Central Support Services

According to an article in last Sunday’s (Aug. 15^th) Statesville Record & Landmark, the I-SS Central Office is now going to be called ‘Central Support Services.’ The article states that the change is meant to dispel any “us vs. them” mentality and to reiterate that administrators are there to work with the schools’ staff. The article also states that Mr. Johnson said that he doesn’t want staff to look at administrators as roadblocks, but instead as resourceful tools they can use in order to accomplish the goal of educating children.

Later in the article it cites Mr. Johnson as saying that with the district moving from a district of “progress” to one of “distinction” with an 80.7% performance composite for 2009-10 under ABC results, the goal moving forward is to get to 100%. Then the article quotes Mr. Johnson as saying, “You hear people talk about No Child Left Behind, but we’re serious about that.” However, there was no mention of the low AYP scores.

Of course Mr. Johnson also did not mention that one of the I-SS primary goals has been that the district was to have 97% expected ABC growth by 2010 and that another goal was that the district was to meet 96% of the AYP targets in 2010. Remember that the AYP scores are a measure of the success of the ‘No Child Left Behind’ program.

If Mr. Johnson is serious about ‘No Child Left Behind’ then he has to admit that the I-SS AYP scores dramatically decreased this past year and discuss what the district is truly going to change in order to improve both the ABC and AYP goals. I don’t think that rebranding the Central Office as Central Support Services is going to bring much real change in the way that the I-SS administration does things.

Update On The CO Reorganization Plan

On Wednesday, I sent Dawn Creason an e-mail in which I asked for information regarding the individuals (Kris Earl, Judy Honeycutt, Mathew Fail, Linda Gillon, Brenda Clark, Linda Rogers, Carol McCrory, Doug Wooten, Rob Jackson, and Steve Hampton) who were listed on the February 2010 I-SS organizational chart but who were not listed on the I-SS organizational chart submitted to the Board by Mr. Johnson as part of his reorganization plan.

I received the following reply from Ms. Creason on Thursday.

Mr. Klaene-

I just had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Johnson and discuss the organizational chart.

Coite Sherrill, Chip Weddington, Reginald Brown, Dorothy Woodard, Pam Stewart, Carol McCrory, Mathew Fail, and Brenda Clark will no longer be I-SS employees. Mathew Fail has already left the district, and all others will be completing their work at the end of June.

However, Mr. Johnson has added Kelly Cooper (executive director of middle grades education), Jessica Mellen (Title II administrator) and Tim Ivey (Focused Learning Communities grant director).

Kris Earl is a full-time employee of the EC department. Judy Honeycutt is a part-time employee (retired and returned) working with career & technical education as the career development counselor, Linda Gillon remains the full-time classified personnel coordinator, and Doug Wooten, Rob Jackson, and Steve Hampton (1/2 grant paid) remain in their previous capacities.

Mr. Johnson shared with me that the organizational chart has been reduced to only list department heads. His ultimate plan is to provide individual department organizational charts as well. He asked me to coordinate this effort just this afternoon. As soon as I am able to contact each department leader, I will ensure that all central office personnel are listed on the website, both in directory format as well as organizational chart format.

I hope I've managed to answer your questions adequately without rambling on too much. If you have further questions, I will be happy to help you.

Thanks a lot!

dc

Five of the individuals mentioned by Ms. Creason were not on the February 2010 organizational chart. I don’t know what was the administrative status of those individuals (Coite Sherrill, Chip Weddington, Reginald Brown, Dorothy Woodard, and Pam Stewart). But, looking at the two organizational charts and the information provided by Ms. Creason, there were 3 individuals (Carol McCrory, Mathew Fail, and Brenda Clark) who were on the February organizational chart and who will no longer be employed by I-SS and three individuals (Kelly Cooper, Jessica Mellen, and Tim Ivey) who will be new additions to the organizational chart with 7 individuals (Kris Earl, Judy Honeycutt, Linda Gillon, Doug Wooten, Rob Jackson, and Steve Hampton) who will continue to be employed as CO administrators but will not be listed on the main I-SS administrative chart.

Therefore, is this a true reduction in administrative positions, is it a restructuring of the organizational charts to make a clearer distinction in responsibilities, or is just smoke and mirrors to make it look like a reduction in administrative positions?

A Teacher's Job Description

As I mentioned in a previous post, Mr. Johnson is suggesting that a number of Central Office administrators should be given salary adjustments (raises) because they are being assigned additional duties as he reorganizes the Central Office staff. I already mentioned that many individuals have stated that teachers are often assigned extra duties without receiving additional compensation. However, those remarks also made me think that it would be beneficial to list the duties, or responsibilities, of an typical classroom teacher.

To that end, I used Google to search for teacher job descriptions. I found several comprehensive lists of teacher duties. I then merged those lists and, with my wife’s assistance, added a few duties that were not already included. As you might suspect the list is quite lengthy but that is just a small testament to the dedication of the teachers. I am including the list below. There is some overlapping between the bulleted items but that is balanced out by the fact that there are numerous other items that could be broken down into multiple duties.

Professional Responsibilities of Teachers:

• Prepare classroom and materials for Open House.
• Assemble class rosters and get to know students and parents.
• Administer Common Formative Assessments.
• Prepare lesson plans that reflect a logical sequence of learning objectives and activities and meet the individual needs, interests, and abilities of the students.
• Implement instructional activities that contribute to a climate where students are actively engaged in meaningful learning experiences.
• Use a variety of instructional strategies and materials that are appropriate for the stated instructional objectives of the students involved.
• Collaborate with students to prepare PDSAs.
• Identify, select, and modify instructional resources to meet the needs of the students with varying backgrounds, learning styles, and special needs.
• Use relevant technology to support instruction.
• Instruct and monitor students in the use of learning materials and equipment.
• Establish standards of classroom conduct and administer them in a fair, equitable, and consistent manner.
• Teach a broad base of understanding without indoctrinating students with his/her own cultural, political, religious or philosophical beliefs.
• Ensure that student growth and achievement is continuous and appropriate for age group, subject area, and/or program classification.
• Read and critique student papers.
• Assist students as they complete class projects.
• Provide appropriate feedback on student work.
• Appropriately display student work in the classroom and hallways.
• Post current PDSA information in the classroom.
• Monitor and assess student progress and adjust student instruction accordingly.
• Maintain effective and efficient record keeping procedures.
• Observe and evaluate student's performance and development.
• Assign and grade class work, homework, tests and assignments.
• Encourage and monitor the progress of individual students.
• Keep accurate records and provide them for school district use and file required reports on a timely basis.
• Demonstrate gains in student performance.
• Prepare and submit progress reports and report cards.
• Apply appropriate disciplinary measures where necessary.
• Monitor after school detention room as assigned.
• Assist in assessing changing curricular needs and offer plans for improvement.
• Collaborate with peers to enhance the instructional environment.
• Assume responsibility for meeting his/her course and school-wide student performance goals.
• Participate in training and presentations about various teaching techniques.
• Meet professional obligations through efficient work habits such as: meeting deadlines, honoring schedules, coordinating.
• Attend and participate in required district in-service programs.
• Stay current through professional staff development opportunities.
• Utilize established channels for handling routine procedures, resolving problems/concerns and making suggestions.
• Participate in required staff meetings and conferences.
• Keep up to date with developments in subject area, teaching resources and methods and make relevant changes to instructional plans and activities.
• Participate in committees as related to student needs, school programs, and district needs.
• Works collaboratively to achieve the overall purposes of the school program.
• Participate in the development and implementation of the school improvement plan.
• Provide a positive environment in which students are encouraged to be actively engaged in the learning process.
• Prepare and display motivational items on classroom bulletin boards.
• Promote and maintain a safe and healthful environment in the classroom and building.
• Maintain an organized and clean classroom.
• Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with students, parents, and other professionals on a regular basis.
• Communicate student academic and behavioral progress to parents.
• Develop and maintain positive and cooperative interactions and communication with school staff, clients, and the community.
• Establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with students, parents, and schools.
• Performs bus and car duty before and after school as assigned.
• Participate in extracurricular activities such as social activities, sporting activities, clubs and student organizations.
• Provide supervision in non-classroom areas and situations in accordance with the building student management plan.
• Monitor students in hallways, cafeteria, gymnasium, and school grounds.
• Assign lockers and maintain records of those assignments.
• Provide direction and supervision for all school activities to which he/she is assigned (coach, director, supervisor, chaperon, etc.).
• Develop a budget for applicable programs and insure that needed materials are ordered with the administrator’s approval.
• Care for district resources, equipment and materials assigned to him/her and report concerns regarding facility and equipment to designated supervisor.
• When applicable, provide direction and/or supervision for teacher assistants, student teachers, interns, and substitutes.
• Maintain a current folder of responsibilities and procedures for substitute teacher's use.
• Model professional and ethical standards when dealing with students, parents, peers, and community.
• Participate in IEP meetings.
• Be knowledgeable of and adhere to all procedures and practices prescribed in the Teacher, Student, and/or Parent Handbooks.
• Keep an accurate and detailed accounts of all monies collected and submit detailed accounting of such money to the appropriate building or business office personnel.
• Be knowledgeable of and adhere to federal and state laws that apply to his/her job assignment.
• Perform all other duties and responsibilities as assigned by their supervisor or district administrator.

To conclude, I thank all teachers and teacher assistants for dedicating your lives to helping students achieve success in the classroom and in the world outside the classroom. As the above list indicates, a significant effort is required to assist students achieve their goals. To all teachers and assistants, have a great summer. Spend some extra quality time with your families and friends, and recharge your batteries because it will not be too long till the beginning of a new school year.

Resources:

Sevenstar Academy, Omaha Public Schools, Waunakee Community School District, and Best-Job-Interview.com.

Proposed CO Reorganization Plan

Brady Johnson’s proposed reorganization plan for the Central Office is now available on the I-SS web site as an item on the agenda for Monday’s School Board meeting. According to the plan the Central Office will be cut by 5% for 2010-2011 and this will be done with the elimination of seven positions and continued salary cuts of 2%. In addition the workload of the remaining central office staff will be adjusted and salary adjustments will be recommended for these staff members. Overall, this is supposed to save $201,000.

The new CO organizational chart is included in the plan. The following individuals were included on the previous organizational chart but are not included on the new one: Kris Earl, Judy Honeycutt, Mathew Fail, Linda Gillon, Brenda Clark, Linda Rogers, Carol McCrory, Doug Wooten, Rob Jackson, and Steve Hampton. The plan does not state if these individuals have resigned or retired, or have been reassigned, or terminated.

There are two additions to the organizational chart. Kelly Cooper is listed as Executive Director of Middle School Education/Rtl/504 and Tim Ivey is listed as Director of SLC Grant.

The reorganizational plan also includes a page that lists the additional duties assigned to a number of CO administrators. For example one of the extra duties assigned to Marty Moore is Speaking Engagements and Baldrige Training and one of the extra duties assigned to Dawn Creason is the BNQP Application. Does this mean that I-SS is going to apply for the Baldrige award again? I also find it interesting that one of the extra duties assigned to Dale Ellis is Staff Development yet Jed Stus is now listed as Executive Director of Staff Development & Training. Why is Staff Development an extra duty for Dale Ellis when Jed Stus will be doing the work?

The final page of the reorganization plan gives a listing of the duties and responsibilities for the Associate Supt. For Human Resources (Dr. Dale Ellis), the Executive Director for Staff Development (Jed Stus), and the Executive Director of Teacher Support (Bill Long).

It does look like Mr. Johnson is trying to streamline the CO administrative staff and that, of course, is a good thing. Is it too little, too late? Is it just a smoke screen to hide the true administrative agenda?

A few questions do come to mind at this time. How many, if any, of the individuals who were on the previous organizational chart but not on the new chart will still be employed by I-SS but with different assignments? What will be the amount of the salary adjustments for each of the individuals taking on additional duties? And, as many have asked before, why are raises (adjustments) being considered for administrative staff who take on additional duties while teachers are consistently asked to take on extra duties without any adjustments to their pay? I think the CO administrators are paid quite well as it is. Let them start earning that salary.

You can access the reorganization plan by clicking on the following link. (Note: For some reason at the time of this posting the following link and the link on the I-SS web site were not active. It is the link I originally used to access the plan. The link is working as of June 10th at 6:25 PM.)

Central Office Reorganizational Plan

I am also including the proposed CO reorganization plan below. (Note: As long as the previous organizational chart is readily available on the school web site, it can be seen by clicking on the image of the chart on the left side of this page.)

Click on an image to enlarge it.

Central Office Reorganization

According to the agenda for the upcoming meeting of the I-SS Committee of the Whole, Mr. Johnson will be presenting a Central Office Reorganization Plan to the School Board. The meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 7^th.

The agenda is available on the I-SS web site but it does not give any information regarding what might be included in the reorganization plan. I doubt that there will be any trimming of the administrative excess since many of the administrators have just had their contracts renewed or extended and apparently they are hiring a couple of new administrators. Maybe they are just going to shift personnel between the Race Street and ADR offices.

January Personnel Report

As reported in today’s Statesville Record and Landmark, it was announced at Monday’s I-SS Board meeting that Todd Holden has been promoted to Executive Director of Secondary Education and Career Technical Education. Mr. Holden has been principal of West Iredell High for the last four years. There was no mention of what his new salary will be. I wish Mr. Holden the best in his new position. You may click on the link below to access the Record and Landmark article.

Todd Holden Named Director

It was also announced at Monday’s Board meeting that the interim positions created when Mr. Johnson was named Interim Superintendent are now officially permanent positions. Specifically, the personnel report approved by the Board states the following.

Ron Hargrave goes from Interim Deputy Superintendent/Race Street to Deputy Superintendent/Race Street.

Melanie Taylor goes from Interim Assoc. Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction/ADR to Assoc. Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction/ADR.

Dale Ellis goes from Interim Assoc. Superintendent for Secondary Curriculum/ADR to Assoc. Superintendent for Human Resources/Race Street.

Bill Long goes from Interim Assoc. Superintendent for Human Resources/Race Street to Director of Teacher Support Services/Race Street.

As I mentioned in a comment to a previous post, Dawn Creason sent me an e-mail on January 4^th stating that Dale Ellis and Bill Long had gone back to their previous positions and salaries. Obviously this was not a true statement with regard to Mr. Long. As far as I can tell the Director of Teacher Support Services is a new Central Office position created for Mr. Long. Again we see that there is no shortage of money when it comes to Central Office positions. How sad it is for the students at Statesville High School and Third Creek Elementary who have to share media specialists because there is no money to hire a replacement for the media specialist at Third Creek who has recently retired.

Dr. Holliday's True Legacy

There have been a number of comments about the contracts for some of the I-SS administrators in the Central Office. Although I do not have copies of the contracts for all of the administrators, I did ask for copies for some of them. The information below is from the copies of the contracts that I do have.

Individual	Starting Date	Ending Date	Starting Annual Salary
Brenda Clark	July 1, 2008	June 30, 2012	$124,500.00
Melanie Taylor	July 1, 2008	June 30, 2012	$120,000.00
Mathew Fail	July 1, 2008	June 30, 2012	$87,214.32
Dale Ellis	July 1, 2008	June 30, 2012	$110,970.00
Ron Hargrave	July 1, 2008	June 30, 2012	$118,000.08
Brady Johnson	July 1, 2008	June 30, 2012	$124,500.00
Pamela Schiffman	July 1, 2008	June 30, 2012	$121,758.72
Marty Moore	July 1, 2008	June 30, 2010	$105,000.00
Jed Stus	July 1, 2008	June 30, 2010	$92,000.04
Alicia Tate	Jan. 5, 2009	June 30, 2011	$101,000.04
Denise Holliday	July 1, 2007	June 30, 2009	$60,000.00

Melanie Taylor and Dale Ellis both had previous four-year contracts that were from 2007 to 2011 but were changed at the beginning of last school year to the current ones that go until June of 2012. Of course both these individuals received nice raises in salary to go along with these new contracts. There may have been others who had their contracts extended but I don’t have that information. Now, each of the Central Office administrators will receive a 2% furlough this year, but many of them will still be earning well over a hundred thousand dollars. Also, I wonder how many Central Office employees will have their contracts extended before Dr. Holliday leaves for Kentucky.

I-SS Bloat Mimics UNC-CH Bloat

A teacher sent me a link to an article on The News & Observer web site. The article is titled Report finds bloat at UNC: Layers of leaders stifle efficiency. Here is a link to the article.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/higher_education/story/1616489.html

The following are some excerpts from the article.

UNC-Chapel Hill has too many supervisors, bloated administrative costs and a bureaucracy that hamstrings everything from assigning courses to classrooms to purchasing supplies, a consultant has concluded.

Bain & Company, an efficiency expert hired to examine the university's financial processes, will present a 107-page report Thursday suggesting an institution with too many layers.

The report found that the campus, with an annual operating budget of about $2 billion, spends more on administrative costs than it does on academics…

It examines administrative structures and spending practices across the university and proposes dozens of areas where money could be saved.

UNC-CH is 10 layers deep in some areas, meaning that a worker has nine people above him on the organizational ladder. And more than half of campus supervisors oversee three or fewer workers. UNC-CH should eliminate some supervisors and give more control to those who continue in those roles, the report said. Fewer management layers would lead to fewer meetings and less duplication, and could save up to $12 million annually…

The teacher who sent me the link to the article said that the situation at UNC seems very similar to the top-heavy nature of I-SS and I agree. How many excessive meetings were held by Dr. Holliday and his Baldrige cronies and just how much administrative duplication is there at the Central Office? The bloat at the Central Office has been mentioned numerous times in this blog. The citizens of Iredell County might not be able to anything about the bloat at UNC-CH but we can do something about the bloat at I-SS. We might not be able to save millions but we could save thousands of dollars.

Perhaps all this time Dr. Holliday thought of himself as a university chancellor and not as a superintendent. For all his talk about quality, Dr. Holliday certainly never seemed to show any true evidence of being a quality superintendent.

Guilt By Association?

It was suggested in one of the comments to a previous post that by referring to the Central Office Administrators I am unfairly grouping some good administrators in with Dr. Holliday and his Baldrige buddies. I have to admit that is probably a valid statement. Regrettably, I don't have a decoder to tell the good from the bad. And I am not saying that everything that Dr. Holliday and his buddies have done is bad. For example, I do think that Dr. Holliday is working hard to keep all I-SS teachers employed. Unfortunately there are about 70 teacher assistants who are about to lose their jobs.

When I first started this blog I was just using the term administrators. My wife suggested that I say Central Office Administrators instead so that everyone would know that I was not including principals and assistant principals. We both knew that there were many good principals and assistant principals in the school system and that I was talking about what was being done by employees who were classified as Central Office Administrators. Sadly, ever since I started questioning the actions of I-SS officials and asking for access to school records, the interactions I have had with Central Office Administrator have been far less than helpful, cordial.

Now that Dr. Holliday has directed me not to contact any Central Office Administrator, my only observation of these administrators is at the I-SS Committee of the Whole meetings and the regular School Board meetings. Since the School Board and Dr. Holliday control these meetings, what one observes at these meetings is only that which Dr. Holliday wants everyone to observe.

Look at what is important.

Coming from Michigan I have seen a lot of heartache but I am amazed at what the state and counties are doing here. Last year most people at the central office were given outrageous raises (a raise of more than I make in a year). Then they turn around and say how they do not have the money to educate the children of this county. What is going to happen is that parents will see the lack of support to schools and their child’s education and want to go somewhere else. Money is thrown around at pointless positions that really do not help better the teachers or students. Stop providing people on the top of the chain so much because honestly, they are just passing their jobs on to someone else. A $35,000 raise in one year is unbelievable when you are talking about cutting teaching jobs. Most teachers only receive a $600 to $1000 raise a year. I do not even make $35,000 in a year, and that is how much administrators get as a yearly raise. Who are we truly helping with that? Making $80,000 in a year working for the school system is very well paid. Even a teacher who is in the classroom teaching the students and preparing these students to be our future will not see that kind of pay EVER. This is showing schools and parents that their children are less important then the head office, when truly we should be finding out ways to help the students be prepared for the real world. Completing a weekly PDSA and taking time out day after day to graph data is just taking away from instructional time which has already been cut. We wonder why we are so underperforming compared to other states: this is why. The Central Office treats the people that really make a difference with little respect and expect them to do better with less time, materials, and pay, yet more responsibilities and bigger classes. I have seen teachers making schedules, counseling students, buying their own materials to enhance teaching and all they are told is that they are not doing enough. Look above the teachers and determine what is truly important to this county. Do we want our students to be able to compete in a growing world where more education is becoming a necessity? If so, we are not showing them or preparing them for what they truly need. Really look at what is important before you look at the bottom of the totem pole. If it were not for the teachers no student would be successful. I cannot tell you the last time a student said someone at the head office taught him or her to be successful and prepared for the future.

This post was written by a concerned parent.