Baldrige and K-12: Not for the Faint-Hearted
As the superintendent of Iredell-Statesville Schools, Terry Holliday set a vision for his district that included integrating the Baldrige model to help I-SS achieve performance excellence. Some members of the community opposed that decision, claiming that Baldrige created problems for teachers by taking time away from the classrooms that could have been spent on better things.
In 2008, two people expressed their opposition to Baldrige by running for the I-SS school board. They picked a bad platform and a bad year.
I-SS received the Baldrige Award in 2008. Here are some of the reasons why:
- Per-pupil expenditures among the lowest in North Carolina while being ranked academically in the state’s top 10 school systems
- An attendance rate that ranks third out of 115 school districts
- SAT scores that ranked seventh in the state in 2008, up from 57th place in 2003
- The lowest dropout rate (3.5%) in grades 9-12 in the school’s history
Reflecting on his tenure (he was recently named Kentucky’s Commissioner of Education), Holliday said, “If you weren’t being met with opposition, you weren’t doing anything worthwhile. Opposition made us stronger because we had to be sure we were meeting their concern.”
A visionary leader, which is a Baldrige core value, not only sees the goal but also sees the steps that are necessary to reach it and how to get most stakeholders on board for the journey.
And he doesn’t let anything stop him.
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