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Adams draws three-year contract Eagle Point board acts unanimously By VICKI GUARINO EAGLE POINT -- Superintendent Ted Adams has survived public calls for his resignation, coming away from months of high praise and loud criticism with a three-year contract extension. "I'm happy," Adams said Thursday, "but really it's more about the direction of the district; the contract is secondary." Board chairwoman Cheryl Stout, noting the board acted unanimously in the offer, said she hoped the decision will turn public attention back to the district's eight schools and 4,000 students. "We wanted to get the focus back where it should be and that's on educating our kids," Stout said. The head of an informal focus group that this fall produced a public survey critical of Adams' leadership agreed that the community needs to pay more attention to the schools. Kim Smith said he can support the contract with Adams, despite his group's survey results calling for a new superintendent, if Adams makes good on his promises to listen more closely to the public. "If Ted is willing to work with us, it's better than starting over," Smith said. "And I am getting some indication that he is willing to try." The focus group formed this summer, after forums in which several parents said Adams should step down. But the forums and the surveys also elicited strong praise for Adams' performance and the changes in the district since he took over six years ago. The new contract, approved Wednesday, takes effect at the end of the current contract on June 30. Adams gets a modest raise under the new terms, retroactive to July of this year. His salary is going from $86,170 to $92,000. The new wage was based largely on a survey of salaries at similarly sized local districts. Stout said the survey of superintendent's salaries showed Grants Pass at $95,000, Klamath Falls at $94,743, Ashland at $94,293, and Central Point at $91,586. Adams' salary is to be reviewed by the board in a year. Adams was hired to lead the county's third largest district to bring change and academic improvements. The board and Adams have sought to improve students' performance by giving staff and parents more authority to decide how individual schools should be run. That approach has resulted in schools expanding their grade levels so that students can stay in an elementary school, for instance, for up to eight years. In some buildings, students stay with one teacher for several years, and other programs are based on independent study and completion of projects. The results, many educators in the district say, are starting to show up in test scores. Shady Cove eighth-graders -- part of a pilot program -- turned in the highest reading scores of all county eighth-grade classes. High scores have accompanied innovative approaches in several district schools. Stout noted a new format at White City Elementary that has shaved a few minutes off recess and lunch periods to create a new class period for extra reading practice. "It really is what this board wants to see in all our schools," Stout said. "I think Ted and this board have allowed for this kind of flexibility, and it is working." Adams said he wanted to remain in Eagle Point as long as the community would support the process of moving toward self-governing community schools. He said he also wants to listen more closely to his critics. "These are good people," Adams said, "and they are thoughtful and sincere. "I want to work with them and serve them better." Smith said parents and community members who are unhappy with school operations need to go to the parent and staff site council meetings at the individual schools. "The public does have a voice," Smith said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA