Petersburg is a grades PK-12 school district with seven schools. LeadershipEnergies, (LE) was hired to assist the interim superintendent in putting the district back together after reductions to staff following a $10 ten million dollar state aid cut and to prepare for a state DOE visit and evaluation in the following year. The project ended when the permanent superintendent was hired.

Industry: Education PK-12 Districts and Schools

Project Type: Redesign delivery of central office services and to help staff prepare for comprehensive review by state DOE.

Challenge
Within six months while utilizing existing personnel in unfamiliar functions, LE redesigned the delivery of central office responsibilities, reconstructed files (paper and electronic) and practices connecting central office and schools in order to establish a smoothly operating PK-12 school district with which to favorably impress a state department of education team coming to comprehensively evaluate all aspects of the district. Key leadership positions of superintendent and school business administrator were vacant due to retirements, and almost all supervisory and related staff positions were eliminated due to cuts in state aid.

Solution
LE was hired to address governance issues for the board of education, coach the assistant superintendent/interim supt and director of curriculum & instruction in redesigning central office functions and services, and prepare teams of central office and school faculty members to reestablish records and distribute former employee responsibilities to other positions. More specifically, LE provided the following:

• Interviewed remaining personnel to gain an understanding of who carried out which responsibilities and how.
• An instrument to assess the completeness of organization functioning and effectiveness.
  Solution cont.
• LE provided a diagnostic instrument for members of the board of education to assess their priorities and to develop consensus among members for the goals that would move the district forward.
• LE prepared central office and school personnel for the State’s evaluation process called the Quality Single Accountability Continuum (QSAC) through the establishment of a QSAC Coordinating Council and teams that successfully completed a four month long gathering of materials, training, and a simulation of the state’s evaluation. Members of the team included principals, teachers, and officers of the Petersburg Education Association,.
• The central office and schools successfully prepared for reviews in all five major areas of QSAC responsibility in the areas of: Instruction and Program (including student performance); Fiscal Management; Governance; Personnel; and Operations.
• LE provided multiple evaluations of progress until readiness was attained.
• LE prepared for the board a job description and evaluation instrument for the position of the Interim Superintendent and worked with the board to complete the board’s evaluation of the performance of the Interim Superintendent.

Results
The board, central office staff, and school faculties completed all QSAC readiness responsibilities on time. The changed district and school functions and responsibilities were clearly understood and implemented by personnel with new job roles and descriptions. The district received a recommendation for a full five year state DOE approval. The county superintendent of schools who led the visiting team complemented the district for its comprehensive preparation and great results.

Customer Feedback
“During a very difficult time for our district, LeadershipEnergies provided great assistance and helped us achieve the results that we could not have attained by ourselves.”
—Mr. Charles George, Interim Superintendent and Superintendent of Schools

*The case study is real and positions of personnel are accurate. Names of districts, schools, and personnel have been changed.