FRESH START

We've all had that student in our classrooms that when they enter the room the tension level rises. They're perpetual smirks and disdain for authority cause your heart to race and palms to sweat. You use feeble attempts to convince yourself that you're in charge. The student has mastered the art of eye rolling in spreading negativity, and you struggle to remain enthusiastic during lessons when their present. When the students slumps in there chair, a cloud covers the classroom, and despite the rookie attempts to keep them in line, such as stating, "please return your seat" and the response would be "I wasn't doing anything! I just needed to throw something away." Or "please stop talking while I'm talking!" and they reply, "I wasn't talking!" Or, you state "please don't do that," and they respond "what? I didn't do anything wrong. You're always picking on me!"

I'm sure you're getting the picture. The student tends to make you want to scream and run out of the room, or at the very least, repeatedly bang your head against the wall. The students always seem to have an excuse, and make it difficult to consistently issue consequences. You can bet the student also senses your dislike. You may even have told others about this student, that you believe their sole mission in life is to make your everyday living hell!

What about the student doesn't seem to care about school. The one who often Mrs. homework assignments, and has a definite lack of motivation. When you work with them in class, they require constant redirection and can be a handful. The ones that would work if you stood over them and guided them, but as soon as you walk away, based here often space again.

I suggest a fresh start this year with a new perspective. What if you spent your time focusing on the things the students can do versus what the can’t do? And making it your mission to make sure they smile every day or have a conversation with you to connect with them. As you navigate your effectiveness as a teacher you must realize how important building relationships with students is, because they are searching for someone to validate them. Attempt to talk to students after class searching for something they cherish, just get to know them and to know that you have faith in them is a big deal. The hope is to plant seeds that you will take root and make a difference in each students future. Sometimes we never get to see the fruits of our labor, but even if we don't, we must believe that we planted something good that will one day grow.

I have shared a story with some about a young man who was difficult for me to deal with not only in class but also in coaching. He and I argued and battled daily. I often had to remove him from class as well as the basketball court. His senior year I even kicked him off the team, this being the only time in my career this had ever happened. About a month later he approached me and the team asking to be reinstated. The team and I discuss the situation and voted to allow him to return under certain expectations. The year went on still being a struggle but not quite as much. Five years later when I was teaching completely across the state, this young man showed up to visit. Turns out he was taking his first position as a coach and wanted to thank me for all of the lessons he learned and realized how difficult he was. He was looking forward to teaching others what he had learned from me. This is why we are educators, to plant seeds that will one day help young men and women grow to be there best.

Is easy for all of us to become discouraged when a students don't respond to our efforts. It is even more frustrating when we feel like we aren't appreciated for all that we are trying to do to help. But we must cling to the hope that our efforts made a difference. My challenge to each of you is have a Fresh Start to this school year. Attempt to build a relationship with your students, all your students. I believe this will provide great achievement and enjoyment for everyone.

Thank you for all you do for our school community…your efforts are noticed, and appreciated!
Troy White, Principal G–E–T High School 

Board President Interview

In my conversation with our school board president about the topic of continuous improvement I asked her to provide answers to the following questions. She stated, “These are my views, which I know would differ from other board members. I would also say my views have evolved as I have been on the board and continually change.” Her responses are as follows:

1. What is the ultimate purpose of the Board of Education? The purpose of the board is to provide the best education possible to prepare students in the district so they can lead fulfilling lives and become active and productive citizens.
2. Are there other areas in which your Board invests a significant amount of energy / resources? To what end? I think a lot of things the board deals with are a waste of time and don’t have much to do with what I believe education should be. This is the fault of myself, the district, the community, and the current state of education. We spend time dealing with personal issues, what bills are over $1000, watching presentations to make use feel good about what we are doing, a lot of time just rubber stamping things. We spend a fair amount of time on salaries and benefits (insurance). Personally, I find this frustrating, or in my terms “a waste of my life minutes.” I understand the board has to deal with the above issues, but I feel we spend too much time on them and not enough time on the education of students. To be more positive here, this is what I wish we spent time on. It would be helpful if we all sat down and decided what the point of education was. We should discuss what students should learn and the best way to determine that (not is WKCE a valid test, but should it be used at all). The board would determine the best way to evaluate staff and how to best retain them. We would spend time deciding how we could provide the best education possible.
3. What is your (the Board's) view on accountability? Who is accountable to whom? In what way? The board is accountable to their staff, students, residents, and society in general. The board needs to provide the staff with the resources and a work environment that allows them to do their job. We need to provide the students the education necessary to lead productive lives, not just the ability to be prepared for employment. We are accountable to the residents, because they provide the money for us to educate the students. We need to graduate well-educated students in a financially responsible way. We are accountable to society, because for our society to continue we need active well-educated citizens.
4. If you were to direct Board PD, what would you include? When I began on the board I was clueless about budgets and how state funding worked. I knew a fair amount about education, but not that much on how it was provided in the district. I was also not familiar with all the policies. If I were in charge of Board PD I would include something on budgeting, state and federal funding, overview of policy, share the vision and summary of the general issues the board was currently facing. It would also be helpful for people to learn how to be active listeners and carry on a debate about the issues without taking it personally.
5. In what ways do school board members seek input from community members to keep them involved/engaged in the school and continuous improvement? When we are dealing with a large issue we run community forums to educate the public on them. We have a general newsletter that is available to the public. There is also a fair amount of interaction between the board and the public, when board members are out and about at the store, etc.
6. Are the programs and initiatives being assessed linked to short and long-term strategic objectives? The only strategic goal of the school is to provide a high quality education to all students. Everything else is about the tactics and methods that can achieve that goal. We are either given mandates from the state or administrators bring us what they want to do. In either case the board is rarely given a detailed explanation of how the decision was reached, what options were looked at, or asked to weigh in with their view of what the best option is.
7. What will our board need to create an ongoing program of board development, planning, and team building? We need a better working relationship with the administrators. The administrators and board should sit down together to decide areas that the board would benefit from knowing more about. The board should be viewed as working with administration to provide the best education possible for the students. We live in a small community, so as the board becomes better educated, the entire community becomes better educated on the issues. The board should be viewed as a partner and not just a group of people that need to be placated. We all need to learn how to handle criticism better and not take our views being questioned personally. We all need to learn how to work on fixing problems and not assigning blame, this would include entire staff relationships.
8. What are the resources in our community that we can draw upon to help us begin to develop a culture of continuous improvement? Most people have a desire to provide students with a quality education; the administrators and board need to help the community decide on how best to do this. We should work closely with the PTO’s, booster clubs, area businesses, and other people in the community that care about the education. We would need to have a discussion on what the community goals for education are.
9. As best you can tell do you think the community members have a good idea of the district's vision, achievements, challenges, and plans for continuous improvement? Most people have vague idea of what the school is doing. They have more knowledge if they have students in the district. 
10. What types of data and information do board members use to help guide them in making decisions as they related to continuous improvement? For budget issues we look at past budgets, the current budget, and figures for the projected budget. We get much of our budget information from DPI. We also get summaries of the testing results. We also get periodic projections of student numbers and occasionally have surveyed staff. We also get antidotal accounts of various things.

Reflecting on this interview, the board president is an incredibly intelligent pro educational person. She is well educated on the current initiatives and works diligently to be a conscience board member. I agree with her responses that:

· Personal issues detract from discussing student achievement.

· Professional development on policy and governance is needed.

· An effort to improve the board and administration relationship is a must.

· We need debate issues without taking things personally.

Her responses have the awareness of governance that the board should make policy decisions, not operational decisions. Yet, most of her concerns are at the operational level where the superintendent or CEO of the district should exercise delegated authority, responsibility, and accountability for day-to- day operations. This, probably more than any other factor, is what has lead to the confusion of roles, charges of micro-managing, wasted time, splintered vision and frustration of the inability to make a bigger difference.

The problem is not that our board resists functioning at the policy level they just need to assess their own performance and consciously discover how board decisions can be made at the broad policy level. They also need to realize it is much easier and frankly more enjoyable for to dabble in the day-to-day affairs of the organization. Creating an organizational vision and identifying long-term benefits for the students being served take more work—and more leadership. But it is the most important work a board can do.

School Board Governance

School boards are charged with the responsibility to improve student achievement and increase community engagement to promote student achievement.  In a time of rapid change in education this responsibility is greater than ever.  School board members, both individually and collectively, must be leaders in their school system and in their community.  To be successful school boards need to move away from the old top-down leadership style and implement a governance approach that will lead to improved student achievement.

Governance is the theory that focuses the school board on policy decision rather than operational issues.  The board adopts a set of board policies based on values and end results and delegates the day-to-day operations to the superintendent and his or her staff.  This type of governance is more efficient and effective way to operate.  School Boards that have made a successful transition to governance, have more time available to connect with members of the staff and community to gather information about a variety of issues.

Board governance has direct effect on the entire organization's ability to function.  Be it policy governance or coherent governance, the school board is the connection to the community stakeholders and with that connection allows it to function as conduit between the community and the school.  School systems are a direct reflection of the communities they reside in primarily because most school boards are a fair representation of the community.  Because of this relationship, it is important for school boards to communicate the vision and mission of what the community wants out of their school.

It is important to note that, as the superintendent, I’m the liaison between the board and the organization's employees.  My role, as superintendent, is to frame and deliver to employees the board's vision what they want students to achieve.  This is very important or the board can overstep its role into micromanaging the day-to-day operations of the district.  This confuses what is their primary function, which is policy and governance.  It is my responsibility, as superintendent, to match the planning and operations of the district to achieve the mission and vision set by the board.  If the board becomes over involved, confusion and mistrust can arise between the board, community, and the staff.

My belief is that above all else the vision of the district must guide all that takes place within the district.  As superintendent, I must play a crucial role in the development of the vision because when the district develops a strong vision, rooted in what is best for students, it serves as the guiding principle in all actions related to ensuring that student achievement and growth occur.  It also provides the administrative team a clear understanding to guide the development of sustainable plans to continually work toward that vision.  This is where the district can work on continuous improvement that is based on data of how students are performing.  All decisions made about vision and how to get there need to be based upon the needs of our students, otherwise the overall sustainability of the district is in question.  At times obstacles will arise that impede this path. This is when my relationship, as superintendent, with the board and the principles of board governance offer approaches towards eliminating obstacles that impede progress towards a district's vision. 

While working with the board to develop an understanding of what critical role they play in ensuring student achievement occurs I, as superintendent, must assume responsibility for that success.  Once a board understands its management role of working at the policy level and accepts that the I, as superintendent, should function at the operational level the better the chances become of running an efficient, effective and successful district.  The challenge may be in getting the board to recognize the need for them to be proactive and see the larger purpose and vision for the district.  To be effective as superintendent, I must guide and educate the board on how a their vision of student achievement and their role of governance are intertwined with each other.

Superintendent's Monthly Checkist

The superintendent was very helpful in providing me a list of what he referred to as his monthly checklists.  The monthly tasks can change, with either additions or subtractions for a myriad of reasons.  So he stressed flexibility on tasks that are not bound by time lines and the need to stay focused on tasks related to student achievement and school improvement. The main theme that came across in our conversation was the significant time he spends weekly and monthly meeting with various people and groups. Not listed in the monthly lists are his weekly meetings with his administrative team and finance director, monthly PAC meetings and trainings at our local CESA agency and regular buildings visits within the District to ensure he has a good pulse on the activities taking place.

July: 

·       Budget - state 2-year, district and audits

·       Data review – STAR/WKCE/AP/ACT

·       Plan in-service

·       WASDA Legal Conference

·       Personnel and Staff Handbook Review

·       Safety Plan Review

August: 

·       Welcome back - Newsletter

·       In-service - set the tone of year

·       New teachers - Matching mentors and training

·       Tour the district

·       School and district report cards

·       Purchasing for the upcoming year

·       Learning Teacher Effectiveness

September: 

·       First day of school

·       Check in with new teachers

·       3rd Friday count

·       Registration and enrollment - late registrations

·       Athletics - kick off seasons and be visible

·       State WASDA Convention

·       Budget review

·       PR - Make visits to schools and community

October: 

·       Final budget for approval

·       Tax levy preparations

·       Administrative evaluations - formal, written but evaluations happen throughout the year

·       BOE meeting moved to new site with facilities tour

November: 

·       Tax levy certification

·       Board election processes begin

·       Working on open enrollment

·       Next year budget review

December: 

·       Visibility Concerts, winter sports

·       Board election process continues

·       Next year budget review

January: 

·       WASB Convention

·       Board development

·       Staffing decisions

·       Non-renewal process for administrators

·       6-month budget review

February: 

·       Non-renewal process continuing for teachers

·       Budget meetings to plan for upcoming year

March: 

·       Enrollment processes

·       Staffing for next year

·       School board elections

·       Contracting for CESA services

·       Food service, salary and fringe benefits planning

April: 

·       Insurance and other budgetary projections

·       Enrollment projections

·       Orientation process for the Board - following election and bringing new board members onto the Board

·       WASDA Education Conference

May: 

·       Focus on retirements

·       Recognition of staff

·       Staffing assignments

June:  

·       Close out FY budget

·       Ensure a good finish to the school year

·       Celebrate successes

·       Graduation

Summary

I found it interesting to discover what his daily and monthly routines consist of and realize the similarities and differences to my current tasks. The reminders are good, yet his comments about listening, valuing voice, and working collaboratively held a higher value to me.  He also mentioned ongoing tasks of recognition, public relations, communicating, connect with the community, empower staff, visibility, to reflect and continuing to develop professionally.

As a superintendent I will need to remain focused on things that help both the District and its leadership to be successful when things get busy. I believe this will require an approach that is a balanced between caring for people while still working to be productive.  I will embrace and utilize the time spent weekly and monthly meeting with various people and groups as a means to monitor and checking in with staff to demonstrate my desire to stay connected to the employees, parents and community.  The goal would be to have a school district that is productive and employee’s who value being a member of the district.

Updating the districts vision and mission

How to develop or update a school district vision and mission?

The process would be:

1.  A task force would need to be created that would be trained, help facilitate the community forum, narrow the ideas to streamlined priorities, and communicate the process and recommendation.

Task force members would include community parents and non-parents, staff from each school both teachers and non-teachers, candy business leaders, administrators, and board members.

2.  Awareness and input would be sought through a staff survey and a community listening sessions.  The listening sessions or community forum should be led by an outside non biased source with help from the task force. This source could be an administrator from a different district who has done this process previously or a private firm. 

These community forums would be held in all three of the towns Galesville, Ettrick, and Trempealeau. Ideas would be brainstormed on two topics or questions

1. What could impact education in the future?

2. What the community wants from their schools?

The ideas of what the stakeholders desire will be streamlined into priorities by the task force.

3. The task force would have a retreat to create 4 to 6 priority subgroups to meet monthly to discuss the scenarios and information from the community forums and survey to narrow the information into areas that would have the most impact on the delivery of education the future. 

4. Communication with the stakeholders of the district would need to be drafted following these meetings on what the scenarios tell us, what we need to succeed, and community wants and desires. The information within this communication would show the need to move from good to great.

5. The subgroups would reconvene and develop recommendations of district priorities, a district mission, and a district vision.

6. This would lead to the implementation phase. The board of education we need to:

1. Examine, select and approve action plans created with duties and timelines. 

2. Implemented quarterly reflections of what is being done and if the district is on task. 

3. Commit to a five-year reevaluating of the process. 

This effort will allow the administration and the Board of Education to make decisions and be held accountable to the stakeholders priorities that strategically align to the vision and mission of the district.

My example and current involvement started with conversations that lead to the email below:

Over the past few years I've had the pleasure of meeting and working with staff, parents and our community. Conversations centered around student achievement weather in the classroom or in  Co-curricular activities. One point that was embedded within each of those conversations was a pride in G-E-T, yet no one could answer the question of what's the vision or what do they want G-E-T to be in the future.

Despite a shared pride in the district and a desire for success, Roadblocks will continue to exist if we don't have a shared vision of where were going. A shared vision and mission will provide guidance in decision-making to allow us to move from good to great. These conversations may lead us to difficult conversations about the way we think about learning and the way we deliver instruction. I believe we need a new model for education that is better suited to prepare all students to be successful in a 21st-century workforce.

After many internal discussions about what direction the district was going the board decided to create a survey. This survey was given to staff to help understand and create an awareness of our needs. This survey indicated:

- 50% felt they were informed about their buildings

- 29% felt they were informed about the district. 

- 25% feel their informed about board goals

- 37% feel they are included in decisions  

- 36% feel communication is good. 

However 

- 80 to 90% feel their work is meaningful and enjoy their job

- 64% feel their supervisors expectations are realistic. 

Yet 

- Only 20% feel morale is high and 

- Only 30% have the time to complete all the initiatives.

This led to conversations at the administrative team and the Board of Education level.  These difficult conversations lead to blaming everything from the survey questions being poorly written, to the timing being ill-advised. These discussions led to the development of a promotions committee. The committee consisted of three board members, two principles and the superintendent. This group was tasked with looking at the responses to the survey and creating a set of priorities based on the feedback.

In my opinion, I believe this was the point that we should've brought an outside source and had community involvement.  All we have for information is the survey from the teachers. This is only a partial glance at the opinions of the district stakeholders. 

The process is very scattered in it's evolution. The priorities created by the group included more of a to-do list for administration than guidance for decision-making for the future or setting a vision and mission for the district. This is due to the committee being driven by a directive to solve a problem instead of engage in a process.

We have set three goals which include:

1. Setting a brand standard for the district

2. Creating a media kit to communicate the stories of the district to potential residence.

3. Developing postcard mailings with district information to send out to current stakeholders.