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A New Direction:

The Role of the School Board in

Moving From Competence to

Excellence

Virginia School Boards AssociationNovember 18, 2010

Presented ByChandra Smith and

Kim BridgesRichmond Public School Board

The Journey from Competence to Excellence: School Board Governance as the Foundation for

Excellence in Operations & Academics

What does your board spend most of its time doing?

What are the primary challenges that confront you as a system? As a governance team?

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Know the destination

Every child will leave Richmond Public Schools

prepared to choose post-secondary opportunities and to

contribute to our democracy.

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Understand the landscape

RPS at a GlanceRPS at a Glance

High Schools - 5

Specialty High Schools - 3

Career & Technical Education - 1

Alternative Education -2Special Needs - 3

Elementary Schools -28

Middle Schools - 8

Average School SizesElementary 430 studentsMiddle 648 studentsHigh 789 students

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Understand the landscapePercentage of Free & Reduced Lunch Population

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

FY2004 FY2005 FY2006 FY2007 FY2008 FY2009 FY2010

STATE HENRICO CHESTERFIELD NORFOLK RICHMOND

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Understand the landscape

Percentage of Special Education Students

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

FY2004 FY2005 FY2006 FY2007 FY2008 FY2009

STATE HENRICO CHESTERFIELD NOROLK RICHMOND

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Clear the path for a smooth, productive journey

Professional Development and BoardsmanshipAdvocacy

CollaborationPartnershipLeadershipOversight

Board Processes

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Clear the path

Professional Development vs. “junkets”

•VSBA, NSBA, CUBE, CGCS•Members participate at state and national level•Members share RPS best practices with other boards, systems•Members share ideas, lessons learned•Public reporting of approval, travel, follow-up

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Clear the path

• Boardsmanship• UVA retreats: Darden-Curry Partnership

• Balanced Scorecard• New Direction• Team-Building• Governance

• Public reporting on ideas and information learned

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Clear the path

Effective Processes, Efficient Meetings

Timed agendas Agenda planning Committee of the Whole (COW) Facilitated discussions

10

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Create the road mapVision

A premier learning community that is the first choice for ALL in Richmond and recognized nationally for student excellence.

MissionEducate ALL students to become highly successful,

contributing citizens in a global society.

GoalsImprove Student Achievement Promote a Safe and Nurturing EnvironmentProvide Strong Leadership for Effective and Efficient OperationsEnhance Capacity Building through Professional DevelopmentStrengthen Collaborations with StakeholdersIncrease Parent & Community Satisfaction

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Create the Road MapCultural Transformation

• Strengthen relationship with the REA based on achieving enhanced student achievement and employee job satisfaction

• Identify standards of professionalism for all employees• Continue the discussion on effective consolidation of services

with City• Revise instructional and school-based performance measures• Implement evaluation tools to identify areas of attention and

swift, but fair mitigation• Implement effective division-wide information and

telecommunications system for transparent reporting of academic and business service operations

• Incorporate appropriate performance indicators such as those that exist in comparable business and operations sectors

•

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Get the resources you need

Establish a process for advocatingInvolve industry professionals

Educate the board Mobilize Parents

Joint Legislative Services

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Get the resources you need

Strengthen relationship with locality

Moving from eviction…

Emergency Meeting Outside School Board Office!

MAYOR DWIGHT JONES AND SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT YVONNE BRANDON

TO SPEAK AT DISTRICT MEETINGMayor Dwight Jones and Superintendent Yvonne Brandon

will discuss the Richmond Public Schools.All parents interested in Richmond schools are encouraged to attend

and ask questions of the leadership.

…to CollaborationNOW WE meet together to discuss our schools!

4TH

District Update

September 2009

Councilwoman Graziano

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Get the resources you need

Collaborating on services, including:

Health Care Building Schools Legislative Services Property Management More to come…

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Get everybody on the bus

Partnerships with Community Stakeholders

Parents State & local governments Business community Higher Education Faith-Based community Students Employees

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Get everybody on the bus

19

Earlier this year, volunteers from Capital One celebrated Community Build Day !

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Set (and check) the navigation system

Oversight & Risk Management Internal Audit Function Budget Financial Reporting Master Calendar Board Policy Revised by 2012!

21

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Get the right driver

The Superintendent Search A unique process Resources Pros & Cons

22

Competence to Excellence:

Take time to enjoy the view

Celebrate success Recognize efforts Talk them up

23

•R i c h m o n d P u b l i c S c h o o l s

COOL POINTS

All Richmond Public Schools are fully accredited--based on the state’s Standards of Learning tests.

Ninety-nine percent of students in the Class of 2010 graduated. Richmond Public Schools spends $.77 of every dollar on instruction and

instructional technology. Every Richmond City elementary school offers foreign language instruction. The district’s projected Advanced Placement (AP) enrollment for 2009-2010 reflects

a one-year increase of 53 percent. Three Richmond City high schools participate in the National Football Foundation’s

Play It Smart initiative, an academic tutoring program for high school athletes. Franklin Military Academy is the nation’s first public military high school. The district launched three premier preschool learning centers.

TALK IT UP!One School and One District at a Time!

2626

RPS Schools Making AYP More than Tripled Since 2003(24% in 2003 to 83% in 2008)

Percent of Schools Meeting AYPRichmond Public Schools vs. Other Va. Districts

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

2003200420052006

2007200820092010

Yea

r

Percentage of Schools Meeting Federal AYP Requirements

2727

RPS Schools State Accountability

Richmond City Public SchoolsPercent of Schools Fully Accredited

19%

31%

78%

90%86%

81%

88%

100%94%

2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-2010 2010-2011

Graduation Rates

28

The Journey from Competence to Excellence:

Keep going!!!

Assess where you’ve been, identify where you need to go next

Strategic Planning Continued collaborative work

Process for continuous improvementSelf-Evaluation

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Richmond Public Schools

The Journey from Competence to

Excellence

Intense Responsibility

Intense Accountability

Intense Transparency