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L" N ~ ~-.sli C ip
This alstrlct bias llnlque ln that 11 was the only district u,here [he current
superintendenl was not inter\~iewed. The previous superintendent had recently retired after
thirty-fii7e years in the district. The superintendent therefore chose not to be intenliewed, as
he believed there were many more knowledzeable participants rn,ho could assist (his
study. The current superintendent. a long time educator himself, had taken several years to
work in pri\.ate business and was just now re-entering the education field.
A ~nember of the school board believed the district's greatest resource u7as the
leadership of the previous superintendent as well as the expertise of the current curriculum
director in guiding the staff through the requirements of the mandates. "I know at first there
nvere some grumbles, but [the curriculum director] did a tremendous job of making sure
e\.eryone felt comfortable. She is not afraid to work. She is not afraid to put in the hours. I
think most accepted it quite \veil." she said.
Thik bc>ard nicml~cr'~ perception aligned \vith \.irtually all intenieuees in agreeins
that the curriculum director led the school improvement efforts for the district. The pre\.ious
\upcrintendcnt. li;l\,inp ser\ed the district in that capacity for 35 years. had entrusted this
pcr\on with tllc t;lrl; of implenicnting the mandates. The curriculum director had convinced
llcr s~lpcrinlcndcnt th;lt nuendance at curriculum meetinps should not be determined by the
meeting aycnda.
rather 3s an opponunity for her to netu1@rk n'ith other educators and
p r ~ hsolve l ~ ~ issues ~ [hat the district alould be faced with. Her style to shxe information
uv;ls rccei\.inp illrough llcr curriculum c~nsonium Froup lvi[h lhe
ilnnslr;lrs ,dens I;,ten from other districts and decisions ivere made
district
c,,l,,rtlc , ..We just trusted each other. There was no sense that Ihe!' are
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