Editor’s Note: Saying anything GOOD about the CCS School Board under Chairman Robert Queen and his band of Rogue Republicans is a difficult task. Robert A says this article had a huge potential of being a one-word article. “Nothing.” But one presentation regarding CTE, Vocational Education it used to be called, contained just a few words that completely changed Robert A’s mind. There are indeed some good people with good ideas doing the right things at CCS. Perhaps it is because the very poor top-level leadership at CCS has such a large “basket” that is hiding the “light” from these good people. Keeping them from being properly recognized. This description of the ONE big GOOD thing that Robert A was glad to discover needs some introduction.
But first, some information to describe the wrong from the right.
The WRONG notion put out by School Board Member Ron Humphries in a January 10, 2023 Facebook Post goes like this:
Several people have asked about my board member comments at last nights meeting. Below is the text:
To All Cleveland County Schools Teachers and Staff \
Having just completed my second year on the school board, I would like you all to know how much I appreciate what you do for the students of Cleveland County.
Cultivating excellence is not just a cheesy slogan; I see it manifested daily. It is easy to think of it in terms of test scores and graduation rates, but it is much more. I see it in the extra time teachers put in to learn new skills and curriculum and look for ways to reach each student to ensure their success. I see it in the Central Office staff and administration as they constantly study and research the best ways to support our students and staff with the most up-to-date science of learning, software, and tools. I see it in the shine on the floors in the hallways and classrooms. I see it in the care and diligence of the lunchroom staff as they ensure each child has nutritious meals provided for them. I see it in staff and teachers taking umbrellas out for the car riders in cold and inclement weather.
But most of all, it’s the love and compassion for the students I have seen when visiting schools that my words can’t adequately describe.
There are both wonderful and challenging days serving on the Board, but you all make me proud to be a small part of the team.
Of course, this was all “blarney” from Ron Humphries. Trying to butter-up everybody about everything. Instead School Board Member Ron Humphries provides leadership on NOTHING. And accomplishes nothing in the process. “Cultivating Excellence” is never accomplished by “Love and Compassion.” Only by identifying problems and issues and “fixing” them appropriately. And the MO at CCS is NEVER to admit to a problem. Everything is always “hunky-dory” and to raise a concern at CCS will only lead to retaliation. A “Hostile working Environment” that only leads to being pushed out the door.
Now, it is back to the January 20, 2023 Work Session. Which is mostly a Bull Session up to this point. And beyond.
Then, Mrs. Rhonda Benfield starts discussing some new CTE programs with “snazzy” slogans for names. Another requirement at CCS. “Snazzy” names on programs that mostly never work. Ho-Hum! Like “Close the Gap!” 100 years of a “Gap” that never closes.
However, as Mrs. Benfield continues on one of those Snazzy Name Programs, she says the magic words. She says that she was reviewing the program and found that something “wasn’t working”. That she made some changes and now things were working better.
“Eureka” thinks Robert A. This is exactly what you do to “Cultivate Excellence.” This is exactly what every “Quality Assurance” and “Quality Control” program seeks to do. Find problems and fix’em! And that was exactly what Mrs. Rhonda Benfield had done. Perhaps Mrs. Benfield had some training in process improvement. The STAR program is one of the many processes to achieve excellence. The “S” means to analyze the Situation, “T” means to THINK about ways to fix the problems with the Situation, and come up with a plan. “A” means to ACT to implement the Plan. “R” means to REVIEW the measurement results of the new plan to discover whether or not the new plan had worked. This REVIEW part that Mrs. Rhonda Benfield had done on her own initiative showed that her changes had worked, when before the changes, the program was NOT working according to expectations.
Perhaps Mrs. Benfield had some previous training on continuous improvement processes of perhaps it was just her common-sense that took over. In any event, Mr. Benfield used her thinking skills and not any love or compassion emotions (as Ron Humphries seems to value so highly) to arrive at a better program. And Assistant Superintendent Dr. Brian Hunnell had enough sense to back Mrs. Benfield in her new plan. Or, perhaps just stayed out of her way.
And the CTE Program at CCS is all the better for it. Especially since 80% or so of CCS students will most likely NOT go to college. They go straight into the workforce where their Vocational (CTE) training is most important.
Robert A gives Kudos (praise and honors for achievement) to Mrs. Rhonda Benfield and Dr. Brian Hunnell for their excellent work on the CTE programs at CCS.
However, folks. This is about the only thing that Robert A can say that he thought was GOOD that came out at the January 20, 2023 CCS Work Session. There was much more BAD stuff and even more UGLY. The BAD and the UGLY stuff will be coming out shortly. And I really mean BAD and I really mean UGLY. CCS is in a mess and about the only cure will require drastic measures be taken.
Stay tuned!!! The BAD and the UGLY stuff will likely curl your toes. And hopefully induce YOU to sign up in 2024 to run for the School Board. All you Unaffiliated should change your Voter Registration to Republican! NOW. Get your forms at the Post Offices or at the Board of Elections.
Remember this, NO Democrat will likely get elected in Cleveland County to anything for at least a generation. If you stay Unaffiliated you will have to get several thousand names on a Petition. That’s just the way it is in North Carolina. Get yourself re-registered as a Republican so you can most easily sign up to run for office without any real hassle. And, be sure to stay clear of the Rogue Republicans that have sneaked into the CCGOP leadership positions while nobody was looking. More on that later too.