Sent on Behalf of the Marion County Republican Executive Committee (MCREC)
Dear Board Member
Subject: Promises Made / Promises Broken
The school board made a commitment to the Marion County citizens that it would conduct a national search to fill the leadership role of School Superintendent. This commitment was discarded, as honestly noted with concern by Board member Cummings during the Dec 18th Board meeting.
First – We have no malice or adverse position against Dr Brewer; however, we do object to circumventing the promised process to nationally seek and evaluate all qualified candidates. The MCREC supports selecting the best leader to improve the lagging academic performance of this school district. We request the continued evaluation of the current leadership while conducting the national search process. This approach accomplishes two complementary goals;
- a) assessing on-going student performance / improvement, and
- b) completing a competitive leadership search to sustain long-term improvement.
The Dec 18th announcement to short-circuit the comparative / competitive process, immediately followed an overview of recent PM2 test score data, as well as anecdotal comments by the Board. The test scores review just prior to the “Superintendent decision,” appears to be part of the rationale to discard the promised “national search” process. As noted below, the recent test scores indicate county-wide there is a significant segment of students that are still lagging in essential skills.
2025 PM2 Test Data – County-wide Grades 3 to 8 scores indicate: 60% of students did not meet criteria for reading, and 70 % did not meet criteria for math
A further review overview of select data indicates:
PM2 2024 vs 2025 Language Arts Test Scores
Language Arts – The 3rd, 4th and 10th grade individual schools language / reading scores were evaluated using a paired t-test (α = 0.05 / 95% 2-tail confidence interval) – this simple analysis indicates there is no statistical improvement in student performance.
As an example; for 3rd grade – 17 out of 31 schools scored below 31% proficiency; therefore, more than 70% of third grade students in these schools are lagging in reading / language skills. This is very problematic since third grade performance is cited by experts as a predictor of future success.
Subject: Promises Made / Promises Broken (page 2 of 2)
Math – 3rd, 4th and 5th grades 2024 vs 2025 data (same statistical methodology as above)
Grade 3 – statistical improvement although the 2025 PM2 county-wide average is below 25%, therefore, 75% of students are not demonstrating on grade math skills.
Grade 4 -no statistical change, scores indicate 24 schools scored < 20% proficiency, therefore, ~80% of students at these schools are below math criteria.
Grade 5 – data indicate a statistical improvement; however, 15 schools scored < 25% proficiency; that is 15 schools with ~75% of students below criteria
Overall, the test scores reflect a school system that continues to struggle to educate students to achieve basic skills needed for future success.
Promise Made / Promise Broken – Given the sustained lagging performance of Marion County Schools a rigorous competitive recruitment for Superintendent should be a key driver. If at the end of this competitive process Dr Brewer is selected, this would further validate her for the position; the decision to short-cut a competitive selection in essence undercuts her credibility.
Comments were made by Board members about the subjective feeling of “comfort and familiarity,” this is not a rigorous metric. In fact, some level of discomfort often drives change that could lead to greater academic success. Yes, there are schools / students excelling and achieving solid academic results; however, the data indicates an overall (county-wide) lack of academic excellence.
Our Ask:
As an organization the MCREC supports the Board’s work to improve our schools, however, we respectfully request the Board revisit the matter to continue the competitive recruitment process for a new superintendent as publicly promised. At this point there is no dramatic improvement in test scores to warrant or justify a decision change at this time.
Again, promises made / should be promises kept!
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Marion County Republican Executive Committee, please feel free to contact us if there are any questions.
Len M Racioppi, V. Chair MCREC
Brigitte Smith, Chair MCREC
