Reflections - Part D

Part D: Reflections on Reflective Leadership

             Reflection is what allows us to look back on the decision we made and treat them as learning experiences good and bad and is critical to personal improvement.  As a person and a leader I want to be an individual who strives for continual improvement, and honest reflection provides me the information needed to do this.  Throughout this program I have been able to work closely with my Superintendent in helping improve our district.  I have been fortunate to work in a small district that has provided me an opportunity to attend meetings and participate in leadership activities.  As often is the case sometimes we learn as much about what not to do as we do about what to do when we are leading a district.

            In relation to course assignments I feel as though I have grown a lot in this program.  One of the most interesting courses where I gained the most knowledge was EDLD 5342 school finance.  It was in this course that I became more familiar with the state funding formula.  One of the primary components of the formula is the average daily attendance (ADA) which is how schools get a large amount of their money.  What I learned is that simply funding based on attendance can be “unfair.”  There are schools where the students have a supportive home environment with two parents working, home for dinner every night that value education and the student doesn’t have to work and parents who ensure they are at school every day. This is different from a community where one parent is working several jobs to make ends meet, students work to help as well and there is no one to ensure they are going to school.  Therefore, it is critical as educational leaders to know the demographics of the community and what factors affect the student’s ability to attend school on a regular basis.  Doing this allows us to develop interventions aimed at meeting the needs of our students and ensuring we receive the funding needed to meet the needs of our students.  This is why I believe the weighted ADA and its impact on finance needs to be evaluated.  This is additional money given based on the number of students serviced in special programs. 

            A second thing I learned that I feel will serve me well also came in the school finance class regarding the state budgetary timelines:

1.Budget Preparation Deadline (August 20)- The reason this is important is because in order to have a budget reviewed by the school board and discussed in order to answer any questions.  They must be in compliance with the law requiring 10 days of notice for a public hearing on the budget. 

2. Budget Adoption (August 31) –  The reason I feel this is important because you want a budget that adequately meets the needs of the students in your district.  In addition, TEA records the adopted budget to track amendments.  

3. Tax Rate Adoption –This is important because this figure will work in conjunction with the money received from the state as the primary sources of funding for a school district.

 

4. Comptroller Values Released (End of January)-The county provides the school district with their accountable taxes they are responsible for.  For our district this occurs a year behind the school budget so it is difficult to make changes to the budget at that time. 

5. Campus Improvement Plans and Budgets Dues (April – May)-We need to have a checks and balances system to ensure campus plans and goals are aligned with district goals. 

The reason I feel this was such an important lesson is that money is one of the leading causes of educators being fired.  As a Superintendent I need to be able to lead the school board in an adequate, data based budget development process.  I want to be sure we are a financial responsible and transparent district and this begins with a timely developed budget.

            The third thing I chose to discuss that reflected on from the courses came in the course regarding school facilities when I had to rate my districts facilities on the design and environment of the school.  First, our campuses are located 2-3 miles from one of the largest cement plants in the state.  Due to our close proximity to this plant there the air quality is often bad.  This becomes more evident on days when it rains and the air is thicker.   The air quality inside the building is a 4 or adequate. We have spent a great deal of money over the last two years replacing the HVAC systems.  This has improved the energy efficiency in our district as well as our air quality.  The lighting in our school is outstanding, rating a 5 on the scale. We have no issues with lighting in our outside of the school.  As a part of the district improvement plan outdated light bulbs were replaced over the summer with energy efficient bulbs.  The outside lighting was also upgraded to provide improved lighting so we could install video cameras in an effort to enhance school safety.  The acoustics in the school are outdated and thus I rate them at a 3.  When this building was originally constructed it exceeded the needs of the district.  However, we have seen a steady increase in the student enrollment it has become abundantly clear that we need to make a change.  This information was critical as we are preparing for a bond issue.  As a Superintendent we are responsible for ensuring we provide adequate resources, including buildings, to educate the children in our district.  I learned from this that it is critical to be on campus on a regular basis to observe issues that need immediate attention so that we can share this information with the school board in an attempt to address these issues in a timely manner.

            In regards to the blog activities I welcomed the opportunity to use this forum to interact with classmates and see what has been working in their districts and how I can use their lessons in my development as an educational leader.  I was able to post my lessons from school funding and school facilities on my blog.  This reinforced my learning and the value these lessons have in needing to be learned before taking over a school district and being forced with these funding and facility issues.

            Next, I would like to discuss reflections I learned from my course and campus activity logs beginning with a campus activity when I reviewed the AVID implementation in my district.  This was an opportunity to show my leadership of the program could begin with a reflection on where it had been to determine where we should go.  Over the past three years we have had campuses on the state required growth plan to include a TEA monitor.  Most recently we have been dealing with this as the high school beginning in August 2013.  As part of the improvement plan we have implemented the AVID program and we are trying to take these things campus wide.  To assist in this endeavor I have been chosen to be the district director for AVID.  Part of this job is to ensure we are implementing with fidelity.  I wanted to make sure the goals and vision for AVID were aligned with the campus and district mission and vision for the future.  I believe AVID will help us address our areas of need if implemented correctly, in alignment with goals and supported by the administration.   As a district leader it is important I do not just find the “next great program” but rather implement on like AVID that supports the direction for the future of my district.

            Secondly, I wanted to use my internship as an opportunity to learn about the grievance process as I feel I will encounter a situation where I need to deal with this in what I hope is a long career in educational leadership.  As a Superintendent and leader of the school district we are ultimately responsible for overseeing the actions and behavior of all employees of the school district.  Although we would like to believe that all educators are good people it is often good people who make poor decisions that begin the grievance process.  This is an especially difficult situation for the Superintendent to be in as we would like to believe the best about our people, but we must always consider the best interests of the school district and the students we serve.  All incidents must first be reported to the campus supervisor and then to the director of human resources.  This all requires the notification of the Superintendent and district lawyer in the event that it progresses further.  I found it critical in these situations to contact the school attorney as early as possible to ensure you are always acting the in the proper manner as well as within the scope of your job. 

            Next, I chose to reflect on a campus activity involving our professional development plan.  As educational leaders we must be lifelong learners and model that behavior for our staff.  It is important that we take what we have learned and share it with others in an effort to continually improve our district. As we model this sharing of information we can also lead others to do the same.  This was truly an eye opening experience for me in that I learned it is more difficult to get adults to listen and pay attention than students.  As an administrator I want to create a culture of continual improvement and lifelong learning.  For us to truly accomplish this we are going to need a commitment from the adults on campus to share their knowledge with others.  In addition, I feel we need to establish the expectation that faculty members see these opportunities to improve themselves and respect their colleagues who are presenting to them, which begins and ends with the leadership.

            All these things are great examples of how this program required me to reflect on the activities I have completed, but it is virtually worthless unless I do something with this lesson when I become a practicing Superintendent.  As I have noticed in my career educators often get comfortable in the walls of our classroom and or office and often don’t reflect on what we have done and whether it was successful or not.  When I begin to transition into a leadership role as a Superintendent I want to make frequent and meaningful reflection a part of my plan to be successful.  The first portion of this plan is to set aside team each day to review what tasks I have completed that day and how I handled them as well as how I would have handled them differently.  Another portion of this will require me to utilize these reflections to determine a plan of improvement.  I would hope that part of the expectation of the school board is that I would need to identify yearly goals for myself to improve in the job I am doing for the school district and the students within it.  Once these goals have been established I can schedule some professional learning activities aimed at addressing my areas of weakness and improving my performance.  These professional learning activities much like my daily activities need my reflection as well.  I want to avoid attend conferences and presentations and not implementing what I learned to benefit the stakeholders in my district.  I believe these activities when carried out in unison and on a regular basis create a cycle of improvement efforts, reflection, improvement efforts, and reflection.  I have a desire to be successful and serve the students and community as a whole by attempting to make it better than it was when I arrived.  I have been successful at this in my other educational careers and I attribute this in part to the fact that I have made a habit on reflecting upon my actions as a means for improving myself.  With the benefits of reflection I have seen in my life and in this program by reflecting on the past as a way to prepare for the future I know this will continue to be a part of my routine as I move up the educational leadership ladder.