Rps Harvard Presentation 12.2.10

The Superintendent & School Board:

One Journey

Harvard Urban Superintendents ProgramDecember 2-3, 2010

Presented ByKim Bridges

Richmond Public School Board

The Richmond Public Schools Landscape

RPS at a GlanceRPS at a Glance

High Schools - 5

Specialty High Schools - 3

Career & Technical Education - 1

Alternative Education -2Special Needs - 3

Elementary Schools -28

Middle Schools - 8

Average School SizesElementary 430 studentsMiddle 648 studentsHigh 789 students

The Richmond Public Schools Landscape

Percentage of Free & Reduced Lunch Population

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

FY2004 FY2005 FY2006 FY2007 FY2008 FY2009 FY2010

STATE HENRICO CHESTERFIELD NORFOLK RICHMOND

The Richmond Public Schools Landscape

Percentage of Special Education Students

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

FY2004 FY2005 FY2006 FY2007 FY2008 FY2009

STATE HENRICO CHESTERFIELD NOROLK RICHMOND

55

The RPS LandscapeRichmond City Public Schools

Percent of Schools Fully Accredited

19%

31%

78%

90%86%

81%

88%

100%94%

2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-2010 2010-2011

The RPS Landscape

6

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

20032004200520062007200820092010

Percentage of Schools Meeting Federal AYP Requirements

YearPercent of Schools Meeting AYP

Richmond Public Schools vs. Other Va. Districts

6

The RPS Landscape

7

The RPS Governance Team

8

Current board’s tenure: 2 yearsSuperintendent tenure: 2 yearsAverage length of service: 2.8 yearsLongest individual service: 6 yearsFull-board elections every 4 years

The Superintendent Search

9

A unique process:Community inputCandidate screeningCommunity/business panel

narrowed to 3 finalistsBoard selected

Pros & ConsResources, investmentPrivate process

Interview topics Leadership style

Urban Education – at risk, promising trends

Transforming schools – attracting middle class

Change in traditional organization

Addressing controversy/opposition

Transparency

Student achievement – continuous improvement, data

Preparing students for future

Fiscal/budget development

Facilities

Staff selection, delegation, accountability

Parent/community engagement

Strengths/Weaknesses/6 month entry plan

Board superintendent relations

Multiple expectations

10

“Boards govern…”

Governance• Professional Development & Team-Building• Core beliefs and commitments, theory of action• Constituent service• Management oversight• Board meetings• Policy development

*Donald McAdams, What School Boards Can Do

“…Superintendents manage”

Superintendents face: •Large, complex, highly regulated organization

•High performance•Limited resources

•Center of Political arena•Multiple stakeholders – unions, parents,

community & business leaders, volunteers

*Donald McAdams, What School Boards Can Do

“The center of the political arena”

1. Board composition– 5 of 9 new in 2009– 1 new in 2010– Elections in 2012

2. City leadership– New mayor elected in 2009 with goal of fostering

collaboration– City Council = funding authority

Professional Development & Team-Building

• VSBA, NSBA, CUBE, CGCS• Members participate at state and national level• Retreats: Darden-Curry Partnership

• Balanced Scorecard• Vision, Mission, Core Beliefs • Team-Building

• Public reporting on ideas and information learned

Core Beliefs and Commitments

The K-12 system is the cornerstone of the community and essential to our democracy.

Every child has a unique gift and purpose and should be treated fairly with the best educational

opportunities to achieve in life.

The Board must have a permanent framework for policy setting & procedures focused on student

achievement.

Board Meetings

16

Advance work for Effective Meetings Agenda planning Master Calendars Administrative reports Notice

Efficient Processes Robert’s Rules Timed agendas Committee of the Whole (COW)

Constituent Services

Balancing factors: 9 officials each elected by 25,000-member district Diverse districts with differing expectations

YET The 10-member Governance Team represents ALL

24,000 students

Established protocol: All constituent requests made through

Superintendent

Policy Development

• No systematic review process• Many policies outdated• 2009 – 2011 Board Policy Manual Review

Oversight & Risk Management

19

Internal Audit Function Budget Financial Reporting Master Calendar

Continual Improvement

20

Celebrate successes

Talk them up

R i c h m o n d P u b l i c S c h o o l s COOL POINTS 2010 All Richmond Public Schools are fully accredited--based on the state’s Standards of

Learning tests.

Ninety-nine percent of seniors in the Class of 2010 graduated.

Richmond Public Schools spends $.77 of every dollar on instruction and instructional technology.

Every Richmond City elementary school offers foreign language instruction.

The district’s projected Advanced Placement (AP) enrollment for 2009-2010 reflects a one-year increase of 53 percent.

Three Richmond City high schools participate in the National Football Foundation’s Play It Smart initiative, an academic tutoring program for high school athletes.

Franklin Military Academy is the nation’s first public military high school.

The district launched three premier preschool learning centers.

Recognize efforts• Virginia Teacher of the Year• Virginia Coalition on Open Government

Local Government Award • Blue Ribbon School• Governor’s Schools of Excellence• U.S. News & World Report Best High

Schools – Silver and Bronze • Council of Great City Schools Shirley

Schwartz award

Continuous Improvement

Assess where you’ve been, identify where you need to go next through:

Strategic Planning Continued collaborative work

Self-Evaluation