Superintendent contract renewed; GHS principal supported
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on August 10, 2006 1:47 PM
Board of Education members threw support behind two of its leaders Monday night -- Superintendent Dr. Steven Taylor and Patricia Burden, principal of Goldsboro High School.
Taylor, entering his seventh year as superintendent of schools, received unanimous approval for a one-year extension on his contract.
Board member George Moye called the annual evaluation a reflection on the staff Taylor had assembled.
Taylor thanked the board for its ongoing vote of support and echoed the sentiment about the leadership team.
"The staff can either make you look really bad or really good," he said, expressing appreciation to the central office staff he said was exemplary.
Board member Pete Gurley mentioned Ms. Burden in connection with the ongoing negative publicity this past year surrounding Goldsboro High School's inclusion in the list of schools Judge Howard Manning threatened to close because of low test scores.
Gurley said Ms. Burden has had a tough year and urged the school board to "do whatever they need to let this lady know that we're 100 percent behind her.
"She's got a lot of challenges, folks, and I think a lot of undue criticism."
Gurley said it was important to back the principal in all that she and her staff have done and will continue to do.