Beth Schwarz, superintendent of Cook County Schools announced at a September 3, 2015 work session of the ISD 166 school board her intention to not seek a renewal of her contract. Her current agreement will end in June 2016.
Schwarz read a prepared statement. “I feel a responsibility to provide the board with information, help the board process all the information from multiple sources, and make recommendations to the board. This can be fun and exciting, but it can also be extremely difficult and challenging. At times, recommendations can be unpopular or uncomfortable. Right now, I believe Principal Carman’s departure has helped create a unique opportunity not just to save payroll dollars, but to rethink our administrative structure. It is within this context that I am expressing my intention to not seek a renewal of my contract.”
Teachers Association expresses concerns
President of the Cook County Education Association, Mitch Dorr, who said the large group of teachers present at the work session was in solidarity, presented some “hard truths” to the board. “We have serious trust issues between our staff and Superintendent Schwarz. Our teachers feel uncomfortable or vulnerable when speaking to our superintendent in one-on-one situations. Our elementary staff in no way wants Superintendent Schwarz in there as their direct administrator or someone charged with evaluating their performance in the classroom,” read Dorr.
He stated additionally, “The situation has unfortunately eroded into a culture of fear and intimidation as our staff is finding it increasingly difficult to work in the present environment. This unfortunately leads to a lack of understanding of what is really happening in our classrooms, our needs as professionals and ultimately student learning…With that difficult message now out in the open, we ask the district to consider the following options as short term proposals. First an immediate acceptance of Superintendent’s Schwarz’s resignation, effective not in June of 2016 but immediately. We feel that we need to move forward in a positive direction and are not sure if that is possible with our current Superintendent in place.”
Administrative restricting discussed
A discussion revolved around possibilities of how to handle the immediate makeup of the administrative structure. Schwarz recommended that if she were not to be involved, that the board assign someone knowledgeable of the legalities involved in the areas of early childhood and special education. She said that the district is very fortunate that it is not currently involved in a lawsuit and it is very likely that a lawsuit connected to special education will emerge. She also did not think it fair or reasonable that the current special education staff, all working with a nearly full caseload, be expected to work unsupervised in Grand Portage.
High School Principal Adam Nelson was asked for his thoughts on combining his current position to create one principal position for the entire school. Although he was open to the idea, he did think that the number of teacher evaluations required by one person to be a fairly daunting task. He felt that to be effective in his role as principal he should spend a fair amount of time out in the classroom. He believes the time commitment to doing 88 evaluations would be a detriment to that.
Dorr stated that there are currently other teaching staff that hold administrative licenses that could be of assistance. Schwarz later added that legally, someone who is also in the teacher’s union should not conduct evaluations.
In her statement, Schwarz also said, “This year, I advised the school board to pursue a voter approved operating levy. There is never a good time to ask people to raise their taxes, and concerns regarding the need for a levy have been raised. People understandably ask questions like why does the school need more money if enrollment is declining? Why can’t the school just reduce spending? Do we need so many administrators?”
She added, “Approximately 70 to 75 percent of our budget is spent on people [employees].” She stated, “I am confident the board is in agreement that passing this operating levy is what’s best for the kids, and believe that opening the door to administrative restructuring is a way to make that happen.”
Board Member Terry Collins, commenting on the situation in connection with the upcoming referendum vote, expounded, “It would be a shame if voters considering the levy were in any way to get distracted by what is a short term change in personnel structure in this district and confuse that and the harsh words that were said as being the issue in the referendum. I hope people do not confuse this episode in the district’s life for the long term welfare that is the issue they have in common.”
Board Chair Jeanne Anderson adjourned the work session after two hours of debate on the subject. The regular school board meeting followed at 7 p.m. until the board went into closed session for their annual superintendent evaluation with Schwarz.
After re-convening the meeting, the board directed that Schwarz and Nelson work through the administrative duties and come up with a recommendation for the board at the next meeting September 17. Nelson will act as principal for kindergarten through grade 12 on a temporary basis until something more permanent can be established.
The school board will be conducting additional work sessions concerning administrative structure in the near future.
Responding by email, Anderson summed up, “Change is also a time for opportunity and we have an opportunity to discuss and research what administrative model(s) would be best for our district. There is lots of work ahead.”
Areas available for budget reductions
During the work session the board had a brainstorming session, listing approximately three dozen items that could be adjusted or reduced in the event the levy does not pass. Some items were later categorized as to which could be the first and the last to be affected.
Among those items to be first considered for adjustments: The Arrowhead Center for the Arts walkway, elective classes, athletics, co-curricular activities such as robotics and Knowledge Bowl, enrichment activities including exploratory and field trips, administration, moving to a four-day school week, certain capital projects, and grounds maintenance
Items least likely to be considered for reductions: One section middle and high school classes, transportation, preschool, early childhood education, and smaller class sizes for first grade and kindergarten. The consensus was that early childhood, preschool and smaller class sizes in the early grades are a strong way to attract new students to ISD 166, thereby helping to keep state funding dollars by maintaining enrollment.
Other areas that had not yet been categorized when time had expired included technology, credit recovery, summer school sessions, media center personnel, minimizing staff and administrative travel expenses, conferences, supplies, school board compensation and minimizing substitute teacher costs.
Leave a Reply