What has Danville Public Schools Done?

Lets see what has happened since Sue Davis took over Danville Public Schools. A measure of true leadership is performance. And the performance has been miserable to say the least. The money flows but with no results. If she was a CEO of a major corporation the board of directors would have removed her long ago. But Danville School Board just smiles and says everything is ok as they all stand with their fingers in the dike. It’s a shame and an embarrassment to the citizens of Danville.

Why the criticism? Lets start with drop out rates. Danville’s rate is 3.65% compared to Pittsylvania County (1.24%), Henry (2.54%), Halifax (1.29%) and Patrick County (1.20%). I’m sure they will puff up and say that these districts do not have the problems of an urban district. Well ok let’s look at “urban” districts: Lynchburg (2.06%), Newport News (0.66%), Hampton (2.95%), Norfolk (3.06%), and Staunton (1.0%). GWHS had 102 drop outs by itself. Lord even the golden goose Galileo had 3 drop outs! Enough said. Danville has not stepped up to the plate and addressed this issue with any amount of success. The disgraceful way the leadership has ignored the problem thinking it would go away borders on malfeasance.

Are the schools safe? Not by a long shot. GWHS had 5,316 violations of school regulations in 2006-2007. This includes student disruptions, weapons, drugs, and fighting. This is up from 2,406 in 2005-2006! A lack of leadership both on the school level and the district level again. The school board turns a blind eye.

High drop out rates, out of control discipline, outrageous costs, questionable spending of funds, an exodus of good administrators, teachers fleeing to other districts, and a employee morale in the toilet is what this board has allowed to happen. What can Danvillians do? Well its too late to get new candidates for the election. Unfortunately the voting system does not allow a line to vote “I don’t trust any of them. The only mandate they have is to do their job! Stop all the dog and pony shows on TV and the self gushing of praise for programs that don’t really work.