FAIRMONT – It’s not every day a school superintendent gives a prognosis of her own possibly tenuous job review on the record – but that’s exactly what Donna Heston did during Monday’s meeting of the Marion County Board of Education.
“You have a superintendent until June 30,” she said.
BOE members failed to reach a definitive decision concerning the renewal of her contract Monday, in a non-move that leaves the district in administrative limbo for now.
When board meets again March 2 in regular session, Heston’s name will likely again be on the agenda.
Meanwhile, Monday’s impasse ironically comes in the wake of a positive job evaluation handed to the superintendent by the board earlier this month.
At the start of the school year, Heston was tasked by the BOE with a five-goal benchmark which included ramping up career technical education offerings while creating more of a social media presence for parents and other caregivers of kids in school.
Of the five, BOE President George Boyles said, the superintendent met expectations on three and exceeded expectations on two.
In the meantime, there’s a matter of school safety, which was a goal Heston brought with her when she was hired to lead the district in 2021, at the height of the pandemic.
Under her watch, facial recognition technology was put in place at Fairmont Senior and Safe Schools entrances are currently being installed at 19 of the district’s mostly aging buildings.
Last fall, the district started 3-D mapping of every school in the district, which it said could greatly aid first responders in the event, say, of a fire in the building or an active shooter incident.
Heston’s overall job performance, Boyles said, is why he made a motion Monday to offer her a three-year, $154,000 contract.
The overture showed contention on the board.
While Boyles and Tom Dragich each raised their hands for the contract – their fellow board members Kevin Rogers, Donna Costello and the Rev. James Saunders said no.
The board president followed with another motion for a two-year contract at that same salary, which failed by those same voting lines.
Same for a one-year contract, also at $154,000. Again: Boyles and Dragich, yea – Rogers, Costello and Saunders, nay.
“I would move that we let the current contract expire,” Costello motioned, with Rogers agreeing and Boyles and Dragich again voting no. Saunders abstained.
A discussion on whether or not that meant Heston was out – or still in, given that there were technically three failed motions – followed.
“Technically,” because the abstention of Saunders meant a tie for the third go-around.
“How did it pass if it’s 2-2?” Dragich asked.
None of the board members offered comment after, but Boyles did remind the BOE of a now-new timeline.
“We have until March 1 to deliberate,” he said.
