It’s a complete copout to say, “Moore County deserves the best.” A national search does not guarantee the best. A national search only guarantees a lot of great resumes from applicants wishing to further their careers.
Having spent nearly 20 years recruiting high-powered people for a national company, I feel qualified to say that there are only two things that matter: ability and commitment. Ability is fairly easy to ascertain.
But commitment is very difficult to determine. How many qualified candidates are willing to put the welfare of Moore County ahead of their own? Maybe one in a hundred.
Can our school board identify that person? I doubt it, since they are overlooking such a candidate right under their noses in Dr. Larry Upchurch.
Should we interview other candidates? Sure! A few dozen phone calls would yield a plethora of qualified candidates and wouldn’t cost $47,000.
Misters Lambert and Frye, and finally Ms. Carter, exhibited the kind of prudence that we elected them to exercise. Mr. Barrett originally hedged his bet and then capitulated. (This is the same Wiley Barrett that arrogantly stated that he preferred a tax increase to solve the school system’s financial woes.) Mr. Barrett and the rest are willing to take an expensive gamble with the welfare of Moore County schools at a time when we can least afford it.
What we need is a school board with the acumen to make the right decision at the right time. We have a couple of those already. I’ll bet we have some more after the next election.
Ed Kennedy
Pinehurst
