In 2016, then Rep. Rob Bryan and the House Committee on Education, pushed through a bill that would establish an ASD (Achievement School District) in North Carolina allowing the control of some of the state’s low-performing schools to be outsourced to out-of-state entities.
That ASD was renamed the Innovative School District (ISD) in 2017 in an attempt to “relabel” it under a more favorable light.
After a rather contentious selection process that saw communities galvanize to keep their “under-preforming” schools from being put into the ISD, one school was then selected and marked to be taken over by an outside entity – Southside Ashpole Elementary School in Robeson County.
It is almost spring here in 2019 and the ISD still has only one school under its umbrella – Southside Ashpole.
There are approximately 200 students there.
But the bureaucratic oversight that the ISD currently has is rather expansive. Take a look at this page: ISD TEAM.
According to this profile, the ISD has the following filled positions:
- Superintendent. For a one-school system that has been decimated with systemic poverty who is rumored to be making more than some veteran superintendents of many rural counties.
- Chief Operating Officer. For a one-school system that has been decimated with systemic poverty.
- Human Resources Manager. For a one-school system that has been decimated with systemic poverty.
- Operations Specialist. For a one-school system that has been decimated with systemic poverty.
- Finance Manager. For a one-school system that has been decimated with systemic poverty.
- Communications & External Affairs. For a one-school system that has been decimated with systemic poverty.
Makes one wonder how much money we as a state are spending on these salaries.
Oh, and don’t forget, that these people are not even in Robeson County to help oversee their one-school district.
How in the world is this innovative? Mr. Johnson?
