Blazing New Trails - Connexions

228 CRITICAL ISSUES IN SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
negotiate the political inner-workings of the school district to establish the need for changes in
an established program, to implement the changes, and to gain feedback from teacher leaders
on the effectiveness of change at the campus level.
Cedar Ridge Independent School District
Cedar Ridge Independent School District (CRISD) covers 110 square miles
encompassing high tech manufacturing and urban retail centers, suburban neighborhoods, and
farm and ranch land stretching across two counties in Central Texas. The district includes the
entire city of Cedar Ridge and sections of the neighboring cities of Johnsonfield and
Charlotte. Approximately 51,000 students attend the district’s four high schools, nine middle
schools, thirty elementary schools, and three alternative education centers. CRISD has 5,000
employees, of which 2, 775 are classroom teachers.
Political Climate of the District
Farmer (2009) described local school systems as organizations with a competitive
culture that produces an environment where various groups within and outside the
organization compete for power and limited resources. Cedar Ridge Independent School
District fits this description. Like many large suburban and urban school districts, CRISD has
a formal hierarchical structure through which communication flows to all departments and
campuses. At the top of the district hierarchy are the Board of Trustees and Superintendent of
Schools. The next level includes Deputy Superintendents, followed by Assistant
Superintendents, and then Directors of Departments for all school operations. At the bottom
of the formal structure are principals, teachers, and students who comprise the separate
campuses of the district. The competitive political environment that Farmer (2009) described
in his research marks the political culture of the central office of Cedar Ridge Independent
School District and has implications for all departments and campuses.
Drory (1993) explained that employees in any environment “attribute the political
decision-making climate primarily to the decision-makers namely, the supervisory and
managerial levels” (p. 23). The central office administration is the primary decision making
body for CRISD. It is here that decisions about all district functions are made and
communicated to subordinate departments and campuses. However, because accurate
communication is often a challenge for those in leadership positions, progress toward
implementing district office decisions is often uneven. A breakdown in effective
communication between the central office and subordinate departments is a challenge in many
school districts across the nation (Drory, 1993). Moreover, Garza (2008) noted that most
central office decision making is political in nature and fails to involve those who must
implement the decisions. The result can be feelings of isolation and lack of collaboration on
action items within the district and a failure to utilize district personnel resources to their
fullest potential.
Fullan (1999) explained that “isolated cultures” do not effectively value the vast
sources of knowledge available in the organization and have no way of “mobilizing the
competencies and motivation of organizational members” (p. 16). Fullan (1999) further
asserted that when school districts operate as educational bureaucracies, it is ultimately the
students who are adversely impacted by the system’s inability to meet their needs. Fullan’s
(1999) descriptor aptly characterizes the political climate of Cedar Ridge Independent School
District.