GCS’s Mo Green addresses Northern Guilford PTSA

Mo Green, the leader of the Guilford County School System, addressed tonight’s meeting of the Northern Guilford Parent Teacher Student Association.(PTSA) As one would expect there were a lot of parents, teachers and students in attendance.

Maurice “Mo” Green was the keynote speaker and he took questions from the audience and there were quite a few questions too. The questions were written down on note cards prior to the meeting which began at 7 o’clock and went on well past the designated ending time of 8pm.

Many of the questions were duplicates and that showed that there were some key issues involving the investigation into Northern Guilford athletics that many of the NG parents felt needed to be addressed and answered now.

When will the investigation end? This is hindering preparation for end of school testing and the exam period, why did this have to happen now and why couldn’t the county wait until a time when the entire student body wasn’t in such a crucial academic time frame?

When will the non-faculty coaches be allowed to return to the Northern Guilford campus? Why wasn’t Mo Green at Northern and on campus the day all of this broke in the media, Friday April 10, the same day that Joe Yeagar, Derrell Force and Louis Lawson were forced to resign?

Will the other schools in Guilford County also be investigated and why is Northern being singled out? Questions were targeted toward Dudley and Page and other Guilford County Schools in general……

Why has there been so much insensitivity on the part of the interim principal and others that were there during the transition period and why haven’t the student voices been heard at Northern during this entire ordeal?

Mr. Green, if you had it to do over again, would you handle these changes at Northern Guilford in the same manner?

I am doing most of these questions in return form here from memory and if anyone else has any others that they would like to share from the meeting, feel free to do so.

Mo Green said his credo is, “Be truthful with me and work hard”. And that is a direct quote. Green said he wants the truth to come out in all of this and that he wants it to end as soon as posible. Mr. Green made many references to the Investigative Team led by Jill Wilson and he said he trusts the team to get to the bottom of this in an accurate and timely manner.

Green said many of the problems that occured during the change-over/transition period were due to the lack of communication and he was not able to be there on Friday April 10 and he had to be able to trust the Team to carry out the mission.

If there were and if there still are problems he wants to know about them, because he wants to see the same academic excellence continue at Northern and at all of the 120 schools within the Guilford County School System.

Mo Green said it is very important for Northern Guilford to stick together and they should not let outside comments from negative sources influence or effect how they go about doing their business on or off of the field. Green said Northern is Northern and that they should be able to overcome others bringing them down. “You have to be able to stand tall and strong and not let others dictate who or what you are”.(Maintain a solid Internal foundation.)

Green said he is in the process of re-evaluating the current ban on non-faculty coaches and he will look very closely at this ban in the next couple of days and he alluded to the fact that changes may be coming and the feeling in the air was that these bans could be lifted. Green studied in detail the questions about college recruiters coming on campus and the fact that certain Northern coaches would not be there to meet these coaches and to answer questions about potential student-athletes.

Green said that he and his Investigative Team would not look into the athletic programs at all of the Guilford County Schools. “We will only go where there are valid allegations”. Green said that right now the team is looking into Northern and that is where their focus is and that they want to complete this study/probe as soon as possible. On the questions about Page and Dudley and irregularities at those two schools, Green said we will follow up on Page and we will have completed a thorough study at Page and if there are sufficient allegations at Dudley we will take care of that too, but right now the focus is on Northern.

Amos Quick, a member of the Guilford County School board, stood up and said that all investigations are being conducted properly and that they are targeting schools that need current attention and that school is Northern and that they will study other Guilford County Schools when the need arises.

Green said he is sorry for any perception of insensitivity on his part or for that matter any member of his staff involved with the transition/changes at Northern. He could not be there on the day all of this went down and he said he had his team in place and that he trusted his team to do the right thing and that their mission to investigate Northern Guilford would be accomplished and that in many ways his role can be better served with him downtown at the main office and that his Investigative Team can be successful.

If he had it to do over again would Mo Green do it all the same exact way and if this whole look into Northern Guilford athletics has been on-going, why Friday April 10?

“Would he do it all over again the same exact way? Probably not, said Green. There has been some lack of communication and some people end up getting hurt during a procedure such as this, but that is not the intention. We want to get this cleared up before the end of the school year and that is still our primary goal along with the truth coming out and proper corrections and changes for the future greatness of Northern Guilford being kept in place and us(Guilford County Schools/GCS) making the road to recovery a smooth one.

To re-state Green’s main purpose/motto in all of this it is, “Be truthful with me and work hard”.

How satisfied are the Northern parents and students with what went down tonight? I would say they are glad to finally have their voice be heard and their issues addressed by Green, but I would say that less than 50% of the crowd left there tonight satisfied with the outcome.

*****This is what I came out of NG with and you can add more if you like!*****

29 thoughts on “GCS’s Mo Green addresses Northern Guilford PTSA

  1. Mo Green did his tap dance around the questions as expected. Northern parents acted with dignity as expected. No answers were given to questions like why would you disrupt this school during critical exam time? Where is our principal that our children looked up to? Just who are these people that complained so loudly about our school? Jealousy perhaps? If academic excellence is Mo Greens priority then why would he totally disrupt our school? Please tell me why this could not have waited until the summer! I am so frustrated that our school has been perceived guilty of so many accusations without any proof. Why would our principal and ad be forced out before the end of the investigation?
    Principal Yeager always had academic excellence as his primary focus. He is a great leader and sorely missed. He made Northern what it is today.
    By the way, nothing, and I mean nothing, will hold our school back from excellence. We have a great community, great teachers and loads of school pride. To all the complainers out there, quit complaining and whining and go out and make your school great. If your child’s school doesn’t meet your expectations then get in there and demand better or move to one that does. The Nighthawk nation has JUST begun!

  2. Not to disagree with you or challenge you about your assessment of Northern Academic excellence but from what i’m reading it seems like a lot of the investigation is focused around academics and the possibility that certain students received favorable grades. I’m new to the county for the most part so I can only go by what I read and what I’m hearing around the city. I do not know Mr. Yeager so I can’t speak about him but from my experience in Coorporate America and working in North Carolina it does not take much from a employee to dismiss you and regardless of how well you are liked if the people in charge want you out it’s not a lot you can do about it. I under stand your point about the timing of the situation but they are saying the investigation has being going on for five months. What schoools or people are you speaking of that are jealous?

  3. I agree. The answers Mr Green provided was that of a politician. Rehearsed and carefully worded. Leaving more questions than answers to me. I thought his motto was ‘In search of the truth’. If they are still searching for the truth, why have the disruption so close to testing? Why make decisions if they are still searching. I liked how he refused to admit he forced the principal and AD out. Citing ‘personnel’ confidentiality. I never laid eyes on the guy before last night and I was not impressed. Every decision he has made has been under fire. And his only answer? ‘Was it the right decision?, that’s debatable but that was the decision I made at the time’. For someone who says he has previous experience in investigations, it seems he is new at this. Communication is key. And there has been none. The students wanted to voice their feelings with a peaceful sit in and it was immediately shut down by Dr Spicer. It was even reported in N&R but yet he knew nothing about it. For a school being in the middle of investigation, where leadership has changed, you would want to know everything that goes on in that school.

    I just hope we will have a conclusion to this situation soon.

  4. Mo’s speech was as expected. Everyone needs to remember that he is an attorney and he is very careful in what he says. He is extremely polished. I thought he showed courage in showing up. With that being said, he basically revealed nothing. The Northern parents and students treated him with respect.

    I wanted to know if he forced Mr. Yeager and Mr. Force out. He would not answer this.
    The one disturbing item was his explanation of the reason of this investigation. He said that a lot of people were voicing their concerns over potential wrongdoing at Northern. This is the reason that the investigation started. This means that the parents of the other schools complained enough to get this whole thing started. That is pretty sad.

    There was also talk about the grading system at Northern. Mr. Yeager wanted a school of excellence so the majority the classes are honors and AP. I saw this as a good thing. All of our students are asked to do more and this should be applauded. People at other schools are saying that our athletes grades are inflated because honors classes are graded on a 5.0 scale. This is ludicrous. These kids have to work much harder in an honors class than they do in CP class. Also, honors classes make them ready for the rigors of college. This just sounds like another convenient excuse for others to use.

    My daughter loves the Northern that Mr. Yeager and Mr. Force created. Most kids seem to love it as well. I hope that GCS doesn’t tear it down and make it another average school. We, as parents of Northern students, should not allow this to happen.

  5. From the Greensboro paper this morning, it sounded like he said that the ban was put into effect to keep “certain” coaches from interfering with the investigation and certain was in quotes in the paper, so it sounds like clearly they thought someone was trying to do that. Baseball is in season and the football coach still works at the school as a full time staff member so he is on campus every day, correct? Since the investigation centers on football, baseball and boys basketball, clearly he must be referring to the basketball coach?

  6. I am new to this forum, but very actice at Northern. As Tom said above, it is important to continue the excellent vision that has been started at Northern. It is not a perfect school, however we are on the path to something unusual and exciting. I hope that all parents, both of athletes and regular students will stay involved. It was wonderful to see about 400 people at a PTSA meeting. I can only dream that we could attract that much interest for regular academic issues. It takes co-cirricular activities, sports and most importantly high academic standards to make a school great. The Purple Pride is there, we just need to continue to support each other and aim high.

  7. c/o, if the case is about fixing grades then say it, what is all this beating around the bush? This is just all so old and tiring. As far as who is jealous, perhaps all the people Mo Green said were calling and whining about Northern. This speculation needs to end. Northern
    parents need answers. Will we see proof of all these allegations ? I sure hope that is not the case but until then it is all just rumor.

  8. From what I hear a lot of parents who kids just happen to play a sports are saying they sent their kid(s) to Northern because of Academics. I don’t have a problem that if that is case because academics will out last anyone’s Athletic ability. With that being said as parents regardless on what neighborhood we stay in we should be outraged that certain schools are under funded because of it’s location. To me as a parent if my child attends school ABC I want someone elses child to receive the same funding and equal education if their child attends school XYZ.

  9. to: question on ban

    you may be guilty of a huge assumption or you are not familiar with some of the non-faculty coaches involved in the programs. there is @ least one coach who has a history of uncontrolled behavior when it comes to some of the previously discussed issues. to assume the ban is basketball related may be totally off base.
    rj

  10. To Robert Jones- I was not assuming anything about any coach. I was just asking a question based on something I noticed in the newspaper article. Mr. Green stated that the ban was put into effect to keep certain, and the newspaper I think used quotes around certain…certain coaches from interfering with the investigation. I imagine that was done a few weeks into the investigation because they felt certain coaches were interfering. The investigation involved apparently three sports. Since that ban would not have any effect on the baseball coach who would be there every day since he is in season nor the football coach who works there every day, I was asking if that automatically meant that they must be talking about basketball or are they talking about assistant football coaches or both? Was not accusing. Just asking who Mr. Green must have been referring to.

  11. WOW! that’s all i can say is WOW!
    I have been in Greensboro all my life and involved with high school sports for over 20 years. I have never seen anything like this or even close to this. That’s the only reason I think there is some truth in some of these complaints.
    WOW!

  12. Funny to see that Curtis Hunter finally got caught recruiting as well. Serves him right, I’m sure Coach Kent at page was happy to see that.

    *****I don’t think Coach Kent would make a comment like that out loud and he sure wouldn’t leave one here at this site. He is smarter than most of us and speaking currently for me only.*****
    AD

  13. truth to some of the complaints—-this whole escapade is like going fishing with a car battery. you are going to kill lots of fish, but @ the end of the day, you can’t eat them. this appears to be a witch hunt. in my business career, i keep my ear to the ground and base my people decisions on “observed behavior”—not rumor and innuendo. the way i see it, we dealing with parents and local school administration (coaches and ads @ complaining schools) who believe everything they hear and either are discriminating enough or not smart enough to discern what’s real and what’s not!
    just my thoughts.
    enjoy your days!

  14. Stan and Northern sued NW Guilford last year for making “recriting comments” about them. Now Stan and Northern are doing the exact same thing they sued NW for to 2 other schools. Sue yourself Stan!

  15. A question possibly for one of the Northern teachers if you could help out, or maybe a NG parent can answer this one.

    On that grading scale/system that Mo Green said he wanted to make universal throughout the county, how does the breakdown work at NG?

    It appears on the surface to be more lenient than the standard County scale, but I have always thought that is because Northern offers a majority of AP/College Prep type courses and you can get these at some other County schools too. Not trying to isolate NG.

    Where are the differences in the scale?

    Does it go:
    93-100 =’s A
    90-100 =’s A
    Regular Guilford County Scale:95-100 =’s A?????

    85-92 =’s B
    80-90 =’s B
    or 87-94 =’s B

    and so on with C’s, D’s and 69 and below failing or is it 59 and below failing??????

    Word was also mentioned of a sliding scale. Is this all part of the sliding scale system?

    Another thought along the same line of thinking:
    Does the grading scale stay the same 1-12 or does it change in Middle School and in High School??????

    Looking for way too much knowledge/information. Time to move on and thanks for your time……….

  16. The big difference is that NW was making FALSE statements about Stan and Stan is just telling the truth and showing real evidence. Just like pissing in the wind, you never like what blows back in your face!

  17. I think the boys basketball coach at NG sued NW but NG was not part of that suit. Maybe statements by NG coach about other coaches are legit., but saying it in the newspaper is probably not the best tactical move and gives Guilford County another reason not to renew that coach though I imagine that is a done deal anyway regardless of the outcome of the investigation. The NG baseball and football coaches have not made statements in the media which is probably smart.

  18. only problem is the only evidence he has is his own currupted parents that are the reason he is under investigation. they all look like a bunch of crooks.

    Andy, tell us more about this sliding scale, is that why the principal was fired?

  19. Andy,

    I know Northern and Northwest both have 92.5-100 as an A. I can’t speak for the rest of the county, but I think they all use this system. AP courses are on a 6.0 scale, Honors courses are on 5.0 scale and all other courses are on 4.0 scale. I think people are complaining about grade inflation for athletes at Northern because they are taking honors classes. So a C average in honors classes gives the student a 3.0 as opposed to 2.0 CP classes. Honors classes are harder so I don’t understand the argument.

  20. I just wanna know where I can get some of those cookies that Mo got from the NG basketball team. Mmmmmmm

    I spewed my coffee all over my dining room when I read about that by the way. For someone bad-mouthing everyone in sight, the NG basketball team gave the guy ripping them apart cookies and a t-shirt…..hilarious.

  21. The cookies were great but had to be returned because they were baked out of district. Or it may have been because they were supposed to have been baked at one address but they really were baked at a different address. I thought the t-shirt said 3A Champions but it was just a frowny face with the words “I cleaned house at Northern Guilford and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.”

  22. NWG jv baseball player caused forfeiture of 11 games—please forgive my cynicism, but isn’t it interesting how all these issues are starting to come out. does their varsity basketball player (guard) still live in SWG district, or has he moved into nwg district since season ended?

  23. Northwest Guilford self-reported to the NCHSAA and forfeited all JV baseball game prior to April 13.

  24. To: Funny Curtis Hunter did not recruit that NG player. For your information that said player actually lives in the NE zone. The reason I know this is due to the fact his brother attends NE. I doubt if Hunter wanted that kid anyway. He used to coach on the collegiate level and he had his fill of trying to recruit. Also, think about this : Is it recruiting if a player lives in your school district?

  25. Recruiting is enticing a player to come to your school when they currently do not. Neal is @ Northern legally. Whether by attendance or by special assignment. In either case, NO coach should be contacting him when not enrolled @ their school. I was just as surprised @ the allegations against Curtis. However word is that the allegations were recorded. I guess just like Northern we will have to wait and see what the true facts are.

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