Deputy Superintendent for Program Operations Deputy Superintendent for Program Planning and Development Background Last spring, with the view toward making educational opportunities and realities in the Harrisburg City School District more consistent with educational quality, the Board of School Directors adopted two plans which were designed to facilitate the accomplishment of quality education. The first plan, A Plan for Quality Desegregated Education for the Harrisburg City School District, portrayed a means of correcting the racial imbalances which existed in the schools of the district, and at the same time, of providing a grade level organization and educational structure consistent with the principles of quality education. In other words, successful implementation of the plan would permit Harrisburg to offer its students educational experiences which were not previously available. We have already succeeded in implementing much of the plan, and, with the continuation of cooperative efforts, are determined to make the attainment of educational quality a reality for each of our students. The second plan, Feasibility Study and Analysis of the Administrative Management of the Harrisburg City School District, complemented the quality desegregated education plan in that it recognized that administration and administrative procedures had to change if the realities of quality education were to be attained. The primary function of administration in education is to support the learning experiences of pupils in such a way that these experiences are improved, and the plan documented that administration in Harrisburg had been remiss in the performance of that function. 3 In an effort to remedy this situation, the plan outlined a mode of operation which would give preeminence to the performance of the primary function of administration and a process by which the mode of operation could be implemented. The initial starting point for the recommended mode of operation is, as you know, the Superintendency Team. We are gaining experience and expertise with the Superintendency Team approach and are making every effort to use this experience and expertise in making the plan fully operational in Harrisburg. Comments on the Organization Chart The purpose of this communication is to report our progress in implementing the plan for administrative reorganization. In November, we did, for the first time, have the full complement of members of the Superintendency Team: (1) Superintendent of Schools; (2) Deputy Superintendent for Program Planning and Development; (3) Deputy Superintendent for Program Operations; (4) Deputy Superintendent for Business Services; and (5) Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent. Needless to say, the delay in securing this full complement has hindered the degree of progress in implementing administrative reorganization. We have, however, succeeded in defining the duties and responsibilities of the individual members of the Superintendency Team at this point in time. A description of these duties and responsibilities can be found in Section Two which contains the position guide for each individual member of the Superintendency Team. The position guides were created through a series of meetings of the Superintendency Team where the individual members reviewed and discussed the duties and responsibilities of each member. Through this series of meetings, the members of the Superintendency Team were able to resolve their differences in viewpoint, and, therefore, the position guides found in Section Two have the total support of the team. It should be emphasized that the duties and responsibilities found in the position guides reflect the best judgment of the team as to what their individual duties and responsibilities should be at this point in time, but the team is open to change and expects future changes to be made as additional experience and expertise are gained. This means The team is also progressing in its operation as a team. that strategy decisions are being made within the context of team cooperation, support, and functioning. Each member is called upon to contribute his expertise in assisting the team to make a decision; each member's views are respected; an evaluation is made of the shared information which is presented; a decision is made on the basis of the evaluation; a team member is assigned responsibility for carrying out the decision; and the team supports the decision and the action taken to carry it out. It is realistic to expect that the team will become more efficient and effective in its operations, and that the team concept will expand to include all roles in the district. Progress in implementing the plan has not, however, been restricted to the Superintendency Team. We have been engaged in a series of meetings with central office personnel to develop position guides for each administrative role in the central office. When these meetings are completed in the 5 near future, the position guide for each role will be disseminated to you. We have also begun to initiate meetings with building principals to discuss and develop an organization structure for each building, and to develop position guides for administrative roles in each building. Also, we recognize that a drastic overhaul of existing budgetary processes and procedures is necessary, and have initiated plans to redesign the existing system and implement an improved one. Since this is an issue deserving high priority, demonstrable improvement must be observed immediately. We also recognize that the Superintendency Team bears a major responsibility in initiating and providing a mechanism through which demonstrable improvement can take effect, and in seeing that demonstrable improvement takes effect; but the team needs the continued cooperation and participation of everyone to make this improvement a reality. The district, its employees. and its publics have a right to expect such improvement, but only if they are committed to improvement. It is quite easy to publicly play the charade of demanding improvement, while privately doing all that one can to render the improvement an impossibility. We have had our share of such actions in Harrisburg and cannot continue to unwittingly legitimize such actions by our inaction or alleged ignorance. The day of accountability is dawning in Harrisburg in terms of each member's contribution to the attainment of organizational goals and thus to the learning of children. We have also succeeded in making some organizational adjustments with the view towards providing greater support to the learning experiences of pupils. and have developed an organization structure or chart to reflect these adjust |