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Marietta Daily Journal
August 24, 2005
REDDEN RESIGNS
MARIETTA, GA - After a marathon school board meeting last Wednesday, during which he offered his rebuttal to the audit report compiled by the New York forensic firm of Kessler International, Redden, with three board member votes solidly in place to fire him, vowed he would not resign. But in a three-paragraph letter to school board Chairwoman Kathie Johnstone on Tuesday he sounded conciliatory and even gracious in announcing his resignation, effective immediately. "It is in the best interest of the District to move forward in serving the children of Cobb County, and I don't believe that under current circumstances we are able to do so. With my departure, I would hope the Board is able to regain some degree of collegiality and trust which they previously enjoyed."
This past Friday, Board Vice Chairwoman Dr. Teresa Plenge called for Redden, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Don Beers and Chief Human Resource Officer Frank Cyr be fired as a result of the Kessler report. Chief Academic Officer Jill Kalina, not Beers, has been recommended by Redden to serve as acting superintendent, according to an e-mail from his confidante and school district spokesman Jay Dillon. However, only the board can name an interim superintendent.
It was not clear why Kalina was recommended by Redden as acting superintendent over Beers, but Dillon said Beers has not resigned and will be at work today. Asked why Beers was passed over in favor of Ms. Kalina. Dillon said, "At the moment, the plan is for Jill Kalina to be the 'acting' superintendent."
The board meets in executive session Thursday at 4 p.m.
The Marietta Daily Journal learned Tuesday that by resigning, Redden walks away from just over a half-million dollars he might have collected if his contract, with two years and four months remaining, had been bought out by the board, or had he been discharged by the board without cause. If he had been terminated from his two-plus-year contract by the board with cause, as three board members supported, his pay would have stopped immediately.
Redden spoke with Ms. Johnstone Tuesday afternoon and then forwarded her his letter of resignation. The other six board members, along with Cobb's 7,100 teachers, were notified of his resignation by e-mail.
"I have reluctantly accepted a letter of resignation from Superintendent Joe Redden," Ms. Johnstone, a staunch Redden supporter, said in an e-mailed statement. "This is a sad day for our schools because we are losing our leader. Joe Redden is a man of integrity whose biggest concern has always been doing what was best for the kids of Cobb County."
Board member Johnny Johnson, a strong Redden backer, said in a TV interview Tuesday night "there will have to be some apologies." However, he did not specify who needed to apologize and for what.
Dillon issued a two-page press release late Tuesday afternoon that highlighted the district's accomplishments during Redden's almost five-year tenure but made no mention of his ill-fated laptop program which, ultimately, became the sword on which he fell. It also did not mention that the school district was placed on the No Child Left Behind "needs improvement" list for the past two years.
The laptop program, which drew wide public criticism, was challenged in a lawsuit by former Cobb Commissioner Butch Thompson against Redden and the five board members who voted for it. On July 29, Cobb Superior Court Judge S. Lark Ingram ruled in Thompson's favor - saying the board had not given "fair notice" that funds from a Sept. 2003 SPLOST vote would be used to purchase laptops for all teachers and 56,000 middle and high school students - and halted the Power to Learn initiative.
On Sunday, Aug. 14, the school board received the Kessler report and met in an unusual retreat that night at Atlanta Country Club in east Cobb. The board - aligned 5-2 behind Redden throughout the year and a half it took to push the laptop initiative to board approval April 28 - was stunned by the number and depth of the Kessler allegations. The shift in sentiment became quickly apparent when Dr. Plenge, who had been solidly behind Redden, spoke out publicly, and bitterly, against him.
Board members Betty Gray and Lindsey Tippins - the board's two longest-serving members - and Dr. Plenge, who have called for Redden's resignation, were pleased and surprised by Redden's resignation. Ms. Johnstone and board members Laura Searcy, Johnson and Curt Johnston, who apparently continued to support Redden until the end, refused MDJ requests for comment.
"Certainly I think it is in the best interest of the district that Mr. Redden leaves and I wish him the best," said Ms. Gray. "This was probably the best solution we could wish for at this point."
Tippins also said it was in the best interest of the district.
"The last year has been painfully divisive," he said. "We've had working relationships that have been fractured, but I believe this action will let the healing process begin. The board obviously has been divided. I believe we have the opportunity to come back together again and function as a board and oversee the affairs of the school district."
Up until Tuesday, school board sources say Redden was firmly backed by Ms. Johnstone, and board members Johnson, Ms. Searcy and Johnston. In fact, Tuesday morning, Johnson said there was still a "100 percent possibility" that Redden could continue to serve as superintendent, while Johnston said he would remain neutral until Thursday's board meeting.
Johnston said he was expecting a second rebuttal from Redden on Tuesday evening. Instead, Redden, a retired Air Force three-star general, yielded to the pressure for him to resign.
Dr. Plenge, and other sources, say they believe Redden resigned before Thursday's board meeting because one of Redden's previous supporters apparently had switched to the other three who had voted to fire him.
A source told the MDJ it was Ms. Searcy, who, ironically, has called the Kessler report a "conspiracy."
"They wouldn't cave publicly. Isn't that interesting?" Dr. Plenge said.
The board has been bitterly divided up to this point.
Neither anti- or pro-Redden members among the seven-member board are speaking to each other, said Dr. Plenge.
"There's certainly a disagreement," Johnston said.
The Ms. Gray-Dr. Plenge-Tippins side says the other side has stonewalled them.
"That swings both ways," says Johnston. "They're not calling me, either."
Dr. Plenge said she learned of Redden's resignation from his secretary at 5:45 p.m., telling her to check her e-mail for the press release.
"I'm grateful that he decided to resign," Dr. Plenge said. "I think it's best for the school district right now. He has done what's best for the school district in giving us the opportunity to focus on what is best for children and not this controversy."
Dr. Plenge said she definitely had some interim superintendents in mind to be presented Thursday.
Ms. Kalina has been with the school district for over 30 years, serving as a classroom teacher and later as principal at Harrison High School when it was the largest school in Cobb before joining the central office three years ago as an administrator who's now in charge of the six area superintendents.
Four other names - all former school administrators or former superintendents - surfaced Tuesday night as possible interim superintendent candidates: Jimmy Howard, Fred Sanderson, Jerry Ingram former two-time superintendent Kermit Keenum.
"I guess we'll discuss that Thursday night," said Dr. Plenge.
The board voted 7-0 July 14 to hire Kessler International, which has offices in London and Hong Kong, following testimony in a July 8 court case brought against Redden and five board members by Thompson, who claimed funds being spent on the laptop program were not approved in a 2003 SPLOST vote. During the hearing, Dr. Mindy DiSalvo, a member of the district's phase two laptop selection committee, testified that the computer bid was steered toward Apple Computer even though her committee scored Dell highest with IBM second and Apple a distant third.
The board also voted to ask Cobb District Attorney Pat Head to investigate any criminal charges.
Head said Tuesday night that Redden's resignation has no impact on his investigation.
"Just the fact that he resigned does not affect our investigation," said Head, who remained tight lipped on whether he would call for grand jury investigation or not.
The Kessler audit revealed that procurement policies had indeed been violated, that Redden appointed himself and Beers to a third evaluation committee, and selected Apple as the winner before scoring it to see how it matched up against Dell and IBM.
"When you look at the reason the audit was commissioned, it was to make the determination if purchasing and procurement rules were violated," Tippins said. "There is no question they were violated and they were breached by senior administration."
Former Gov. Roy Barnes, who represented Thompson in the suit, said it was time to move on.
"You know, it's time for the school system to move forward and I'm glad it will be able to do so. Now's a time for healing," Barnes said. "We all have the best interests of children in our minds and our concern should be on children and nothing else."
Thompson said Redden's resignation came as a surprise.
"I was a little surprised because in the past, I felt he dug his heels in like any military leader and said 'I'm not going to change, this is my decision.' So I was a little surprised."
Thompson said without knowing all the details, this was a good move.
"Now we can get through the healing process because the children are the ones who have suffered - they are the ones who were ignored for the last 18 months by not getting attention from the school board."
When called at home by the MDJ Tuesday night for a comment on his resignation, Redden's phone was answered apparently by his wife, who refused to call Redden to the phone, saying, "Your stories are totally negative, you've ruined a good person," she said.
"He is not going to talk to you. Make up your own article because that's what you've been doing all along."
When Redden first arrived in Cobb in November 2000, he promised to bring a new, more businesslike leadership style to the school district.
He promised to put the more experienced teachers in the worst performing schools in the county, and offered financial incentives to teachers who were willing to stay at these troubled schools for several years.
Redden vowed to end the practice of social promotion - allowing students to advance to the next grade and remain with others their own age even if they made failing grades.
Redden said he wanted every student performing at their academic grade level.
He spoke of his leadership skills, describing his new job as superintendent as providing direction for the district and building consensus among students, teachers and the community.
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