Spending Time with Human Resources Can Help With the Hiring Process!
The process of hiring qualified staff can always be spent learning the qualifications, the paperwork, and timeframes for each candidate to complete the process. As a future leader, I want to be a part of this process. I want to make sure that I am aware of the hiring process and being able to promote my site as a great environment to work for in education. I want to bring competition to the sites and be able to call the staff to inform them that they received the job. I want to be able to sell my educational site as the best place in the Tri-Valley to work.
Building relationships among staff, the community, and the students are a big piece of the position. I want to make sure a positive relationship in Human Resources at the District Office, with all possible candidates, and the hiring process team. I want to put together a team on the interview committee that will establish a great representation of how Amador Valley High School (AVHS) is represented. I want a lead teacher from the department and another teacher from a different department on my team. I will select a qualified parent and other members of my Administrative team to be on the interview panel. It is important as a Lead Administrator to make sure all the proper steps are established before the interview goes forward. It is also very important to interview the top candidates and make sure the panel feels comfortable with the interview before a final decision is made.
Getting qualified applicants is not always the easiest process. When my district does a good job of attending College Fairs and helping to promote education that is a start. I want to continue with building relationships so former students want to apply once they finish their schooling to come back and give back to their schooling. Making connections and establishing a rapport with former students is just a piece of qualified individuals. Knowing what the site needs, the kid's need, and want the expectations are in the department for the curriculum is just another piece of it. As a future leader, the establishment and promoting the programs are a big piece of the success. Everyone wants to hire the best candidate for the position. I plan on doing that by building relationships, establishing great protocol, and establishing a great interview committee.
Resources and Allocations are a Big Piece to Spending and Balancing a Budget for your Site.
As a future leader, there is planning with the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). My district has established a 211-page plan on the process and the correct steps to make sure the funding is being allocated in the right direction. As a leader, I want to follow through with the process of the LCAP and make sure that I am spending the appropriate time to make sure all the areas of the LCAP are being followed and the right distribution is being given to each individual area.
Some of the top three areas of allocations are working with the Special Needs, Tier One Spending, and College Readiness for all students. There are several ways as a future leader that I would focus on these three top categories. First with the Special Needs. I would make sure that all teachers all receiving specialty training for their classes, time to collaborate within their departments, and have additional funds to help with resources for all these students. Since Covid-19 has hit us more students have been struggling with the academic piece. The Tier One spending can really be beneficial for students during the summer by offering more classes and help students bring up their grades within the academic level. Tier one spending can bring in more qualified teachers to help with support for the students. Getting these students College and Career Ready will be a main focus of mine throughout my Administrative Career. Some of my objectives include offering more Career and Technology Education (CTE) classes for hands-on learning and career pathways in many different areas. I also plan on making sure there is a CTE Fair for students to help promote job professions and careers. This will help guide students in directions that they might not know even exist at the time.
Another area of focus will be technology. As a future Administrator during the remote style of learning it is very important to help support in any way that I can. I plan on providing in-service for teachers, a support hour for students, and helping with technology during the tutorial time for all students who need assistance and guidance. This can help students with assignments or just basics on different programs that they want to learn.
Facilities Can Always take Steps into Improvement!
Walking through the hallways with your Head Custodian and Facilities Maintenance Person at the District is just a start to help improve the maintenance of the overall facilities. As a future leader, I intend on doing this once a month for different areas to help see the guidance and overall improvements within the school. It is very important to make sure all aspects of facilities are being maintained while upgrades are continuing within the school site. When leadership has aging facilities then often times timely upgrades and improvements are necessary. This can be done with walk-throughs, setting up meetings, and communication with the Head of Facilities.
As a future leader, I plan on following up monthly on these improvements and continuously meeting with the Facilities Coordinator to make sure we are on the right page. Everything will be documented and the goal is for the beginning report to be improved in all areas of deficiency. By adding notes and talking to the Superintendent then future discussion can be done for bond measures for buildings that need to be replaced. Oftentimes basic maintenance and replacing doors or windows can really do wonders for changes in facilities.
By using the above checkoff list then we can see a starting point for many pieces of the facilities. It will allow me as an administrator to see where we have made improvements in the overall plan for improvement. It can also help with reaching goals with facilities and improving the overall image of the facilities for all those involved at the school site.
Budget Cuts: Kids Do Come First!
One of the hardest aspects, when the budget forces the administrative team to make cuts, is when they affect the kids. When being forced to make these types of decisions is an important process when supporting students for learning. As an Administrator, I want to include my staff with cutbacks so they have a full understanding of all the obstacles are that my site is facing. I also want to send out a survey in which includes suggestions or ideas from community members, staff, and parents to get feedback on the situation. There will be some cuts that will be easier to replace with grants or donations. The one aspect as a future administrator I have learned is that I can not take donations for academic learning for cutting classes. Sometimes I will look at supplementing areas that can be done that way for cutbacks. However, cutting academic programs is not what I want to do. Cutting highly qualified teachers is not what I want to do. As a future leader, I would look at all my options before finalizing a decision within the school board.
By incorporating a list of possible budget cuts then it could help kids down the long haul for education. I would be able to prioritize with the cuts and see what cuts would be less strenuous on the kids. Maybe the cut would have to come from the maintenance area instead of a teacher. All possibilities will be looked at with the same perspective in mind. How do we keep programs running with less funding for kids? These will be questions that I will have to answer as an Administrator. Besides prioritizing, looking at the feedback from the surveys, it is also important to see where supplemental funding can take place to support some of the areas of academics. I also feel that it is important to look at the history of the programs of possible cutting. Have they been cut in the past? By looking at history then it would also give me insight as to what the history of the academic programs entails.
Using an Effective Instructional Program would help with the Budgets as well. Always being able to budget for teachers' salaries would be a high priority of mine. Also having equity among the students with curriculum areas would also be a high priority. By making these two areas a high priority in my Administrative leadership then it will help me prioritize the cuts. I want to make sure that teachers are spared whenever possible. Effective teachers make a big difference in academic learning. The students gain knowledge and are more prepared for life and what it can bring.
