The Alabama Board of Education will discuss two-year college Chancellor Freida Hill's future at an upcoming meeting after an evaluation showed the board is sharply divided over her performance.

Of the nine board members, four -- Ella Bell, Stephanie Bell, Betty Peters and Dr. Charles Elliott -- gave Hill many low marks on an evaluation that rates her in dozens of categories grouped into four sections: goals, personal qualities, performance and key job responsibilities, and relations with the public. In addition, board members rated Hill on their personal experiences with her.

Members' criticisms of Hill include a lack of communication with the board, a fractured relationship with K-12 education, a poor relationship with the media and low morale in the two-year system.

Of the remaining board members, three -- Gov. Robert Bentley, Randy McKinney and Mary Scott Hunter -- gave Hill overwhelmingly high ratings, while Yvette Richardson's and Gary Warren's appraisals were mixed.

McKinney, the board's vice president, said he believes the board, which next meets on Feb. 23, likely will place Hill on a performance improvement plan, which will outline specific goals for her to meet and give her six months to meet them. Her contract states that upon an unsatisfactory performance evaluation, she will be given up to six months to correct deficiencies.

"Any deviation from this could be dangerous territory for this board to enter," McKinney said.

Efforts to reach Hill for comment Thursday and Friday were unsuccessful.

Bentley, who serves as the board's president, agreed that Hill's goals should be more specific and suggested the board draft them and re-evaluate Hill in six months. He rated Hill highly on the evaluation, giving her fours or fives in every category using a scale in which one was the lowest and five the highest mark she could receive.

In a letter attached to the evaluation, Bentley praised Hill for her commitment to workforce development and innovative ideas.

"She has identified several areas of need around workforce development and postsecondary access and has committed to developing creative solutions to address them," he wrote. "This is exactly the type of 'out of the box' thinking that we need in leadership roles across the state."

Opinions

Ella Bell, who gave Hill a rating of one in most categories, declined to comment, but previously has questioned whether different school board districts were receiving equitable funding in the two-year system. She represents many Black Belt areas.

"Until this matter is resolved, I really don't want to speak about it publicly," she said.

Hill began the job in December 2009, and her three-year contract expires Nov. 30. According to her contract, Hill receives an annual salary of $289,900, as well as the use of a car and a housing allowance of $24,000 a year. She also can earn up to $15,000 a year in performance bonuses, but has not received any bonuses since joining the system. She had been deputy commissioner of Georgia's technical college system before coming to Alabama.

Hill is the sixth person to lead Alabama's two-year college network since it was hit hard by a corruption scandal in 2006 that led to more than a dozen former college and system administrators and employees being charged with money laundering, theft and conspiracy.

McKinney, who said overall he is happy with the job Hill is doing, said he thinks other members' dissatisfaction comes down to a few disgruntled college presidents who are speaking to them.

A small group of community college presidents, he said, want to have their own lobbyists again, even though policies were put into place after the corruption scandal that doesn't allow that.

"Apparently, they do not like the policies that the board put in place to require more transparency and allowing no pass-through earmarks, along with other reform policies," he said. "We are now one system, and the Alabama Community College System speaks with one voice at the Legislature."

McKinney said some board members also are unhappy with personnel decisions Hill has made, but he called their response to those decisions "wrong and out of line."

"All in all, the majority of the people who work with the chancellor are happy with her," McKinney said. "She should be able to put people on her team who she wants on her team without having to answer to the board."

Board member Stephanie Bell, who gave Hill low ratings in many categories, wrote in her evaluation that morale is "extremely low within the department and throughout the system."

"Legislators have shared their concerns about a lack of communication/presence, and members of the media do not know the chancellor," Bell wrote. "Some board members have more 'standing' than others and there is a lack of communication with board members who are not informed/ invited when the chancellor is in their districts. Unfortunately, some perceive a lack of appreciation/respect for the board and its roles as trustees."

Stephanie Bell said Friday that Hill also has made some questionable decisions to hire highly paid administrators at a time when the education budget is lean.

Board member Mary Scott Hunter said she was perplexed by some of her fellow board members.

"I regret the board's discontent with the chancellor's work performance. I respectfully disagree with some of their assessments," she said. "I expect we will be implementing a performance improvement plan, and I agree with Gov. Bentley that goals laid out should be specific and measurable."

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Performance of chancellor for Alabama's two-year colleges Freida Hill polarizes board of education