I interviewed Louie Ferguson, Superintendent of the Arcadia School District.
What does a Superintendent do in the month of July?
1.
Meet with School Board President during the
first week of the month to set the Board agenda.
2.
Work on Board agenda details
a.
Prepare notes for each agenda item
b.
Prepare documents for Board packet
3.
Communication with Board President throughout
the month. Email is only used for
factual information; all other discussion is done over the phone.
4.
Meet with Superintendent Advisory Committee – 1st
& 3rd Tuesday
5.
Administrative Meetings (Principals, Pupil
Services Director, Technology Director, Building & Grounds Director, Food
Services Director) - at least 2x each
week with different groupings or individuals
6.
Transportation Director Meetings – every Monday
or Friday
7.
Frequent communication with all Administrators –
any topics of concern
8.
Municipality Meetings – 1x each month
9.
Chamber of Commerce Meetings 1x each month
10.
Neola Representative – meet 2x each year to work
on/update policies
11.
Building Project – Huge time commitment for our
district at this time
a.
Monday – go to site and check on status
b.
Tuesday – meet with contractors
c.
City Planning and Political leader meetings—2x
each week
d.
Daily – meet with ICS representative – follow up
on bids
12.
Budget
a.
Meet with bookkeeper – regularly
b.
Monthly review to compare spending with
projections
c.
Daily – signing PO’s
d.
Keep Board informed if going over- or purchasing
large-ticket items
13.
Hiring of New Employees
a.
Candidate search and interview with
Supervisory-level employees
b.
Follow up as second-level interview – with all
other employees
c.
Negotiate salaries
14.
New Initiatives
a.
Planning of meetings, setting training dates
b.
Negotiating/approving costs (Infinite Campus,
STAR)
15.
Public Relations – all communication goes
through Superintendent’s office
Reflection: The
laundry list of tasks that Louie shared with me underlined the need for having
a strong “structural” framework (Bolman) in leading the school district. Much of Louie’s time is focused on planning
and organizing resources as well as communicating. A successful superintendent truly needs to
have the ability to see the steps needed to carry a plan through its entirety
and be able communicate clearly to all of the essential stakeholders. Even though Louie mentioned the fact that he
needs to communicate regularly with his leadership team and other individuals,
I know from working with him closely, that this is an area in which he
struggles. I also know the lack of this skill
set causes those around him tremendous amounts of frustration.
Louie’s list of tasks also emphasized the amount of energy
and time that he spends working with the political leaders of our
community. This is especially true
because of the building project that our district is working on. In the past two weeks, Louie has had to meet
with community leaders nearly every day.
This is where it is a plus to have “country club” leader
(Blake) characteristics or be able to structure your leadership style to encompass the
attributes of the “political” framework that are identified by Bolman. The issue that Louie must work through is
having limited resources (a referendum amount of $12 million) to building a
middle school in a community where the political leaders require specific
external building standards that add an additional $1 million to the cost of
the structure. Louie must either cut
back on the internal/academic structures or find additional funding
sources. Fortunately, Louie’s network in
the community is strong, and he is spending his efforts on getting additional funding
sources through donations. Country club
leadership is definitely Louie’s strength.
Because of this, he is likely to get the community support needed to
build an absolutely beautiful new middle school.
Michele,
ReplyDeleteI see similarities between Louie's and Chuck's monthly lists. More important than the similar details is the similar intent. Both of them utilize resources (particularly human resources) as the job is bigger than any one person. Both of them emphasize engaging a larger community in leading the district. I have always been impressed with Louie's soft skills - so much of what is listed is contingent upon the human relations skills of the superintendent. It is quite a different political element and district-wide scope from building leadership.
Karl
Michele,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post. As you state in your post, there is an laundry list of tasks that must be completed on a monthly basis as a district administrator. Your assessment of the importance of focusing on building relationships throughout the community are huge. This is especially key during a referendum and building project. Having been part of this process now in three separate districts and seeing first hand how different approaches can lead to drastically different results, it is vital to have a district administrator who values and can foster a sense of community with community leaders.