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Home > Blogs > Springfield Schools News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > December > 03
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Ohio district asks for piece of bailout pie
A suburban Cleveland school district has asked for financial assistance to help deal with a growing population under the same federal program banks and automakers are looking to for a “bail out,” the Associated Press reports.
Olmsted Falls applied last week to the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program, the same program that you’ve been hearing about with the $700 billion economic bailout package.
Olmsted Superintendent Todd Hoadley contends that if lawmakers will bailout these corporations, school districts should be able to get the same assistance.
Since TARP’s October conception, some school associations have been trying to determine if education might be a potential benefactor; some cities have applied too.
The U.S. Treasury Department contends that TARP is meant to stabilize financial institutions, according to the AP.
Should federal bailouts include school districts?
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TweetBoard, firm discuss superintendent search
Springfield board members finalized last night a decision to hire BWP & Associates to perform two national searches to fill two of the district’s key leadership positions.
The district will quickly launch efforts to get community and other stakeholder input through the consultants with a goal of choosing a new superintendent by mid-April. That person would then play a role in the interviewing and selecting of the high school campus director.
Lots of interesting things out of last night’s meeting. I’m going to mention a couple of them now and will get to the others over the next couple days.
• Teachers: Springfield Education Association President Greg Krouse was in attendance last night. When board members debated if two weeks would be enough notice for the focus groups and community meetings, Krouse said that he thought it would work for teachers and seemed to indicate a belief that union membership would be eager to participate.
Retired Superintendent Jean Harper and the SEA had a tumultuous relationship at the end, with 60 percent of teachers casting a “no confidence” vote in her abilities to lead the district about a year before she announced her retirement.
The sessions will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 17. Schools release early that day, as they do every Wednesday, but teachers are still in the building, which at least one board member said might boost participation with district staff.
• Gathering input: The focus groups will include various segments of the community and would likely be separated by their association with the district, so teachers and principals and parents, etc. would all be in different groups, each led by one of the team of four consultants in the discussion process.
It’s not definite but here’s the ones that were volleyed last night: Board members, central office administrators, building administrators, teachers, support staff, students, parents, community members, business leaders, university people and “politicos” (city officials like the mayor and police chief, for example).
Then there would be two community meetings, open to anyone who wants to participate, that evening. Look for times on those later this week or early next week but we’re probably looking at something like 5 and 7 p.m. in two different locations in the city.
There would also be a form online, throughout the duration of the search, for input.
• Fifteen percent: The forms and focus groups will be used to create a specialized leadership audit for the district that will describe the skills Springfield is looking for in its new leadership, said BWP’s Ronald Barnes.
Of that list, about 85 percent of it will look very similar to what comes out of other districts; 15 percent will be unique to Springfield and that’s what will really drive the search.
Makes sense. In three years covering education, I’ve yet to see “fiscally irresponsible” or “ignorant of education issues” show up during a search, but I’ve seen some variation of “knowledgeable on education affairs” and “demonstrates fiscal management skills” every time.
But Springfield may look for someone who has experience with urban education, which we wouldn’t really expect to see on a wish list out of someplace like Northwestern, the Clark County district most recently searching for a superintendent.
• The questions: the online form and forms that will be available through various outlets, including the community forums, will consist of four questions.
They are: 1. What are the strengths of Springfield City Schools?
What are the major issues the board and new superintendent/high school campus director will face?
What characteristics and special attributes should the new superintendent/high school campus director possess?
What else would you like to say about this search? (This gives participants the chance to point the firm in a very specific direction, like the name of an actual candidate, Barnes said.)
Okay, those are the major things out of my notes from last night. What do you think of the process laid out so far? Worth the $50,000 price tag for both searches?
Feel free to answer any of those questions below but don’t forget to make sure you attend a meeting or fill out a form too if you want your opinion in the official record.
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