A two-year extension of Dr. Frank Petruzielo’s, superintendent of schools, contract was approved, 6-0, Aug. 19 by the Cherokee County Board of Education. Post 1 Board Member Stephen Bentley was absent.
Petruzielo’s contract does not run out until next year, but the board is required to give him one year’s notice if it does not intend to renew his contract. Therefore, Petruzielo’s employment will now extend three years, until August 2013.
No increase is indicated in the new contract to Petruzielo’s salary or benefits package. His current salary, for 2009, according to www.open.georgia.gov, is $217,891, which includes benefits, such as medical and life insurance and retirement. He received a travel allowance of $1,001. Communications Director Mike McGowan confirmed the figures listed on www.open.georgia.gov as correct.
“I appreciate Dr. P’s leadership; this had been a rough couple of years, and we still have good test scores and a graduation rate that is rising,” said Post 4 Board Member Janet Read.
Post 3 board member Gary Puckett agreed. “In my estimation, his leadership has brought us where we are now, from being a district on probation. I especially value his foresight over the past two or three years.”
The board has had to make more than $50 million in permanent cuts over the past three years due to the recession.
Petruzielo has been Cherokee County’s school superintendent since Feb. 1, 1999. With more than 40 years of experience in public education, he is former superintendent of the Broward County, Fla. school system, as well as the Houston, Texas, school system.
Petruzielo was hired a little more than a decade ago when the district was on accreditation probation. The district now has school-wide and district-wide Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation, and is one of the top systems, as far as test scores, in the state, McGowan said.
At the meeting, the board also approved personnel changes, 6-0, which included the appointment of Bobby Blount as Assistant Superintendent of Accountability, Technology, and Strategic Planning. He will replace Jackie Hopkins, who retires at the end of September.
“He’s been with the system since 1998,” Petruzielo said. “Along with Jackie, he’s one of the reasons our kids do so well with technology and we’ve won so many awards.”
At the meeting, McGowan introduced Sydne Workman, a senior at Cherokee High School, who will be the student representative on the school board. Workman is joined by several other assisting student representatives to the board, including Will Herbert, from Creekview High School; Brian Allen, from CrossRoads Middle and High School; Dan McNeill, of Etowah High School; Megan Loudermilk, from Sequoyah High School; and Morgan Aszman, of Woodstock High School.
At the work session that proceeded the meeting, School Board Attorney Tom Roach went over the new laws enacted by Senate Bill 84, which regards ethics reform for school boards in the state.
“This is the fallout from what happened in the Clayton County School District, which recently lost its accreditation,” Roach said.
Roach noted that the new law differentiates school board members from other elected officials, stating: “School board members should be motivated by the improvement of schools and the academic achievement of all students … school board members are different than other elected officials; their primary duty is not just to independently represent the views of their constituents.”
