Beaufort County superintendent Jeff Moss gets high marks in school board evaluation; wife's hiring left out
The Beaufort County school board gave superintendent Jeff Moss a positive performance review Tuesday and announced it would not review his decision to alter the district's nepotism rule and approve the hiring of his wife.
The school board went into a closed meeting for about six hours Tuesday to evaluate Moss, emerging shortly before 11 p.m. with a statement that Moss had been rated as "proficient or higher with some areas in need of improvement," for the period of July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015.
Board members commended his efforts to expand the district's pre-K program and improving screening for volunteers who work in the schools. But they cited a need for Moss to focus more on improving high school graduation rates and providing more opportunities for lower achieving students.
A second statement indicated that members were satisfied with the way the board had handled Moss' change of the nepotism rule and that no additional review was necessary.
"The Board has clearly communicated its feelings, expectations and dissatisfaction with the way the matter unfolded," the statement read.
But board members Michael Rivers and JoAnn Orischak, who have spoken out against Moss' recent actions, say their points of view were not represented in the board's' statements.
"The school board is more concerned with looking right than doing right," Rivers said Wednesday.
Board chairwoman Mary Cordray said that she felt the letters were a joint effort by the board and represented the majority of members' opinions.
"I think the documents as I read them present a clear consensus on the part of the board," Cordray said. "They were very much a collaboration."
Moss said he agreed with the board's performance review of his work during last fiscal year.
"I appreciate their encouragement on my initiatives and I think the board was right on target with what we need to focus on going forward," Moss said.
Moss opted not to comment further on the board's decision not to pursue a second review focused on the nepotism allegations.
"I know they've already vetted everything thoroughly and their statement stands on its own," he said
Moss, who earns $220,000 annually, has maintained he acted ethically and professionally in relation to the hiring and apologized to board members Sept. 21 for the publicity surrounding the incident. The board then voted for more oversight over district hires and administrative rules and is developing a board policy regarding nepotism.
But some members of the public have continued to criticize Jeff Moss and the school board's lack of response to complaints, including more than 500 people who signed a petition seeking the superintendent's resignation.
A community group organized in response to Moss' recent actions, Citizens About Responsible Education, or CARE, came out Wednesday in opposition to the board's lack of response or further action to the nepotism charges.
"I think it's a white-wash," said Richard Bisi, a CARE co-founder. "The board turned a deaf ear to the public. This whole episode has been a wake -up call to the voters and we are not going to go away until there is some sort of consequences."
Bisi also criticized the evaluation of Moss' tenure in the 2014 fiscal year, citing a persistent achievement gap in some schools and the district's struggle to retain qualified teachers.
Moss' annual evaluation was delayed more than a month while board members requested a new evaluation form.
While contributions to Moss' annuity are generally contingent on a positive evaluation, he received about $22,000 -- 10 percent of his salary -- automatically when the board did not complete the evaluation by the Oct. 20 deadline.
Following Moss' evaluation last year, which was his first in the district, the board extended his contract to 2020.
Results of superintendent Jeff Moss' performance evaluation
School board statement on the hire of Darlene Moss as director of innovation
Follow reporter Erin Heffernan at twitter.com/IPBG_erinh.
Related content:
- Superintendent up for review: Beaufort County school board will evaluate Jeff Moss in coming weeks, October 29, 2015
This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Beaufort County superintendent Jeff Moss gets high marks in school board evaluation; wife's hiring left out."