Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part interview with Dr. Monte Geren, the monitor appointed to Cleburne ISD by the Texas Education Agency. Part two will appear on Thursday.



Since Dr. Monte Geren was appointed Cleburne ISD monitor by the Texas Education Agency on Oct. 16, the school district has undergone myriad changes in administrative personnel, compliance procedures, and rules and regulations surrounding business operations.

Geren has been consistent in his praise of Superintendent Dr. Ronny Beard and Chief Financial Officer David Johnson for their efforts in guiding the schools.

He addressed issues including reluctant staff members, TAKS scores, audits and the importance of the 2009-10 budgeting process.



Q. At the June school board meeting in your monitor comments, you said a small percentage of Cleburne ISD employees still seem to be reluctant to get in step with new rules and regulations. Can you elaborate?

A. Let me first say that the great majority of Cleburne ISD employees have contributed greatly to the advancement and success achieved at this point in time. So I want to make sure you understand I was talking about a small portion [out of step]. But, yes, it does appear there are some who are not meeting the accountability expectations of the superintendent. That is still a work in progress for the administration.



Q. How do you deal with employees like that?

A. I think you deal with them the way I recommended. You deal with them directly. You don’t harangue a group of people who are for the most part complying and meeting your expectations and moving the organization forward. You deal with the people who are not.

I always say to give somebody the benefit of the doubt. You don’t know what kind of training or expectations might have occurred previously. You have to make sure they understand the why’s and wherefore’s of the procedures and requirements.

You basically start from scratch, explain why they have to do this, provide training as to what needs to be done and how to do it, provide resources so if they have a question they can call and not get chastised for asking the question.

But at some point in time when you have taken those steps, there should be a reasonable expectation that they’re going to meet the requirements.

That’s what leads me to believe there are some who are trying to continue working on the same basis they had worked on in years past.

My experience in school administration has been that most people [lag behind] not because they are not capable of doing things well or at least sufficiently but because of personal motivation, intent not to do it, or to let someone else do the work for them.

The point I would make to those individuals is that they only have to look at the investigative report to see that this district cannot allow bills to be paid without appropriate documentation.

One of the things that’s bothersome to me is that we’ve had people in administrative positions who didn’t know the rules for special programs.

They were drawing the money as administrators, but they weren’t knowledgeable of their programs. [Paperwork] would get passed along, usually up the line, and somebody else would be expected to fill in the blanks.

As you can see in the investigation, nobody was doing that.

So this district must require that administrators and staff members follow the appropriate rules for the expenditure and disbursement of district funds from whatever sources.

I think the administration has set out reasonable rules and procedures. That was validated in the recent visit by the auditors from the Department of Education.

So improvement is there. Rules and procedures are there. The great majority of employees are complying.

This is not to say that anything new doesn’t require some education and practice, but we’re beyond all of that.

It’s at the point now that it’s time for them to get with the program or for the administration to take action it needs to take to get someone in position who will do the job and meet the expectations of not only the district and board but certainly Texas Education Agency and various federal programs.



Q. A little happier issue: TAKS scores are only preliminary, but it appears Cleburne ISD has made major improvements in scores at various campuses. What does that say about the teachers?

A. I think it all starts with the teachers. I’ve quoted Darrell Royal, the former Texas football coach, before. He said, ‘It’s not what you line up in. It’s who you line up with.’

That truism applies to education and particularly to instruction.

If you give a good teacher a piece of chalk and portable chalkboard and shade tree, that teacher will do a good job and the kids will learn.

Certainly, things are more complicated now. We have more expectations.

But the bottom line is that kids get educated by the teachers. That takes some participation on the child’s part. It takes a lot of support from parents.

It takes a lot of support from the school to provide the appropriate environment, supplies, materials and training for teachers to stay current. A lot of factors go into it.

The bottom line is that you can have everything else, but if you don’t have good teachers, you’re going to have a very difficult time raising those scores.

So I think it’s obvious the teachers here are doing a good job. I’m not as well versed in the instructional programs here and what changes might have been implemented.

But the net result is the scores came up, and they came up at some of the campuses where there were difficulties before. I’m very impressed by that.



Q. We always ask this question when we interview you. Are you ready to give your exit speech and go home fulltime to Whitney?

A. Not quite. We still have a lot of things to do.

I am very positive about the improvements that have been made and the things that are ongoing. The board and superintendent are gathering a lot of very valuable information regarding staffing, personnel, salaries, and they’re now starting the facility review.

There are so many things going on that are going to get the district looking ahead instead of looking right down in front of the steering wheel.

One of the major issues is going to be the development of the budget for 2009-10. That’s a major focus for me.

It’s coming about under a new administration with a new budgeting process. It’s a good process, and every process gets better over time as you make improvements.

I’m actively monitoring that right now as I am any other factor.

As with the other things in place, it takes time to see the outcome of policies and procedures. Obviously, there are enforcement issues that the board and administration are dealing with.

Those things are in place, and as long as they’re properly supervised, I think they’re going to make the district stronger and bring the district back into compliance with policies, procedures and state regulations.

There’s only so much that can be done at any given time while you go on with the process of administering the school.

You have to develop a budget. You have to plan other activities. You have to do the studies to gather appropriate information.

I think things are moving along at a reasonable pace. Some areas are further along than I thought they’d be at this point in time. Some areas are not quite as far along, but they are making reasonable progress.