What is the condition of the Sheffield City School System, and, perhaps more importantly, how did it get there? First a look at what the system once was, as per a confidential source:
Despite the snarky remarks from the three surrounding city school districts, Sheffield was at one time the crown jewel of education in the Shoals. Many Colbert County physicians, lawyers, and businessmen moved to Sheffield specifically for the purpose of sending their children to school there. I can’t tell you the number of English professors at UNA who could accurately identify Sheffield graduates based strictly off the essays they had written. The first major crack in the system happened in 1988 when Superintendent Carl Boley retired, and the board hired Dr. Roger Tomberlin. While he was successful in securing funding for technology updates, he will only be remembered for closing the neighborhood elementary schools and consolidating all of them into Threadgill.
Two major things resulted from that decision, and they changed the course of the whole school system and city. First, the demographics of Sheffield changed. Many of the professionals who had chosen to live in either the Village or Rivermont moved out of the city because C.M. Brewster Elementary School had closed. The tax base dropped drastically when these bank presidents, doctors, lawyers, and engineers left.
The second major shift involved L.E. Willson. That school had always been a true middle school that housed all of Sheffield’s sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. To my knowledge, Willson had always had a principal, assistant principal, a bookkeeper, and a separate secretary. In fact, as recently as 2016, there were two ladies in the office there who shared secretarial and bookkeeping responsibilities. When Threadgill was forced to take in all of the students from the other schools that Tomberlin closed, it was renamed as a primary school (grades Pre-K through 2), and Willson became an elementary school that served grades three through six. The board voted to build a brand new junior high that would be connected to the high school. It’s my understanding that Willson’s veteran teachers who had the certification to teach both middle and elementary grades were given the choice of moving to the new junior high or staying at Willson. A handful moved into the shiny new building when it opened in 1994, and many of those who stayed soon became very envious of their former co-workers who were now getting the latest computers and textbooks while they were being told to make do with what they had.
Thus began the great schism between L.E. Willson and the junior high. Willson’s principal at that time, Mike Owens, began promoting and lobbying for his school BIG TIME, and when Owens made a move to the central office a year or so later, he made sure that Willson got the first and best of everything. Since the mid 1990s, L.E. Willson was held up as THE example that the other schools should follow, especially when it came to test scores. Willson was the school to beat. best of everything.
The fact that Willson is now facing a shortage of subs and other necessary items due to a lack of money tells me that the school system is in SERIOUS trouble. Carlos Nelson (assistant superintendent) has been passed over twice for the superintendent’s job. I’m sure that’s why he insisted on a raise after he learned that Stephanie Weiseman was making more money as a high school principal.
I’m hearing that the teachers are being told to conserve as much energy as possible. On the record, it’s because of the energy conservation “partnership” with Sheffield Utilities, but Sheffield Utilities also serves all of the county schools, and they’re not pushing this conservation thing. My guess is that Sheffield is out of money. As for the sub shortage, that’s happening everywhere. However, Sheffield’s lack of disciple enforcement at the central office has lead to people not wanting to sub there.
The money problems began with Keith Lankford. Before he came to town, Dr. Tim Morgan was superintendent. He was EXTREMELY prudent with finances. He started a faculty advisory committee in which one teacher from every school in the system met jointly with him at least once a month to discuss issues at hand. Every time they met, Dr. Morgan would lay out a spreadsheet with the system’s finances on it. Before he approached the board with any purchases, he presented them first and asked teachers to go back and discuss them with respective faculties and staff. Morgan always said that he liked to maintain enough surplus to run the school system for eighteen months without any federal or state funds in case of an unexpected proration. Dr. Richard Gardner before him had practiced the same thing.
Sheffield schools were in excellent financial shape until Lankford got here. That eighteen month surplus was gone by the end of his first year, and it doesn’t look like they have ever recovered. I’m hearing that Davis has spent a small fortune on Chromebooks. The swift and thorough discipline that had always existed in Sheffield’s schools disappeared as soon as Lankford entered the picture.
Lankford re-wrote the student handbook code of conduct. Allow me to rephrase; he literally took pages from Jefferson County’s student handbook (his former employer) and put them inside Sheffield’s student handbook. There were sections that literally read “Jefferson County Schools” in students’ handbooks. Kids were getting away with behavior that had NEVER been tolerated in Sheffield before. That’s part of the reason why so many teachers began resigning as well as why subs began refusing jobs in Sheffield. The ONLY thing that’s going to save this school system (and city) is to have a thorough audit and investigation from OUTSIDE agencies. Until that happens, money, enrollment, population, and morale will continue to dwindle.
Tomorrow: The legacy of L.E. Willson
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