February 22, 2004|By Tricia Bishop | Tricia Bishop,SUN STAFF
Sydney L. Cousin, a former 16-year Howard County employee who also had a hand in developing the improvement plan, has been named interim superintendent until a replacement is found. But that is small comfort to people such as Jennings, who questions the temporary nature of the appointment and what he sees as opposition to raising the success level of certain students.
"Sydney is great, Sydney is a good choice," Jennings said. "But the point is you've got to work the plan. If [Cousin] gets the kind of resistance that John got, we still got a problem."
The school board has said repeatedly that it is committed to the plan, as evidenced by its criterion, which will be added to others gleaned from the community, education staff and students during the superintendent search.
"The main goal is to not lose the momentum of the comprehensive plan for student achievement," said Courtney Watson, chairman of the school board. "That's our main academic goal."
But Jennings still said he is skeptical.
"Words are nice," he said. "But it's what you do that counts."
