Dr. Cathy Walker was hired to be the new Superintendent of Schools at Newcastle during a special meeting Tuesday, March 21. The board voted 4-1 with board member Darrin Abel providing the only “no” vote.
Abel told the Newcastle Pacer that he welcomes Walker, but he was not completely satisfied with the process used to hire, and also the amount of time before a vote was taken by the school board. He added that the entire process could have been more efficient.
In order to fully explain his thoughts, Abel provided the following statement: “I believe that my vote on Tuesday, March 21, was the single most important vote I have ever cast as a board member. The hiring of a new superintendent is the board’s most important job. There are significant consequences when a school board does this job poorly.
“My ‘no’ vote on hiring Dr. Walker had far less to do with her as a candidate than it did with the entire hiring process itself. I was not satisfied that we as a board had done enough work to call for a vote at that time. I still had too many unanswered questions.
“The interview process we were forced to adhere to limited the scope of questions to the point that it often led to more questions than answers. If a district patron were to ask me how I think Dr. Walker will lead in this situation or that, I am unable to answer. This is in no way Dr. Walker’s fault. It’s the fault of the process we were limited by.
“So, there were too many unanswered questions for me to vote to approve any of our remaining candidates. Had the process been as thorough as I believe it deserved to be, Tuesday’s vote would have been unanimous.
“My ‘no’ vote was simply out of an abundance of caution because I believe a ‘yes’ vote would require me to be completely satisfied with my decision and I could not honestly attest to that Tuesday evening.
“Knowing I was the only dissenting vote, it would have been much simpler for me to go along with the others in a spirit of unity. I believe that would have been disingenuous on my part. I was not elected to be a yes man. Anyone who knows me and doesn’t know where I stand on certain issues isn’t paying attention. I was raised to stand by my convictions, even if I stand alone.
“At the end of the day, Dr. Walker was near the top of my list from the very beginning. I look forward to welcoming Dr. Walker to our community and stand ready to help her embrace the values our community holds dear.”
The Newcastle Board of Education contracted with the Oklahoma State School Board Association to assist in the search process. Their services included managing the search process, application management, and providing guidance, including interview procedures.
