Transition Team 2016-17 Final Report

46 \ ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
should explicitly state that if the
district acknowledges the institutional
and historical racism that exists and
equips educators to address it, then
the unacceptable achievement gap
between white students and students of
color will be reduced.
4. A communications plan should be
developed for new or revised board
policies and district policies. Internal
and external stakeholders need to
be informed in a timely and effective
manner of the district’s policies,
administrative rules and procedures.
5. Develop a constituent concerns
flow chart that specifies action steps
to ensure that constituent concerns,
issues and problems are addressed
efficiently and effectively.
6. Conduct an extensive study,
assisted by consultative support, of
the district’s facility utilization scheme
in relation to current and future
school district and community needs,
and expectations related to fiscal
resources.
7. Hold an oversight work session to
analyze effectiveness for (a) staffing/
position formulas and controls, and (b)
disaster recovery: student, personnel,
fiscal/operation records.
• The BOE should consider using a
facilitator/trainer to address items
1-7.
• The Superintendent’s presence is
recommended for items 1-7.
• The administration’s participation
is a valuable resource for the BOE,
and again, it is recommended to
have the Superintendent and other
administrators who the board and/
or Superintendent believe would be
appropriate.
Partnerships could
lead to financial
efficiencies that
will allow for the
alignment of funds
to other educational
programs within GCS.
Long-Term Recommendations
for Governance
1. Conduct a Board Self-Assessment
(BSA). This exercise is a best
practice for highly effective boards
and allows them to examine their
accomplishments and improve their
work. When conducting the BSA, a
board asks, “What are we doing well
and what can we do better?” The
BSA gives the board members an
opportunity to assess and discuss the
board’s performance from multiple
views. We recommend that the BSA be
conducted as soon as possible.
2. Hold a board goal-setting retreat
to:
• Analyze the results of the BSA,
• Develop goals to address the findings
of the BSA, and
• Discuss and set board goals for the
2017 academic year.
We recommend that the board goalsetting
retreat be scheduled as soon
as possible.
3. Schedule a board goals formativeassessment
workshop. This workshop
would afford the board an opportunity
to monitor the status of the board’s
goals and make any necessary
adjustments. We recommend the
workshop be held in early 2018.
4. Hold an oversight workshop
to evaluate the success or need for
improvement for the following:
• Board Operating Procedures (BOP)
• Governance—Management, Roles,
Responsibilities and Relationships
• Board Values, District Vision and
Mission
• District Over-Arching Theory of
Action
• Communications Plan
• Constituent Concerns Flow Chart
We recommend that the oversight
workshop be held in early 2018.
5. Schedule a sustainability study
session. The board needs to develop
sustainability plans to ensure
continuous board and district success.
The study component investigates
evolving and future changes that could
impact the district.
6. Schedule a series of work sessions
with administration to develop, ratify
and implement a holistic accountability
framework for the district.
7. Schedule board-oversight
workshops for district majorbusiness
operations (payroll, budget,
finance, food services, district safety
department, transportation and any
other business departments identified
by the board) to ensure the integrity of
the departments and to review results.
Follow with quarterly sessions until
completed.
• The board should consider using a
facilitator/trainer for items 1-7.
• The Superintendent’s presence is
recommended for items 1-7.
Organizational Structure:
Recommendations
1. Institute a new ERP system for
finance, payroll and timekeeping.
2. Implement a strategy to facilitate
the sharing of best organizational and
technology practices across schools.
3. Prioritize instructional technology
in schools.