EDLD 5342 Competency 8

Competency 8 Area:

The superintendent knows how to apply principles of effective leadership and management in relation to district budgeting, personnel, resource utilization, financial management, and technology application.

The superintendent knows how to:

___C__ apply procedures for effective budget planning and management.

___S__ work collaboratively with board of trustees and appropriate personnel to develop district budgets.

____C_ facilitate and evaluate effective account auditing and monitoring that complies with legal requirements and local district policy.

___C__ establish district procedures for accurate, effective, ethical purchasing and financial record keeping and reporting.

___C__ acquire, allocate, and manage resources according to district vision and priorities, including obtaining and using funding from various sources.

____C_ use district and staff evaluation data for personnel policy development and decision making.

___S__ apply knowledge associated with personnel management, including requirements related to certifying, recruiting, screening, selecting, evaluating, disciplining, reassigning, and dismissing personnel.

___C__ manage one's own time and the time of others to enhance district operations.

___S__ develop and implement plans for using technology and information systems to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of school district operations.

____S_ apply legal concepts, regulations, and codes as required.

__C___use revenue forecasting and enrollment forecasting to address personnel and budgetary needs accurately.

In reflecting upon my strengths and competencies, I am confident in my ability to build relations with the Board of Trustees.  I might struggle at first with management issues.  This does not reflect upon my management of personnel, but rather my management of time and resources.  As a future superintendent, I believe that I understand the procedures for accurate, effective and ethical purchases and record keeping. I would want to make sure I have a very capable CFO who understands the intricacies of accounting and upon whom I feel has the highest of ethics and standards.  As one superintendent once stated to me, “my job is to hire the best people and make the ones I’ve got better.”  This makes sense to me.

The parts of this course that have made the greatest impact on me include a variety of resources.  From week one lecture notes, I am reminded that operating school districts with fewer resources than needed is not a new concept.  Given the current budget crisis in education, this gives me hope that we will overcome!  I agree with Dr. Arterbury’s statement in the video:  “It is not likely that we could maintain a democracy or a world class work force without an educated society.”  His statement reminds me of the importance of taking on this challenge of educating all students.  The Worksheets for Establishing Foundation School Program Aid used in week three from Texas Education Agency was helpful to me in that it solidified the importance of the ADA number for every district.  Without this number, no one could complete the assignment. 

Week #5 EDLD 5342 Final Reflection

EDLD 5342 Week 5 Final Reflection

     In reflecting upon my strengths and competencies, I am confident in my ability to build relations with the Board of Trustees.  I might struggle at first with management issues.  This does not reflect upon my management of personnel, but rather my management of time and resources.  As a future superintendent, I believe that I understand the procedures for accurate, effective and ethical purchases and record keeping. I would want to make sure I have a very capable CFO who understands the intricacies of accounting and upon whom I feel has the highest of ethics and standards.  As one superintendent once stated to me, “my job is to hire the best people and make the ones I’ve got better.”  This makes sense to me.

The parts of this course that have made the greatest impact on me include a variety of resources.  From week one lecture notes, I am reminded that operating school districts with fewer resources than needed is not a new concept.  Given the current budget crisis in education, this gives me hope that we will overcome!  I agree with Dr. Arterbury’s statement in the video:  “It is not likely that we could maintain a democracy or a world class work force without an educated society.”  His statement reminds me of the importance of taking on this challenge of educating all students.  The Worksheets for Establishing Foundation School Program Aid used in week three from Texas Education Agency was helpful to me in that it solidified the importance of the ADA number for every district.  Without this number, no one could complete the assignment. 

     I learned the importance of networking with others.  Without the assistance and willingness of my small group to make sure we “got to the bottom” of the assignment, I would have been lost.  We were persistent and professional in researching all options.  In addition, I was reminded of the importance of reaching out to others in time of frustration and crisis.  I think resourcefulness of everyone in the class and the vast amount of experience and knowledge only helped enhance my knowledge and ability to reason through the data.  My insight from the interviews with my superintendent affirms the importance of finding a very capable and ethic-minded CFO.  The intricacies of school finance continue to challenge me, but I am confident that finding and partnering with the right CFO will help me navigate through the school funding nightmare.  I also learned that while having a strong opinion is important, it is equally important to remember that patience and kindness pay off.  Instead of getting too frustrated about the assignment, I was reminded that by using the resources of other professionals and continuing to pursue options, a solution is imminent.  I believe this lesson will be most important as superintendents continue to face budget challenges and frustrations of working with the legislators.    I have no doubt there are times when a superintendent feels the information provided is lacking and that there are no solutions to the challenges he/she faces.  The experiences in this class provided me with a small exposure to those feelings and the processes we pursued as a cohort in this class and what a resourceful superintendent should do in these situations. 

5342 Week #5 Part 1-Code Of Ethics

EDLD 5342 Week 5-Code Of Ethics

     While I am not aware of many situations where the ethics of finance have been violated, I am aware of one incident.  A well-respected district employee had access to many pieces of equipment.  This employee had been a member of the district for many years and was often the “go-to” person for construction and maintenance solutions.  Obviously, as equipment becomes old and obsolete, there is still a process to follow to liquate assets. This employee allegedly took some of these old and obsolete pieces of equipment and placed them on their own land, perhaps even to another state.   Somehow, someone found out about it and reported this violation, as is always the case.  My understanding is that the equipment was valued at less than $5000 and was no longer usable by the district. Since the employee did not accurately follow the process for liquidation, there was an employment consequence and legal proceedings ensued.  This is an unfortunate situation that essentially tarnished the fine reputation this employee had established and gave people cause to question the district’s asset liquidation process.  As a result, that district now utilizes a much more tedious process for asset accountability with much tighter guidelines on equipment usage.  The ethical conflicts involved in this situation violated TAC Standard 1.4:  “the educator shall not use institutional or professional privileges for personal or partisan advantage.”

      I conducted an internet search and learned about another district, which discovered a missing escrow account, which violates TAC Standards 1.3 and 1.6.  Standard 1.3 states, “The educator shall not submit fraudulent requests for reimbursement, expenses or pay” and Standard 1.6 states “The educator shall not falsify records, or direct or coerce others to do so.”   Apparently, the district’s former Chief Financial Officer informed the board that he established an escrow account to help pay for the district’s Chapter 41 payments.  Not only was the account not established, but also the funds were allocated to other district expenses.  In addition, the district did not follow Texas Education Agency guidelines.  As a result, the CFO was fired and the Superintendent ‘s integrity came into question by the board and community.

     Other examples of ethics violation include one district where the employees used district credit cards to purchase personal items.  This violates 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.) and 1.1. (The educator shall not intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly engage in deceptive practices regarding official policies of the school district, educational institution, educator preparation program, the Texas Education Agency, or the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) and its certification process.) The superintendent’s failure to disclose connections or personal gains from professional affiliations such as consulting fees, etc. violate Standards 1.7 “The educator shall comply with state regulations, written local school board policies, and other state and federal laws.”  A fifth and final example of an ethics violation would be a superintendent who claimed they had the appropriate certifications for which they truly did not.  This would violate standard 1.8 “The educator shall apply for, accept, offer, or assign a position or a responsibility on the basis of professional qualifications.”

     The short and long-range consequences of any of the violations always include deterioration of trust in the public education system.  For example, in the district where employees inappropriately used the district credit card, the short -term results are that the district needed to pay for the debt.  In addition, the public lost confidence in the fiduciary procedures for the district.  When the superintendent does not appropriately disclose business or personal relationships, there is potential for a conflict of interest.  The short-term consequence is that the Board of Trustees, as well as the community, questions the integrity of the superintendent, which could develop into long-term consequences due to the lack of trust, confidence and belief in the integrity of the superintendent and the system.  In the example involving obsolete district equipment, the short-term consequence was that the public and the board questioned district procedures.  A long-term consequence is that these valued employees of the district lost their jobs, the district lost a valuable employee resource and the employees faced possible legal consequences. 

     In order to avoid the above-mentioned violations, there are several pro-active plans that can be used.  To avoid a credit card nightmare, a district could either eliminate the use of credit cards or create a monitoring system that prevents unauthorized use of the cards.  This would show that the superintendent is following a quality indicator similar to Superintendent competency that “models and promotes the highest standard or conduct, ethical principles, and integrity in decision making, actions and behaviors” as well as illustrating that he/she “apply laws, policies, and procedures in a fair and reasonable manner.” To prevent a superintendent and district from being embarrassed about a business or personal relationship, full disclosure of any questionable relationship should be expected.  A form allowing for this full disclosure by the superintendent would help alleviate any questions and protect him/her from future allegations.  Again, this illustrates the modeling of highest standards as well as “exhibiting understanding and implementing policies and procedures that promote personnel compliance with The Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators.” Lastly, by implementing procedures that require a paper trail for any asset liquidation and verification by an outside source of the receipt of those assets, the superintendent not only shows that he/she is implementing policies and procedures stated above, but is again modeling and promoting highest standards.   

Week #4 EDLD 5342 Part 5

     Our school district has developed a relationship with the same auditing firm for several years, and when I interviewed our Interim Superintendent, he described the process that they use to review thoroughly the finances of the district. He explained the timeline of the budget process and the steps that we take in order to select an external auditor. Although, our school board has chosen the same external auditing firm for several years, we still go through the process of accepting bids for others. He also mentioned that while it may be a more efficient use of time and that it is advantageous to have a strong relationship with the auditors; it is still a best practice to gain the perspective from different external auditors. He discussed the timeline when the external auditors come in to the district of when they come in and the documents that they review.

     In the fall, the auditors come on site and review several documents. After an initial review, they request in writing very specific documentation. Often this is for clarification of items about which they have questions. Items that they have requested to review have been anything pertaining to fund balances, accrued interest, fixed asset inventories, ledgers for maintenance and food service, payroll quarterly reports, reports submitted regarding federal monies, lists of legal expenditures, copies of budget for current fiscal year, insurance coverage documents, and copies of un-liquidated encumbrances/purchase orders.

     According to the guidance document published by the Texas Education Agency, there are some considerations listed for school districts in order to prepare for the audit. Auditors review various aspects of the school’s financial dealings such as, cash, investments, accounts receivable, inventories, capital assets, accounts payable, liabilities, fund balances, earnings, revenues, expenditures, property taxes, insurance, and budget. Being aware that the audit is comprehensive, school personnel can prepare documents for the auditors before they arrive. While they review all pertinent documentation, they are also very informed on compliance and changes that may have occurred in the law. They also are able to conduct interviews, but often they will send out anonymous questionnaires to various staff members with specific procedures to maintain confidentiality.

     I was also allowed to review the report from the fall of 2010, and then he explained that results are communicated to him in the form of a comprehensive report. For each indicator, a summary is offered followed by a page that may or may not have ‘findings’ listed. A finding is something that you do not want to see. This would be an area of concern, perhaps a guideline of compliance component that was not followed appropriately. Guidance is offered to the district for corrective action. The school board reviews the report, and a response to the finding is given the following year. In other words, progress towards the corrective action must be attained so that the district is in compliance with that particular aspect of the finding.

Week #4 EDLD 5342 Part 4

When interviewing our school district’s business and operations manager, I found that approximately 85% of our total budget is dedicated to personnel costs. It is interesting to be studying School Finance now, especially with the current financial condition of the state and what a mess it is. It seems that every day we learn or hear of new house and senate bills and how our current lawmakers propose to decrease the potential impact to Texas public schools. From a budgetary standpoint, public education is the “largest piece of the pie,” and perhaps that is why we are experiencing such hefty cuts. These are times of unprecedented budget shortfalls, and just as the most efficient method for the state to balance its budget may be to cut funds to public schools, those very districts are left with little choice but to explore methods of furloughs, layoffs, or other methods of reductions in force. Yet school district officials must be aware of how they fare in comparison to surrounding districts with regard to average teacher salaries. In order to attract the most effective and highly qualified teachers, it is important to be mindful of competition and that it may be necessary to offer salary increases as often as possible to help with retention and continuity of the organization as a whole. The negative impact of a salary increase other than an obvious reduction in the overall budget is that setting a precedent for periodic increases may not be feasible every year. 

District Profile/Budget Summary Links

http://www.fwisd.org/about/Documents/DistrictProfile.pdf  -2010-2011 District Profile/Actual Budget

http://www.fwisd.org/business/Documents/budget/Budget%20Summary%202011-12.pdf - Budget Summary Report

Part 4 Week 3-5342

    One might argue that the benefits of a maximum M&O tax rate is the amount of funding for the school district, however, the primary reason to keep it at lower, manageable rate is to gain support from the voters. The I&S, or Interest and Sinking, fund is used to secure bonded debt so that school districts can maintain, improve, refurbish, or build new facilities. When a bond package is presented to the voters in the community to increase the tax rate for I&S, they may be more likely to support it if M&O has been kept at a reasonable rate.

Stakeholder Input in Budgeting Process

The types of input I could receive for budget development from each of the groups could vary, depending on the group.  From central office administrators and staff, I would depend upon them to use their areas of expertise to help develop the implement the budget.  I would use their knowledge and contacts to help design, implement and adjust as necessary to meet the district goals and appropriate use the resources.  From principals, I would expect them to provide a budget for their campus that aligns with their campus plan and district plan.  Just as the superintendent is the budget officer for the district, I would expect them to be the budget officer for their campus.  I would need their input for what parts of the budget are working towards the goals of the campus and district, and what parts of the budget need adjustment to help achieve the goals.  I would expect them to be “good stewards” of the district funds in aligning goals and budget.  The SBDM committees and DIP committee would provide me with input from the stakeholders on the vision and goals of the district.  They would review the goals and budget to make sure that they agree with the alignment of expectations and expenses.  Their input would provide information about the success of the communication and planning.  Teacher organizations would be stakeholders to help with allocation of personnel budget, but they would serve more as a source of support for the vision and goals than anything.  The input from key stakeholders could be the most quiet input but also most important of all.  These key stakeholders help provide information about the best investment opportunities for the fund balance, most effective legislators, key alignment issues of the TEA template for projected and actual funds, and potential areas of concern for laws and other issues.  This is probably the area where I am least familiar and most uncomfortable.  Lastly, the input from the Board of Trustees is crucial.  As the lecture notes state on page 2, “the Superintendent and Board of Trustees are often described as the team of eight”.  They need to provide clear and direct input about their goals for me as superintendent as well as their vision and goals for the district.  I need to provide for them open lines of communication about revenues, expenses and alignment of those budget issues to the goals of the district.  Without this teamwork, the goals of the district cannot be met and the failure to communicate about pending, future and actual budget issues can be devastating. 

In summarizing my reaction to the information gained about the input of the stakeholder groups, I realize I have great opportunity for growth.   I would need to be very strategic and intentional in developing positive communication ties and procedures to gather input from the district improvement plan committee and other SBDM teams.  Working with the teacher organizations does not present a challenge to me, again, due to my experience and communication skills.  I truly believe my greatest challenge is developing the relationships of key business stakeholders.  I will seek input from district leaders on how to do a better job of developing these relationships.

Budget Guidelines For TEA

     TEA’s budgeting guidelines looks like a monstrous document but if you read thru it carefully, it is an excellent guide for school districts.  One person can’t be responsible for the budget; the Superintendent needs to have a strong core of individuals that will be responsible for implementing, projecting and overseeing the budget.  The TEA resource guide provides detailed information and samples of reports that school districts can use to implement their budget.  The guide identifies the different types of budgets, legal requirements for budgets, annual budget responsibilities and guidelines.  The guide provides information on how to estimate annual revenues and expenditures. It provides you with a system of monitoring the budget and forecasting.  It provides you with information regarding student enrollment projection and the different types of grants.  It is a detailed guide but it is user friendly.  It provides districts with samples of reports and letters to use as resources.  Administrators or personnel that are responsible for monitoring and implementing the budget of a district need to read and review this document. It provides school districts with important and necessary information such as State Law requirements, TEA requirements and Local district requirements.  A copy of this document must be printed and reviewed on a yearly basis to assure that all guidelines are met while developing a district’s budget.

Roles and Responsibility Of Superintendent In Budget Process

Roles and Responsibilities Of The Superintendent In The Budget Process

    After interviewing Mr. Dansby, I realized that the role of the Superintendent involves a lot more political knowledge and business management than education and instruction knowledge.  During our conversation, we discussed how some districts have actually tried to use business executives to run school districts. Overall, these business professionals have not been successful because the nature of a school district is vastly different than most business models.  This past summer Mr. Dansby was in Austin a few times during the legislative session. This was important because he was able to report to the School board and help guide them in their decisions about utilization of resources and possible changes to revenue sources throughout the district. 

    The responsibility of the Superintendent in some districts is the budget officer of the district.  Being that FWISD is a large district, there are other resources and other people that the Superintendent can depend upon to help.  In smaller districts, the Superintendent needs to be knowledgeable about not only the allocation of resources, but also the pending legislative decisions that could impact the district.  Since TEA is constantly amending their processes, Mr. Dansby recommends that a Superintendent should keep their own summary of finance that changes as predictions and actual patterns change.  I believe that the TEA template is a great guide.  Mr. Dansby feels sometimes as if the budget is never done.  It is an ongoing process.  The conversations about budget do not ever stop and are a topic on every agenda from central office, principal meeting, SBDM team meetings, and certainly the Board meetings.  The budget process begins in March and does not stop until the budget is approved the end of June.  Even then, the discussions continue as the CAFR is released and audits commence in June and July.  After I heard this, I think one of the first things a new Superintendent should do is look at the CAFR as one of the first assignments/tasks on the job. 

     All stakeholders need to feel and be part of the budget process.  In smaller districts, that input looks vastly different than it does in larger districts.  Regardless of the size, communication and transparency is key.  A Superintendent is rarely fired for academic issues.  Most times the issues revolve around budget concerns.  The communication with the Board and strong confidence in the CFO are critical to success.  The budget process typically involves revenue sources and expenditures and the teacher organizations do not really get involved in the budget process.  I believe a Superintendent should keep communication lines open with the teacher groups, but they do not have direct input to the budget issues.  Their issues are about staffing and personnel.  The Superintendent needs to communicate with the Board and make sure the spending and resources align with Board goals and the campus principals and district office administrators need to make sure their goals and campus plans align with the district plan.  This includes allocations of resources.  I believe that this is another reason why the Superintendent needs to make sure the Board has the opportunity to review the campus plans with transparency and openness.  Everyone needs to be on the same page. 

Having A Goal Driven Budget

Having A Goal Driven Budget

     A goal driven budget is one in which there is an alignment of the Board of Trustee goals with the district improvement plan goals with campus improvement plan goals so that the budget supports successful implementation of all.  This type of alignment requires strong communication with all stakeholders to ensure that the goals of the Board match the goals of the community and the financial allocations of the budget. 

     The utilization of goal driven budget process is evident in the alignment of the vision.  The vision of the board and the community is the basis for this plan.  It involves many community members and represents alignment of the vision of the Board, the district and the campuses.  As the budget situation changes based on the funding from the state, the strategic utilization of budget and resources becomes more critical.  This plan helps guide the intentional use of budget resources to achieve the goals of the district. 

     FWISD Interim Superintendent, Walter Dansby, meets weekly with the district’s leadership team to touch base with them on the recent legislative updates and district state of affairs.  The key to the process is starting early in the discussions with the Board and constantly monitoring the process to match predictions with actual spending patterns.  Close monitoring of these patterns and constant communication with the Board helps keep everyone informed as to the allocations and necessary adjustments.  As the Superintendent, communication with the Board helps maintain the responsibility piece while also supporting the stakeholder input. 

District Comparison

Before I get into this comparison, it should be noted that FWISD is currently in search of a new Superintendent. The District Improvement Plan is from the previous Superintendent and it is called Eliminating The Achievement Gap. This plan is has been ongoing since the 2010 school year.Let me address the similarities in the two plans. Both district plans include hiring highly qualified staff to meet the needs of the students. The AISD plan addresses the alignment of resources to help the district meet their goals while the FWISD plan is using an aggressive reform initiative to improve the achievement of all students. I would venture to conclude that these would address using resources to meet the goals of the district. AISD strategic plan includes the development of a well-rounded educational plan to help student compete in a today’s economy. I believe these two plans address the developing students who are able to contribute and compete in the global society in which we live. Both plans used a large stakeholder base to develop the plan. These stakeholders included parents, community members, and staff members. Neither of these plans included financial resources specifically tied to the plan. In the material that I originally accessed from our lecture, Appendix A from AISD did include specific mention of the funding resources. While this did not reference how much from each source contributed to the budget of the district, at least there was a point of reference for the funding. They both include portions of the SMART format, but the one area that is probably most notable is the lack of measurability. Both plans include statements such as “increase” or “more”, etc. While these do indicate direction, they do not provide measurable indicators.The AISD plan uses language that is included in the FWISD plan. This language addresses accountability measures such as TAKS and other references that are moving out of the education language. The Austin plan uses just as much as the FWISD plan. Both plans do address the accountability issues.The difference that I noticed is that the FWISD plan incorporates more references to technology, communication, facilities, and instructional strategies. The Appendix A of AISD does provide a resource list connected to funding of different parts of the plan. Both of the plans are for urban school districts and have specific strategies they are pursuing to help them meet the needs of the districts. Both plans have used a strong cross section of their stakeholders to develop the plans.

Finance 5342 Week 1

Group 4's Completed Part 3 (Robert Murray, Jeff Nations, Randall Nedrow, Marilyn Pace-White)

Equality, Adequacy and Equity

The concepts of equality, adequacy and equity: If you consider equity to be defined as fair or equal distribution of resources for schooling and then you take into account student differences and school district characteristics and then there are many examples provided for equity. Examples might include transportation issues for districts whose children live far apart, career courses or academies that have expensive equipment requirements and special programs to address gifted students or special education students. I believe these are the funds that are used to help level the field for districts. I think that many people confuse these words by using them interchangeably. I believe equity and equality are probably the most misused. Equality means, every student has the same type of basic educational program. I believe this means everyone gets the same basic education. Examples of this would include basic educational allotments for every student and Tier I funding sources for situations such as new instructional facility allotments, technology, and military child allotments. Adequacy is to include that the school district receives financial support sufficient to meet state accreditation standards. Examples of this include textbook sand minimum teacher salaries.

Finance 5342 Week 1

Group 4's Completed Part 2 (Robert Murray, Jeff Nations, Randall Nedrow, Marilyn Pace-White)

Issues That Impact A State Formula

We believe these are three or four basic issues that impact a state formula: The first item that I think impacts state formula includes the taxes that fund education. Taxes are dependent upon many issues; public education in Texas could not survive without the taxes generated statewide. Taxes are also probably the most contested part of school funding since the distribution of these taxes differs from district to district. The property taxes collected can vary depending upon whether you are from a property wealthy area or not. The second item that impacts the state formula is the weighted average daily attendance also known as “WADA.” Since WADA tries to balance the playing field for districts by taking into account the additional education needs of students, this WADA can be critical to a school district. We believe the next two items I selected are the third and fourth issues that have a major impact on state formula funding. Average Daily Attendance, also known as “ADA” is critical because we can't teach the students if they are not in attendance. The emphasis the state puts on schools by provided funding based on ADA is important, but in some cultures parents do not understand or value the importance of education. As a result, a choice of the family or culture becomes a financial burden to the district without any impact on the family. Many schools are providing creative solutions to entice attendance, but the bottom line is that the district suffers for the decisions of the family. I also think that the compensatory education funding is important because it provides financial support to the school district to teach educationally disadvantaged pupils and underachieving students. This might be the funding that compensates for the ADA deficiencies of those families who are disadvantaged or at risk that do not support education by getting their students to school.

Finance 5342 Week 1

Group 4's Completed Part 1 (Robert Murray, Jeff Nations, Randall Nedrow, Marilyn Pace-White)

Historical Happenings in the Finance Aspect of Texas Education

We believe these are the three most important events in the historical background of financing education in Texas. First, we believe that the establishment of the Texas constitution was first most important event in Texas education. The importance of the 1845 constitution which, provided for the establishment of free schools and called for state taxes to support education. We also believe the 1876 Constitution established by name the Permanent and Available School Funds is as well equally important. These decisions lead to the facts that the founding fathers of Texas placed an emphasis on education and state support of the education system. The second historical event that we thought is important has to do with the court decisions centering on the Edgewood case. The interpretation of the court decisions from Edgewood, Rodriguez and West Orange Cove has greatly impacted how Texas funds education with respect to equity, adequate and equality. We believe that the third most that third most important event would be the passing of the Gilmer Aiken Laws. This law established an organized approach to the state supplementing local taxes in an attempt to adequately fund public education and we believe it surpasses the HB 1 because it created the opportunity for HB 1 to even exist. With the implementation of the Gilmer Aiken Law, it seems it became the catalyst for changes in school funding to be battled in the courtroom instead of the legislature.

Final Intern Plan

Activity # ____ You may give the number corresponding to the 38 activities from the text to identify one of the activities. Make as many cells as necessary to address all 38 leadership skill areas.	TExES comp.#___ You must have activities that represent each of the 10 Superintendent competencies.	Summary of Activity - Describe the activity you plan on implementing or participating in during your internship – you may use any of the internship activities identified in the School Leader Internship, 2nd edition, pp. 19 – 68.	Resource  Person	Projected Date to be Completed
1A	2	Analyzed our school’s vision/mission statement as it related to our school’s master schedule.	Nedrow, Fraire	8/11
2C	2	Served on our school/district SBDM team as well as the Lead Content Teacher Team. (LTC)	Nedrow, Dawson	4/12
3C	2	Reviewed the ways that our board, superintendent, faculty, staff, and our HCM department use assessment data.	Nedrow, Reed, Fraire, Dawson	5/12
4C	3	I assisted and conducted a staff development session.	Nedrow, Fraire	8/11
5A	2	Review board policy/administrative regulations. Assess compliance with policy/regulations. Assess the leadership culture in the school district.	Nedrow/Mayer	9/11
6A	2	Attend a leadership meeting of our current district administrators.  I observed the superintendents behavior when it came to setting goals, getting and providing information.	Nedrow, Dawson, Mayer	10/11
7B	5	Review board policy and administrative regulations in regards to curriculum development, implementation, management and evaluation.	Nedrow, Mayer	11/11
8B	5	Assisted in the process of class scheduling at the secondary level at DHJ.	Nedrow, Dawson, Smith	8/11
9B	5	Conduct two teacher appraisals using the clinical supervision model.	Nedrow, Dawson, Mayer	1/12
10C	6	Meet with a group of similar subject-area or grade-level teachers and review the current curriculum and lesson plans. Compile the amount of traditional, behavioral, cognitive, and experiential learning objectives used.	Nedrow, Dawson, Goodner	11/11
11A	6	Review board policy on technology. Study the district/ school plan on use of technology. Review the degree of compliance between policy and the technology plan, as well as the legal aspects regarding the use of software.	Nedrow, Mayer	12/11
12C	6	Analyze district test results.  Assess the current strengths and the weaknesses in student achievement.	Nedrow, Mayer	9/11
13B	5	Plan and supervise a extra curricular or co-curricular activity.	Nedrow, Goodner	9/11
14B	7	Analyze the district staff development plan with respect to our schools vision/mission statement.	Nedrow, Dawson, Fraire	10/11
15B	10	Meet with district leader who is involved in implementing district change.	Nedrow, Dansby	9/11
16C	6	Review discipline referrals and analyze regarding grade level, special programs, race and gender.	Nedrow, Goodner	10/11
17C	10	Interview a school nurse to discuss the major requirements, concerns, and goals for the school health program.	Nedrow, Lochtrog	9/11
18E	8	Review the policy and budget for administrative technology.	Nedrow, Martin	10/11
19B	8	Meet with the district/ school attendance officer. Discuss the rules, procedures, and ramifications of attendance on law, finance, and general school district operations.	Nedrow, Suarez	9/11
20B	9	Meet with the director of maintenance and/ or head custodian to review job responsibilities and schedules of staff.	Nedrow, Grant	10/11
21A	9	Interview the director of transportation to discuss current issues and needs for transportation.	Nedrow, Daniels	12/11
22A	9	Interview the district/school food service manager to discuss the current requirements, concerns, and issues of the program.	Nedrow, Jackson	11/11
23D	7	Meet with persons responsible for personnel to discuss the role personnel takes in planning for professional development	Nedrow, Mayer	11/11
24C	8	I participated in budget planning process for our campus and department.	Nedrow, Dawson, Workman	8/11
25A	3	Interview one or more persons involved in district/ school public relations.	Nedrow, Bond	12/11
26D	3	Observe a meeting of the site-based council Assess the role of parents in the process, and provide any recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of their role.	Nedrow, Dawson	11/11
27D	3	Meet confidentially with one or more students of differing racial groups to assess their concerns and recommendations for a positive culturally diverse climate in the high school.	Nedrow	10/11
28D	3	Gather information on the resources available to the schools from community and business.	Nedrow, Dawson, Young	12/11
29A	1,4	Analyze the superintendent’s job description and evaluation instrument for correlation between the description and the instrument.	Nedrow, Dansby	10/11
30E	1,4	In a planned project that you lead, cite any relevant historical background.	Nedrow, Dawson, Fraire	1/12
31C	1,4	Meet with a representative group of students. Solicit their beliefs about and experiences with ethical practices in the school or classroom.	Nedrow	10/11
32A	1,4	When leading meetings, I will encourages others to participate, acknowledge feelings and values within the group, ease tensions when they occur, attempt to resolve conflicts, constructively, encourages consideration of varying perspectives and shares responsibilities	Nedrow	3/12
33C	1,4	Review the board training requirements and the role of the superintendent in this process.	Nedrow	10/11
34E	5	Interview professionals responsible for the Gifted and At-Risk programs.	Nedrow, Martin, Dawson, Fraire	2/12
35A	10	Choose a current issue at your district/school. Find at least two persons on either side of the issue. Meet with the chosen persons in a group or individually to ascertain the goals for each side.	Nedrow, Mayer, Dansby	9/11
36A	6	Compile a list of current issues that affect teaching and learning.	Nedrow	9/11
37C	8	Submit a brief professional development plan.	Nedrow	3/12
38A	8	Compile a list of books, publications, training manuals, and district or state publications used or recommended for the position of superintendent.	Nedrow, Dansby, Mayer	3/12