who visited New Glarus recently.
One black board member said the board members who questioned Thompson's references and salary were using stall tactics.
Thompson was the only finalist for the job after Samantha Ingram, superintendent of Fairfield County Schools in South Carolina, withdrew on Monday.
Beverly Ross, chairwoman of the school board, said she called Thompson shortly after the vote and Thompson accepted the job.
Thompson reportedly has a base salary in New Glarus of $125,000 that is worth about $175,000 with benefits.
She told reporters, in a phone interview from her house, said she and the board would start discussing details of her contract, including salary negotiations, in the next few days, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
Thompson said she hopes the Montgomery school system will focus on what is important now that she has been named superintendent.
"We really need to move forward here, and think about what's important here and that's the children of Montgomery," she said. "We need to focus on the issues that matter and that's drop-out rates and test scores. We need to be looking more in that direction."Andrew Hellpap 7/2/09