Week 5 Part 1

Standard 1.2 The educator shall not knowingly misappropriate, divert, or use monies, personnel, property, or equipment committed to his or her charge for personal gain or advantage.

I honestly believe that his is the most commonly made error of a school leader.  As a school leader, you have access to numerous resources.  This access can tempt many leaders to a bad decision.  As a first year teacher, I lived in the same neighborhood with a principal from another school.  I noticed that whenever he would host events at his home, he would use school equipment to accommodate his guest.  To some people this may not be a big deal, but as a leader, things like this definitely do not  help in regards to building respect.  The short and long term effect leads to your reputation being tarnished.  Many districts have policies in place to ensure that resources are managed properly. As a superintendent, I would create policies and make those policies clear to all members of the district.  Stakeholders must be able to trust the school leadership, if that is tarnished, it makes it much tougher to get community support for district initiatives.

Standard 1.6 The educator shall not falsify records, or direct or coerce others to do so.

This is something that can definitely cause huge problems in a district.  In some districts, the appraisers commonly falsify teacher observations.  In many cases, the appraiser may not have completed the teachers evaluation/observation in a timely matter, so he/she decides to just document it anyways.  This completely undermines the appraisal process, and sends a message to teachers that the process is not that important.  In the short term, a leader can be terminated, but the long term effect can lead to an administrator losing the respect of colleagues, and possibly the loss of certificate. The appraisal portion is used to ensure that teachers are providing an adequate education to our students.  As a superintendent I would hold administrator accountable by creating a policy that ensures that these appraisals are happening in a timely manner.

Standard 1.13 The educator shall not consume alcoholic beverages on school property or during school activities when students are present.

This is something that I have seen happen on numerous occasions.   I have seen this happen on field trips out of town.  Teachers and administrators would have a drink or two, after students fall asleep.  Our district policy very clearly prohibits this, but time and time again, district employees violate this rule.  School personnel has to model the highest ethical standards, any violation of this can lead to drastic consequences.  In the short term, an employee can be terminated from the district.  Long term effects can lead to a revoking of the teaching certificate, and possibly jail time depending on the severity of the situation.  I think it is important for the superintendent to make policies like this very clear to all district personnel.  This is one issue you would like to be proactive instead of reactive.

Standard 2.1 The educator shall not reveal confidential health or personnel information concerning colleagues unless disclosure serves lawful professional purposes or is required by law.

I have yet to see anyone violate this rule, but I do not that the consequences for this is severe.  In the short term, an employee has the right to file a grievance.  This is a gross misuse of trust and authority.  The long term effects of this could lead to personnel being uncomfortable enough to share vital information with the superintendent.  As a superintendent is important that administrators understand the numerous policies that govern this type of behavior. 

Standard 2.2 The educator shall not harm others by knowingly making false statements about a colleague or the school system.

I honestly believe this happens when there is frustration involved.  I have seen teacher unhappy with the administration start heinous rumors in order to damage a person’s character.  If caught doing this in the short term, depending on the severity, a teacher can be reprimanded, suspended, or even terminated.  The long term effects can be that the teacher cannot retain a job in the district, or they lose the respect of colleagues.  Integrity is vital in education.  Even when situations are not ideal, teachers and administrators have to rise above the pettiness and maintain their integrity.  

Week 5 Part 3

I have really grown in competency 8.  I knew coming into this course, that this was a very important aspect of district leadership, so I really wanted to do some growing in this area.  My view has greatly changed when it comes to budgeting district funds for continued improvement.  A lot of the money is already allocated to certain departments or for specific reasons.  So now that I know this, I feel my view of district level budgeting is much more realistic.    Throughout this course I attended several budget meetings, and I worked diligently with our associate superintendent of Finance to learn some of the ends and outs of district budgeting.  The one on one with the superintendent was very productive.  He explained the importance of teamwork and becoming well versed in district spending.  This, teamed with the lectures and readings, provided a rich learning experience for me.  I feel that going forward, I now have the foundation set to become much more experienced in the financial aspect of the district.  The only thing that I would change about this course is the way group work is done.  I found it pretty difficult to meet with the different members of my team.  It was a bit frustrating at times.  

Week 5 Part 2

Taking this course and seeing the implementation of changes pertaining to some of the items we are discussing has been a great experience. As the Superintendent we will be expected to apply legal concepts, regulations and codes as required by state law. Stakeholders such as parents, community, and the Board will view us as the expert in account auditing/monitoring, leading the way in hiring/retaining the best personnel, along with creating an effective budget. Superintendents and administrators in any district are held to high ethical standards and a high accountability for the knowledge they should possess. Decisions are made with cabinet and sometimes without them at a moment’s notice. The responsibility at times may be overwhelming but when one knows they have a direct impact on children, it is worth every ounce of concern.

Since taking the Self-Assessment in EDL D 5396, I have had various experiences and have rated myself differently. While I feel that I have had tremendous growth in many areas, I realize there are areas that are not as strong as I thought they were when I first completed the survey. There are documents that I never knew existed before this course. I feel I am more informed and actually know where to find resources when I step into a Superintendent position.

Week 2 assignment

Week 2 Summary
Part 2

The TEA guidelines establish different budgetary processes.  The document is very long, but it is a great guide for a beginning superintendent. This is a great tool to have when structuring a district budget. It is loaded with different resources for budget preparation.  The reports include enrollment projections and revenue estimation documents. Personally, I found the budget calendar to be an extremely useful tool.  It provides the superintendent with very important deadlines.  The document included five different budget models. I personally prefer the hybrid model.   I learned that our district uses line item budgets, but we are now moving to a zero based system.  

Part 4

The superintendent is responsible for how the district is operated.  Budgeting takes up a large portion of the superintendent’s responsibility.  He or she serves as the chief budget officer for the district, and plays a major in developing the budget, according to the Texas education Code 44.002-44.006.

The role of the superintendent should include stakeholders. In this weeks lecture, Dr Arterbury put an emphasis on how budgeting is the “total planning process of the school district.”  The superintendent must be willing to involve all stakeholders.  This is necessary to build sustainable goals for the district.  This process is important because it shapes the way the campuses make their goals.  Once again, the budget is goal driven, it is necessary to establish sustainable goal in order to preserve valuable resources.  This is why it is important to include stakeholders.  This will achieve the necessary “buy-in”, that will help our district meet the goals it set out for.  

Part 5

I am very familiar with the process of establishing goals and priorities for a school.  This whole process is guided by district initiatives.  The superintendent and central office officials establish this by interpreting data and allocating funds to sustain those goals.  Even though I have not worked in this capacity on the district level, I believe do have experience on the campus level.  After interviewing my superintendent, I had a better understanding of how much of a burden this is.   He explained that this is a very tedious process, and that to accomplish some initiatives, it is often necessary to eliminate others.  Budget planning is a very important process with very serious consequences; for example, some changes can lead to the loss of employment for some people.  This is why every decision has to be considered before being adopted.