While the contract does not expire until mid-summer, the board will consider its renewal at the February meeting on Thursday.
At January’s meeting, President John Miller, just after being re-elected to that post, said the renewal would be considered because it was an issue he felt the board should get behind it as soon as possible.
That being the case, we urge the board to make short work of the renewal.
Those who will listen objectively, we think, will find Nassif has done an admirable job once he, the board and the system’s hierarchy got past the fractured early days of his administration.
During that period, Nassif actually told the board, more or less, to take the job and - well, you get the drift.
An outpouring of support from faculty and staff convinced Nassif to recant, persuaded some board members to sheath their daggers and the system moved on.
It has not been a journey without bumps in the road, some created by the rookie superintendent’s learning on the job, some by board members perhaps anxious about their role in the system.
From out perspective, two things are most convincing of Nassif’s merit.
First is the desegregation case. He took the helm with some board members properly fed up with jumping every time the federal court yelled frog.
But he and board attorney Gerard Caswell kept the train on track, and there now legitimately appears to be an end in sight.
Second is the Gustav calamity.
From the outside looking it, we saw nothing from Nassif but calm after the storm.
The system had a nightmare on its hand. Pulling the various parties together to develop and implement a cohesive response was an under-appreciated effort by Nassif as the point person , as was the effort of all those who pitched in to keep the schools on course.
Our vote on renewal is yes. What’s yours? We suggest you call your School Board member or attend Thursday’s 4 p.m. meeting and be heard.
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