Dr. Keith Lankford left Sheffield City Schools in mid-August to become an assistant superintendent in Mobile. Now he's on the move again. On November 14th, he was chosen to become the superintendent of Alexander City Schools. Many in Sheffield preferred him in Mobile which was much farther away.
Those who read our blog regularly know that we have always said readers should donate their money to whomever they wish, but that they should also be informed about the recipients of their donations. Earlier today we published a link about the Salvation Army Church. The main reasoning for the article would seem to be Christmas giving, but we received several mentions of the Red Cross as well. We'll stick with the SA for now since this is the time of year most individuals give to that organization.
Giving toys and money are two different things. Presumably, the local SA church doesn't have to send any portion of toys collected to its headquarters in Virginia. How much of the money donated locally goes to administrative costs? One reader sent us documentation that it was only seven cents on the dollar while a second reader sent documentation that it was 18 cents. So what is it really?
From our cursory research, only 82% of donations go to helping others. There is a separate charity called "Feed the Children;" if you give directly to that, 92% reaches the intended recipients.
So basically, if you send a $100.00 check to the SA, $18.00 of it will wind up in Alexandria, Virginia, to cover administrative costs. This is certainly lower than many charities, but you should be aware of this.
But wait...there's more. Of the $82.00 of your donation used to help others, there's no guarantee that it will be used locally. Is there anything wrong with the money being used to help wildfire victims in California? No. Yet most of us want our money to be used locally.
Such local charities as Room in the Inn utilize church workers to perform the administrative tasks. In other words, if you donate $100.00, the entire amount is used locally for the purpose you intended.
Isn't it a no-brainer?
Most of our readers probably know that Jennifer Gray and Keith Lankford from the Shoals are among six finalists for the position of superintendent of Decatur City Schools. That means there's a 33% chance this area will be losing an educator/school executive.
We've received some e-mail about there being a conflict of interest in this search, and we do plan to address this later. Today we want to discuss why these two want to leave the Shoals.
Certainly Jennifer Gray's current position as school principal is a step down for the former Lauderdale County superintendent, so it's hardly surprising she's seeking this job. How about Lankford?
He's been at Sheffield two years. That city's schools need strong leadership. There's certainly more of a chance for Lankford to make a real difference in Sheffield than there is in Decatur. The cost of living is also less in Sheffield, so why is he eager to leave?
There are rumors that some are seeking a raise for Lankford if he remains in Sheffield. That may just be pie in the sky, but there are five thousand realities in Lankford's recent pay. Yes, the school board gave Mr. Lankford a 5K bonus for his last year's work. Is Lankford's seeming interest in the Decatur job simply a ruse to get more pay?
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The CFO of Florence City Schools Connie Wallace has been gracious enough to contact us with some information. When the new middle school is complete, the portable classrooms will be returned to the company from which they're rented. No more portable classrooms in the foreseeable future.
Mrs. Wallace has also informed us that the new middle school construction is right on schedule. Kudos to everyone making this happen!
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We were quickly informed after we published yesterday that the puppy-dropper wasn't from Franklin County, but from Lawrence. We don't have a great many stats from Lawrence at our fingertips, but we'll be compiling them for a future blog.
What we said about Franklin is still very true. Let's hope someone gets the ball rolling on some positive measures extremely soon.
Sheffield City Schools Superintendent Keith Lankford wants out of that fair city. In case you missed it:
One of our regular readers had a very interesting take on it:
Sheffield Superintendent Keith Lankford is one of the 4 finalists for Superintendent of Decatur City Schools. This story was featured online in the Decatur Daily yesterday, yet the Times Daily hasn't reported it. The people of Sheffield deserve to know that this man who has been here exactly 2 years and has turned our system completely upside down is trying to sneak out the back door.
We have to ask why it wasn't published in the TimesDaily? Why does Keith Lankford want out so soon? Hasn't he been preaching the transformation Sheffield will undergo once Inspiration Landing is completed?
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