This week’s Rhino has (unposted) has its version of the Guilford County Board of Education’s 7-4 vote to hire Mo Green as the next school superintendent.

The vote appeared set at 6-5, whereupon neither Green nor Scotland County’s Shirley Prince would have a strong mandate. But board member Nancy Routh switched her vote, citing conversations with principals who claimed former Superintendent Terry Grier, as the Rhino put it, created a “climate of fear in which in which principals and teachers were punished for speaking out.”

That’s a pretty incredible claim, although Grier admittedly could come off as a stern educrat who kept a pretty tight lid on things. If Green can indeed open up communications, minus the PR, he stands a good chance of being successful.

I’ve done a little reading on nontraditional superintendents and I’ve turned up an interesting six-degrees-of separation. Turns out GCS hired Green, an nontraditional lawyer-turned-superintendent, because Grier went to San Unified School District to replace Carl Cohn, who quit because he was overwhelmed by the storm stirred up by Alan Bersin who—- you guessed it— was a nontraditional lawyer-turned-superintendent.

No judgment, just fact here. Note that, unlike Green, Bersin definitely doesn’t come off as the touchy-feel, communicative type and also that Grier the educrat was also a very divisive superintendent. But here’s another fact:

The qualities and skills that make a great leader in the private sector, such as management expertise, vision and strategic thinking, are no different than those that make an outstanding school superintendent or college president.

But while running an education institution does have its unique challenges, one thing is for certain — the performance of these administrators will be closely scrutinized, and their success or failure will greatly influence if this will be a growing trend or a failed experiment.

I’m honestly hoping Mo Green will do well at GCS. But it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a controversial choice that will — and should — continue to be discussed and debated. Maybe Green’s success will opne the doors to even stronger non-traditional superindents in school systems all over the country.