The value of leadership
• VIEWPOINT •
By Cathy Kaiser Chairman, Jamestown School Committee

Jamestown Schools' administrative structure has been a "hot topic" during Town Council budget sessions and deserves clarifi- cation.

Demands on school administrators have increased greatly over the past decade, particularly with the 2002 passage of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the implementation of corresponding state regulations, standards and rigorous yearly testing. Data reporting requirements have increased exponentially with this heightened accountability. (The U.S. Department of Education now measures administrator paperwork time in "burden hours.") As schools strive to meet the yearly performance targets of NCLB, in addition to local performance expectations, districts must empower administrators to act as instructional leaders.

Ten years ago, Jamestown had three full-time administrators: a superintendent, who also served as principal for both schools, a director of pupil services/special education, and a business manager (at no time did the district have a single administrator). Faced with the reality that three administrators, no matter how talented and hard-working, were unable to fully meet the increasing demands of leading a school district, the then-school committee, and every subsequent school committee, grappled with the challenge of creating an effective leadership structure within the bounds of fiscal responsibility.

In 2003, the school committee added a principal at Melrose School, and our combination superintendent principal provided oversight at Lawn, assisted by a dean of students (a position filled by a teacher). Over time, it became clear that this model was still not meeting the district's most crucial need - building level leadership. Combining the superintendent-principal jobs seriously short-changed our students and teachers and presented an impossible challenge for any individual striving to perform both roles effectively.

While the superintendent of a district our size can be a part-time position, a school principal cannot. To provide the instructional leadership needed at the building level requires clear articulation of vision, a visible presence, consistent oversight and site-based authority. A building principal also guides curriculum, hires, mentors, and evaluates teachers, and implements programs - all functions crucial to supporting quality classroom instruction.

In the 2006-07 school year, Jamestown moved to a part-time superintendency (eliminating the position of dean of students), and we anchored our principal at Lawn, with an assistant principal at Melrose. This year we are fortunate to have an "aspiring principal" at Melrose - a teacher training to be a principal. Because of this, we are able to replace the assistant principal position with a principalship at minimal additional cost of $1,087. The 2008- 09 budget eliminates the assistant principal position and supports a principal in each school. While replacing the assistant principal position with a principalship has a negligible financial impact, the educational impact will be significant. Both schools will have strong leadership and be able to respond to building-specific weaknesses and promote building specific strengths.

The current/proposed leadership structure is the result of measured steps taken over time to ensure continuity, stability and the opportunity to assess the effect of each change.

Response to Councilor Sutton

In his April 14 memo to the Town Council, quoted in last week's Jamestown Press, Councilor Robert Sutton paints a picture of a revolving door organizational structure that "has not provided continuity, organizational responsiveness/accountability or financial efficiency." In the past nine years, he writes, "school superintendents have changed four times" and "principals and assistant principals have come and gone."

The nine-year period brought changes, but not the disruptive turnover that Mr. Sutton implies. The period chosen by Mr. Sutton caught the tail end of the fouryear term of Dr. Frances Gallo, followed by Kathy Sipala's fouryear superintendency. We moved to a part-time superintendency in 2006 knowing that we would likely be limited to a pool of retired superintendents who, under RI retirement board regulations, could contract for only one-year periods. Retired administrator Dr. Robert Power served as parttime superintendent and helped define that role during the 2006- 07 school year. Last fall, the school committee brought in Dr. Marcia Lukon who, as a retired superintendent from Massachusetts, is not subject to RI retirement regulations and was able to commit to a multi-year contract.

Our principal, Kathy Almanzor, has been with the district for 22 years- as a teacher since 1986, as an aspiring principal (principal-in-training) in 2002 and as a principal since 2003. Michael Franco, our assistant principal in 2006-07, accepted a principalship in Newport and was replaced by our current aspiring principal, Carole Melucci.

The direction we move in is not defined by any one administrator or even team of administrators. Our direction is defined in a strategic plan created in 2004 by a team of 38 educators, parents and members of the broader Jamestown community. All administrative and school committee decisions and initiatives, including the proposed leadership structure, support the educational priorities articulated in our strategic plan.

A plan without leadership is just a plan. That's the value of leadership.