Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Pasco school system goes under a microscope

An $8,000 study will assess how well the district is serving its schools.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published March 1, 2005

]If the folks at your neighborhood school are a little on edge this week, maybe you could cut them some slack.

Not only are pupils embarking on the annual No. 2-pencil-and-answer-sheet ritual known as FCAT testing, Pasco County school administrators are themselves under scrutiny.

Sixteen educators from the Florida Association of District School Superintendents fanned out across the district Monday in a weeklong effort to assess how well the district is serving its schools.

Superintendent Heather Fiorentino and School Board members commissioned the $8,000 study to, they say, get a better handle on what's working and what's not.

"Do I think that there are some areas that we need to improve? Absolutely," Fiorentino said. There are outdated job descriptions, and the organizational structure is illogical in spots.

"My secretary has to be able to do shorthand," she offered as one example of an aged job description. "They haven't offered shorthand in over 15 years."

Elected to schools chief in November, Fiorentino said she's been holding off on recommending the board make any serious staffing changes until after the results of the study come back. Former superintendent John Long asked for a similar district review shortly after coming to office in 1996.

"We recommend these studies every five years in every district," said Luther Rogers, the consultant who organizes district reviews. "It's time. Even if they hadn't had a change in superintendents, it's time Pasco had a study of this nature."

As a car can get out of alignment over time, he said, a school district can lose its form as people change jobs over the years.

But Pasco County has long had a relationship with the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. Not only did former superintendent Tom Weightman lead the organization after retiring, a number of administrators within the system have worked on teams like the one in Pasco on Monday.

Sandy Ramos, the assistant superintendent for instruction, said for those reasons, the district is already closely aligned with the group's organizational philosophy.

"Having been a longtime principal, teacher and and administrator," Ramos said, "I would hope they reinforce that the way we we have been working has been shown to be productive. We've got a good system, and that's what I anticipate those other people seeing."

So is there a divide between expectations of the old guard and the new guard? Is Fiorentino looking for weaknesses while the staff she inherited from Long is hoping for reinforcement?

Both Ramos and Fiorentino said no.

"I think it doesn't need to be an issue between new guard and old guard," Ramos said. "I think we need to respect what is working but keep our eyes open to what can improve. It really hasn't been as divisive as you may think."

In preparation for the visit, administrators pulled together several boxes of material for review: the district's vision statement, organizational chart, recent audits, all job descriptions, maps, the salary schedule, minutes of School Board meetings, agendas from recent staff meetings, school advisory council minutes, the auditor general's report, copies of all school improvement plans and more.

It adds up to a "credenza full" of material, Ramos said.

The organization's team will be spread out across the district on fact-finding assignments through Wednesday before coming back together on Thursday and Friday to pool data and begin assembling findings.

Rogers said the team is primarily interested in seeing if the district is adequately serving its schools - from administrative support to transportation to communication to staffing. It also keeps an eye out for governance issues: Are board members micromanaging? Are employees required to perform unnecessary but time-consuming work?

Members of the team will interview principals, School Board members, administrators and teachers.

"We expect to recommend purposeful abandonment of nonproductive practices," Rogers said. Another way to describe such work, he said, is "dead work."

Kathryn Starkey, the newest member of the School Board, said she's looking forward to the process in part because it provides her the chance to talk to experts from other districts who are serving on the team.

"I think some people get nervous about change," she said. "But change can be an opportunity to do things better."

The Association of District School Superintendents expects to issue its findings within a month of the visit.

[Last modified March 1, 2005, 01:11:12]