Traverse City Record-Eagle

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November 29, 2008

Feil evaluation secret -- for now

By LINDSAY VanHULLE

TRAVERSE CITY -- School board members in Traverse City will wait weeks before sharing specific information about how their chief administrator performed this year.

Five of the seven board members met behind closed doors last week with Superintendent James Feil to discuss his annual performance review. Gerald Morris and Dave Barr were absent from a nearly three-hour session on Nov. 24.

But neither board members nor Feil would share details of the evaluation until a board report is finalized next month.

"They're respecting my rights for a closed session," said Feil, who earns $159,832 this year under a three-year contract set to expire in 2010. "The public will be pleasantly pleased to have an update."

That update won't come until Dec. 15, three weeks after both parties met for discussion.

Under the state's Open Meetings Act, Feil is allowed to request a closed session for his evaluation. The legislation forbids public disclosure of minutes taken during such sessions, except with a court order, but does not include language against a participant publicly expressing his or her thoughts.

The final report will be written by board President Fred Tank, with collaboration from other board members.

"In general, I can tell you that the report will be favorable," Tank said. "The board is feeling optimistic and positive and feeling that we're on the right track, and that we're prepared to meet the really difficult challenges coming."

In the past year, three of the district's elementary schools closed, its schools underwent a grade reconfiguration and the high schools switched to a trimester grading schedule.

Barr said Feil kept the district on track during the transitions, many of which were the result of state decisions beyond their control. He said he will add his input when he reviews a draft report.

"I don't have any real major issues with anything that Jim does," Barr said. "Everybody can always second-guess, but Jim's done a fantastic job along the way."

Board members this year moved the superintendent's evaluation to the end of each calendar year in order to complete it before newly elected members start in January. The review had been done near the end of each school year, but new members often were unfamiliar with the superintendent's earlier work.

The district's three goals -- improving student achievement, increasing communication and managing resources -- are used as benchmarks. Feil's last evaluation was in February. He received the most suggestions for improvement in communication.

Since then, "there's been some ground gained," board member Marjie Rich said. "Is there room to improve? Surely, always, but I think the fact that he recognizes the importance of it is great."

Board member Suzann Brooke would not offer her own impressions of Feil's performance.

"It was a closed session on purpose," she said. "It was a very honest discussion that we had."

Morris was on vacation last week and plans to attend both meetings in December. He said he would be comfortable with a report based on what the other members discussed, and that Feil has performed "fine" this past year.

The process also helps the board, member Megan Crandall said, since it looks thoroughly at the district's goals and acts as a team to reach consensus.

Board member Alice McNally could not be reached for comment.

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