We have heard that Superintendent Malcolm Thomas has taken over the hiring of all assistant principal. In the past, principals had that authority. I’m not sure if this is an effort to get more diversity in school administration or control the process and reward Thomas’ supporters. The road to jobs at the District level appears to be Tate High School, and we’ve heard grumbling about that also.
The principal pool list continues to be a sore subject in the African-American community. There are dozens of black teachers with the education and qualifications to have been added to the list. Instead Thomas inflated the minority portion of the list be adding African-Americans like Horace Jones and Norm Ross -district officials with no intention of returning the schools. Younger black professionals aren’t included. Many feel that the message to them is the school district doesn’t want them and that getting a masters and doctorates is a waste of time.