On May 23, Questar III and the Superintendents’ Success Network (SSN) hosted a preview dinner for a series of professional development seminars for newer and aspiring superintendents. The program is designed to assist regional participants in developing an understanding of skills and knowledge necessary for effective school district leadership.
Participation is intended for individuals who are interesting in becoming a superintendent or those who just started the position.
The trainings will take place throughout the 2016-2017 school year with a series of Wednesday morning workshops from 8-10 a.m. The program will conclude in the summer of 2017 with a full day “wrap-up” event to follow up on additional topics and summarize the year’s program.
The workshops will be held on the following dates:
- October 12
- December 7
- February 8
- April 12
- June 7
Former Coxsackie-Athens CSD Superintendent L. Jeffrey Baltes says Questar III District Superintendent Dr. Gladys I. Cruz approached the group of former superintendents last year about providing professional development for potential or new superintendents. This grew out of conversations with local superintendents wanting to build the capacity in the Questar III BOCES region.
“The superintendents want a program that builds the capacity within our BOCES context,” she said. She added that it was likely to see a significant number of Questar III component district leadership changes through retirements and that it would be beneficial to begin supporting those who are interested in aspiring to the superintendency within the region.
The opening session on May 23 featured a keynote by CASDA Executive Director Dr. James Butterworth, who previously served as an Assistant Commissioner at NYSED and local superintendent.
The workshops will cover a range of topics identified by existing superintendents through a comprehensive survey of skills and knowledge sets that people going into the superintendency need to have or be aware of.
The first few two-hour sessions this fall will focus on superintendent and school board relations given the results of the survey. Baltes says this relationship is key to being an effective leader.
“If that isn’t in place, and all those awarenesses are not well developed – the issues related to communication, the politics of the position, managing conflict, working with communities – if those skills aren’t in place, the rest just doesn’t gel.”
The group will also cover topics including school finance, crisis and critical incident management, community relations, personnel, working with unions, evaluating programs, assessing outcomes, and making critical or difficult decisions, among other topics – all which were identified through the regional survey. The sessions will be led by a combination of well-recognized consultants in the field along with current superintendents.
Baltes says he hopes participants will get a good sense of what the job entails.
“Over time, people often simplify what it takes or what it means to be a superintendent, and they are not always aware of the breadth and depth of the knowledge needed to perform the job.”
The SSN is asking current superintendents to nominate staff they think would be a good candidate for a superintendency, but interested individuals can also self-nominate if they’d like to consider looking at the position. Attendance at each session is encouraged, but participants can register separately for each gathering.
