School trustees voted Wednesday night to hire James Warlick, a veteran school administrator, as interim superintendent, Martha Deller reports.
Warlick will serve until the board finds a replacement for Robert Damron, who stepped down last week after trustees learned that a preliminary state audit report was more negative than they had been led to believe.
Board President Stu Madison said it will be up to Warlick to determine how to use Damron, whose request to be reassigned until his July 1 retirement was granted by the board last week. Warlick will also decide whether any action should be taken against other staff members named in the Texas Education Agency report, he said.
Meanwhile, the Star-Telegram Editorial Board offers this:
Green roofs probably would sprout around the Metroplex if more role models were available to show documented benefits. Enter the University of Texas at Arlington.
On Friday, volunteers from UTA will install an experimental green roof on a 1,000-square-foot section of the Life Science Building, 501 S. Nedderman Drive. The project includes the installation of the enhanced roofing system, irrigation, plants and about 30,000 pounds of soil.
Although this will be the first green roof on the campus, university officials say that future buildings will include structures designed and built with green roofs, which contribute to energy savings -- they have an insulating effect -- and improve air quality because the vegetation absorbs carbon dioxide and emits oxygen.
A green roof isn't possible on every building, but the potential is intriguing. We hope that UT-Arlington's experiment will provide a viable and positive model for more such applications in the region.
-Patrick M. Walker
