ISD 166 Superintendent Beth Schwarz will be offered another contract. A lot of input went into the school board’s decision on November 15, 2011, a vote that it was required to make more than six months before a new contract would actually take effect.
Former school board member Rod Wannebo spoke up during the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting, saying Schwarz did “a remarkable job” campaigning for the referendum and identifying what it would be used for. He applauded her emphasis on early childhood education and datadriven instruction and her initiative in setting up school/community teams to address finances, academics, supplemental activities, communication, and long-range planning.
Wannebo was aware that Schwarz has her detractors—a recent vote of 28 of the 39 members of the Cook County Education Association (CCEA – the local teacher’s union)—resulted in 3 votes of confidence, 3 abstentions, and 22 votes of no confidence.
Wannebo said Schwarz has been doing a good job promoting the best education possible for students as well as the professional development of the staff. It takes time to acclimate to a new school environment, he said, and judging her initiatives two years into the job would be premature. People don’t always like change, and she has initiated change. The school board evaluation
Board member Mary Sanders went over a summary of the board’s November 4 performance evaluation of the superintendent. The board commended Schwarz for her commitment to academic achievement, engaging the community, concern for maintaining a safe, respectful learning environment, being “forward thinking” with financial challenges, measures to improve her working relationship with Principal Gwen Carman, and willingness to respond to board directives.
Areas for growth included a need for improvement in her relationship with the teaching staff, including developing more positive and effective communication with them, “keeping a balanced approach” by recognizing when and when not to intervene, and spending more time on priority issues and less time on peripheral tasks.
In response, Superintendent Schwarz updated her goals for 2011- 12. They include involving stakeholders in the decision-making process, communicating effectively with them and providing needed information to them, mentoring and monitoring Principal Carman, improving the “tone of emails and written correspondence,” and actively working on “establishing open lines of communication with the CCEA.”
Sanders said she has never received so much unsolicited support for a superintendent in her nine years on the school board as she has in the past few weeks. On the other hand, she referred to an October 31 letter from the CCEA expressing issues with Schwarz. “We need to improve this in a respectful and responsible fashion,” Sanders said. She said the superintendent has “sought counsel” from a professional who has offered to donate his or her time to help Schwarz improve communication with the teaching staff.
“This has been one of the most difficult and time-consuming decisions I’ve had to make in I don’t know how long,” school board member Deb White said. “We have a serious issue in that the faculty has no confidence in our superintendent at this moment in time. …We as a school board are charged with looking at the bigger picture for the good of our school kids. … What is the best thing for our students in the long run?” Concerns about leadership style
White said she thought Schwarz was hired by a different school board that believed in a different leadership style, and she had to come in and start making cuts. Having to do that created distrust, she said. Schwarz has responded to their requests to soften her approach with employees. White said she respects teachers’ feelings and perspectives but believes that relationships must be fixed, “and it doesn’t get fixed if we quit.”
“The letter expressed grave concerns about confidence in the leadership,” school board member Terry Collins said. “We take that very seriously.” Collins commended Schwarz in her first job as a superintendent for her vision for achieving academic excellence. “Beth had a lot to learn and she learned it,” he said. “It’s a steep curve and she’s on it.” However, with so many of the faculty voting against keeping Schwarz, he said, “I can’t support a new contract.”
“It’s a tough decision,” said school board member Leonard Sobanja. He said Schwarz has accomplished things he had wished other superintendents would do, such as reaching out to the community. She has alienated some, but that’s “par for the course,” he said. He was concerned about the faculty’s opinions, however. “Probably the thing that bothers me the most is the relationship between the faculty and the administration,” he said.
“This has been a very tough couple of weeks,” said school board member Jeanne Anderson. “We’re in a tough spot. …Our administration and staff have to work very well together for the benefit of our students.” Would it make sense to try to get a new superintendent right now with the budget challenges the district is facing?” she asked. “We really need to stick together,” she said. If they went forward with a new contract, she said, they would have some negotiating to do and would need to have some “very candid” discussions. “Having a teaching staff that feels listened to and respected is very important,” she said.
The board passed a motion stating its intention to offer a new contract to Superintendent Schwarz with a vote of four ayes and one nay, with Terry Collins voting nay.
Deb White recommended that a meeting, open to the public, be held with faculty, school board, and administration to discuss the conflicts. “We can yell and cry and scream,” she said, “but let’s deal with this. …We’re sapping energy from having personality problems.” She said the problems were detracting them from focusing on the needs of the students.
The board passed a motion regarding setting up the meeting White suggested.
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