PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE: HUMAN RESOURCES LEADERSHIP: Effectively develop and implement a means of improved focus on leadership selection criteria, leadership development, professional development, and effective support of teachers’ professional practice.
Human Resources worked to quickly fill vacancies in critical shortage areas within the context of a national teacher shortage. Advancements have been made in teacher recruitment with additional members being added to the recruitment team. School-based teachers and principals have attended college visits and recruitment fairs as alumnae of various universities. Permanent subs were tapped to fill openings only to leave us with a substitute shortage. Recruitment and Retention strategies are being developed in a collaborative effort with our Educator Quality Oversight Committee (EQOC) and JCTA, presenting and developing strategies to attract effective teachers at our more challenging schools, as recommended by the recent KDE district audit (March 2016).
Human Resources is also in the midst of complete restructuring that will focus on the major functions within the department, and a clear delineation between those who recruit and staff personnel, and those who oversee the processing of the paperwork that accompanies these tasks. The new AppliTrack system is fully operational, allowing easier access to qualified candidates, and tracking tools that enhance recruitment efforts. The overall focus and objective in Human Resources is to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of goals, services, and processes while increasing consistent and timely support to all of our schools.
The Teacher Professional Growth & Effectiveness System (TPGES), along with the Principal Professional Growth & Effectiveness System (PPGES), continued this year with full implementation and full accountability. All teachers, principals, and assistant superintendents utilized all components of TPGES and PPGES to ensure a strong focus on student growth and student success. School implementation teams continue to be utilized, and teacher leaders received continuous and ongoing training throughout the year. The Other Professional Growth & Effectiveness System (OPGES) was also implemented with a pilot group of counselors, speech teachers, school librarians, and resource teachers. OPGES will be fully implemented in the 2016-2017 school year. The collaborative efforts of EQOC also ensured that the Certified Evaluation Plan was updated and submitted to KDE in May 2016.
The School Improvement Academy is a proactive approach to school improvement. Multiple key topics were covered in six sessions, including (1) Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, (2) Sense of Belonging, (3) Social Capital, (4) Intervention and Enrichment Framework and Use of Time, (5) Equity, and (6) Strategic Planning. In total, 15 principals from all school levels participated in the School Improvement Academy:
- Kevin Garner, Shacklette Elementary
- Brandi Carney, Wellington Elementary
- Laura Mullaney, Gutermuth Elementary
- Melody Raymond, Blue Lick Elementary
- Denise Franklin-Williams, Carrithers Middle
- Shannon Conlon, Farmer Elementary
- Iman Talaat, Liberty High
- Ken Moeller, Phoenix School of Discovery
- Debbie Niles, Price Elementary
- Carol Ferry, Watterson Elementary
- Steve Heckman, Highland Middle
- Maria Clemons, Maupin Elementary
- Stephanie Nutter, Atkinson Elementary
- Meg Thomas, Coleridge-Taylor Montessori Elementary
- Stephanie White, King Elementary
After an RFP process, the Management Advisory Group (MAG) was awarded a contract to conduct a compensation review. The last time that the District conducted a review was back in 1979. The review was recommended by the 2011-12 Curriculum Management Audit after reviewing documents and interviewing stakeholders and again by the State Auditor in 2013-14. The purpose was to ascertain if there is external equity (against the market and large districts) and internal equity (fairness within the system). CBO Tom Hudson assembled a group of HR and finance professionals to lend their expertise to the discussion. The independent MAG group delivered the results to the District on April 26, 2016. The problem, unlike what the independent group finds in other Districts, is not how to increase salaries to be competitive. The group found our salaries to be competitive. The non-teaching compensation structure has allowed salaries to increase beyond an externally equitable range and to not be internally equitable. The future challenge is how to maintain internally and externally competitive salaries for the next 20 years.
We ended the school year on May 26. The last day of school, I visited six schools: Atherton High, Central High, Frost Sixth-Grade Academy, Knight Middle, Roosevelt-Perry Elementary, and Seneca High schools. I attended eight high school graduations: Ballard, Butler, Fern Creek, Liberty, Phoenix, Southern, Shawnee, and Western and was inspired by our JCPS graduates, families, and employees — from the Seneca graduate who outlined to me her detailed plan (complete with pictures of flower arrangements) to go to Jefferson Community and Technical College (JCTC) and eventually open her own florist shop, to the family of Xavier — a proud Kindergarten graduate and member of the Class of 2028, to two Class Officers both going to Yale, to the 21-year-old graduate with special needs, through the loving efforts of his teacher, successfully walked to shake the principal’s hand as his proud family watched, there were incredible moments that remind us of the importance of what we do.
There are two priorities for the next couple of weeks — (1) Reducing our Assessment System and (2) Designing a proactive Behavior Support System, with the Code of Conduct being a part of a system.
