Superintendent contract negotions to begin
The Cape Coral Charter School Authority Governing Board agrees that if Superintendent Nelson Stephenson wants to continue with the system, it should welcome him with open arms and begin work on his contract ASAP.
That was the conclusion made during the board’s monthly meeting Thursday in council chambers at City Hall Both sides said they were happy with each other and the sooner they can hammer out a new agreement, the better.
The discussion and 5-0 unanimous vote to begin the process was a late addition to the agenda made by Board Member Sam Fisher, who wanted to know from both the board and Stevenson if they intended to continue on with each other.
Stephenson made his feelings clear.
“We work well together. I have no complaints and we should continue the conversation,” Stevenson said. “We have this hanging over our heads and we want to see things through. Proceeding forward is important.”
“We need to move forward with Mr. Stephenson. Let’s settle this and move forward without it being an issue,” Board Member Russell Winstead said. “Let’s put it to bed and give him a vote of confidence.”
Fisher made the motion to begin negotiations with Stephenson on his next contract, with Odette Boyer appointed as the board negotiator.
Board chairperson and city council liaison Jessica Cosden said that she wanted to have a draft contract by the next meeting in February, with whatever changes needed to be made complete by March so the contract could be signed by April 1.
In a related item, Assistant City Attorney William Buztrey put forth an amendment to Stephenson’s contract to allow for an additional evaluation and goal-setting during the year his contract expires.
Stephenson said he had no problem with the motion, saying the more feedback the better. The motion passed unanimously.
In other business, Cosden brought forth a discussion item regarding a plan to name a person or board to address issues by concerned parties that they have previously brought to the teacher, principal, superintendent and governing board without desired results.
Cosden said she has seen this done in other municipalities and wanted the board’s take on the matter.
Most on the board seemed lukewarm to the idea, fearing that the last thing the system needed was another layer of bureaucracy to handle issues that have already been settled, but continued because the losing party got a result they didn’t like.
“We have this customer-first mentality where they’re always right. They’re not always right and life doesn’t work that way. We can’t create false hope by adding another level,” Board Member Robert Zivkovic said.
Fisher said he wasn’t necessarily opposed, but wanted the chain of command to be clarified before thinking of adding another level.
The discussion will be moved to old business next month for further discussion.
The council also approved a procurement waiver so it could purchase its first wave of Chromebook to students, about 620 of them.