Earl Pettit officially new superintendent

By Larry Blaskey
The Daily Dispatch
Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 3:07 PM MDT


After several weeks of waiting following  the initial announcement, Earl Pettit officially became the new Douglas Unified School District Superintendent.


Earl Pettit, new Douglas Unified School District Superintendent.

The board approved the final contract last week following a discussion on specific aspects of the contract. The sticking point had been professional conduct liability coverage for Pettit.

The board also approved the hiring of two middle school principals- Nick Sherman  at Ray Borane at $61,000 annually; and Martin Muecke, Huber Middle School at $61,000. Muecke is to begin his tenure immediately, while Sherman will start at the beginning of the next school year.

The board also approved its priorities for the Arizona School Board Association political agenda.

The priorities are:

Advocate for federal legislation would improve and adequately fund the mandated requirements in the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. This pertains to the following critical areas on the legislative action agenda: funding, federal concerns.

Seek legislation to fully fund excess utility costs inside the Revenue Control Limit (RCL).

Encourage legislation to provide signing bonuses to help low income and small school districts, rural/isolated school districts to attract and retain highly qualified teachers based on the percentage of students participating in the free or reduced lunch program and/or the school designation as a small, rural/isolated school.

Seek legislation which creates greater flexibility in procurement policies and procedures as they apply to rural districts.

Advocate for a complete revision of the school finance formula that slows small and/or rural school districts’ ability to fund basic school functions and programs, such as: maintenance, utilities, health, arts and humanities, transportation costs, student meals during out-of-town travel, teacher salaries to make competitive with urban districts.

In other action, the board:

Approved the “Fill the Boot” fundraising sponsored by the Douglas Fire Department at district elementary schools, to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Approved a stipend of $7,683 for Sheila Ayrom for extra duties/responsibilities in covering an extra grade and more involved special ed students.

Approved a job description for School Improvement Specialist.

Approved resignation received from Ruth Acedo, second grade teacher at Clawson Elementary, for the end of the current school year.

Approved Memorandum of Understanding with Colors of Success for the development and implementation of the Professional Learning Communities Too Project.

Copyright © 2012 Douglas Dispatch

Comments

    Douglas wrote on Dec 4, 2008 10:48 PM:

    " WHERE IS THAT AMAZING PROGRAM CALLED COLORS?? HAHAHAHAA BUNCH OF LOOSERS "

    Sweet Mom wrote on Apr 30, 2008 11:31 PM:

    " My son goes to Colors, and they have done nothing for him, they're a joke! the lady intimidates my son. "

    Frustrated Teacher wrote on Apr 30, 2008 7:32 PM:

    " Mr. Petit, if you see this; Don't make the same mistakes as Zamar, kick Colors out of the District and treat all teachers with respect. Thats all we ask for. "

    Releived in Douglas wrote on Apr 30, 2008 2:39 AM:

    " Hopefully Mr. Petit can get down to the business of rebuildig the district that the former superintendent relished in systematically dismanteling piece by piece. It is still beyond me how our illustrious school board could just sit by and allow the former sup. to grind the district and those who work for it into the ground. Also, Colors of Success is a worthless program that claims to help at risk youth with GED and job preparedness, but actually offers nothing for the youth of this community.They can barely keep an employee in Douglas. "

    Clair wrote on Apr 28, 2008 8:04 PM:

    " I don't even want to know what is the bussiness with Colors, FISHY! did you see how they deffend themselves? careful! "

    CatLover wrote on Apr 25, 2008 10:04 PM:

    " What is this business of a "professional conduct liabilty" for the new superintendent all about? sounds "fishy" to me!!! "

    Chuck wrote on Apr 25, 2008 2:41 PM:

    " What happened to having an assistant superintendent? I guess the bafoon who presently occupies the position just won't do. I guess the board feels that coming from an American Indian culture it is very similar to the Hispanic culture, this is par for the DUSD board. "

    Curtis Washington wrote on Apr 24, 2008 11:50 AM:

    " I'm the program coordinator for Colors of Success Inc. We have had a great year with DUSD, its students and the community. We are looking at graduating an additional 12 students by May and we have already graduated 3 since October of 2007. Outside of DUSD students have achieved their GED, graduating from Charter Schools and are entering into college. Those students would not be at this point in their lives without the intervention from Colors of Success, DUSD, and Community leaders. If any one would like information on COS and our work please call me at 520-458-3449. "

    Diana Olviedo wrote on Apr 23, 2008 5:31 PM:

    " I dont know why the school District is becoming involved with an organization that has done little of nothing to help our community, Colors of Success it is not in the School or the D-Community to help, we see it as a predatory agency in our community. The District may do better programs than those provided by Colors, an out of state program that has little or no effect in our town. "

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