After one year, Superintendent Diana Greene earns top marks from Manatee County school board
BRADENTON -- In an annual evaluation of Diana Greene's performance so far, the first-time superintendent received no score below a "7" on a scale of one to 10.
A contract extension for Greene will come before the Manatee County School Board during the first meeting in May, Chairwoman Karen Carpenter said. The board used the same evaluation tool for Greene's one-year review that they used for her six-month review so it would be easy to track progress.
"We used the same one so we could have a point of comparison," Carpenter said.
The board will discuss Greene's evaluation during Tuesday's school board workshop, which begins at 3 p.m. at the district headquarters.
Fifteen metrics were included for the board to grade Greene on, and Greene scored mostly nines and 10s from the five board members. The board looked at rapport building, tolerance for stress, work standards, professional knowledge, communication, decision-making and other factors in evaluating Greene.
"Dr. Greene works hard for the district and our children," board member John Colon wrote in his evaluation. "Very protective and compassionate regarding teachers, staff, and children. A few areas could use fine tuning; overall Dr. Greene has exceeded expectations."
Other board members agreed.
"I'm still glad we hired her," board member Bob Gause wrote.
One metric from the six-month evaluation was removed. The metric asked the board to rank integrity on a scale of one to 10. Gause objected to that metric, saying that a person either has integrity or does not. Carpenter then removed that metric for the one-year extension. For future evaluations, Carpenter said she'd like to see the board work to create a new evaluation measure.
The board signed Greene to a one-year, $180,000 contract in June, to replace Rick Mills, who retired in the middle of his contract.
It is likely the next contract the board and Greene sign will be for longer than a year. That's what Colon would like to see, he wrote in his evaluation.
"This should be done as soon as possible in order to facilitate long-range planning and continuity," he wrote.
Greene served as the deputy superintendent for instruction under Mills. She was a superintendent finalist when Mills was chosen. Mills then hired Greene to work under him in 2013. In Marion County, Greene was the deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction.
Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.
This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 7:55 AM with the headline "After one year, Superintendent Diana Greene earns top marks from Manatee County school board ."