Gainesville City Schools needed a turnaround, and they’ve come a long way.
The school district was chosen four years ago to be part of the Partners in Leadership Excellence program under the University of Virginia and presented its changes Wednesday at a conference at the university.
The program targets leadership, trying to steer authority toward the schools and principals and away from the superintendent. Charter school status took the district a long way in achieving its goals.
“The whole thing about Gainesville is the real sense of commitment to children,” State Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox told The Times. “They knew status quo is not where they could stay, and they have a strong commitment to helping all the kids, which translates into action through the data.”
Cox gave a presentation on behalf of Georgia at the conference, discussing how districts and state boards of education should align to help student achievement.
“The relationship doesn’t have to be one of compliance,” she said. “You set common goals and do common work to get the bang for your buck. You have to hold people accountable and at the same time you have to support them.”
Gainesville Superintendent Merrianne Dyer said although Gainesville City Schools had numerous goals, high performance standards and high-interest theme schools, strategies often lacked coherence.
“Communication among all stakeholders as to the purpose of the strategies was not always clear,” she wrote in a final paper about the leadership program. “We got into a cycle of action without taking the time to reflect on the results of our actions. Our district seemed to grab at a myriad of things to do, and over time, school personnel became focused on completing the strategies for compliance. Our purpose became lost in the frenzy of action.”
Under the leadership program, district, community and school officials would form teams to address specific goals and adjust strategies on a regular basis. For example, one group looked at a larger problem of balancing the district’s checkbook while another group targeted math test scores for students with disabilities.
“What we focused on Wednesday was changing the cultural atmosphere, giving more autonomy through the charter system,” Dyer said. “Instead of top-down from the central office, it’s more flat, with principals and the governing charter councils having ownerships.”
Program participants discussed Wednesday how compliance, particularly with state testing, still limits some creativity and autonomy.
Gainesville City Schools paired up with a district in Amsterdam, which sees more freedom on the curriculum level but seeks advice about cultural diversity.
“Their design of schools has the sense of a value-driven organization rather than a compliance-driven organization,” she said. “And they’re talking to us about how to manage and maintain educational levels for all children of all cultures and backgrounds, not just the high achievers.”
Cox said she hopes the Gainesville district will be an example to other schools of “building trust.”
“There’s trust with the taxpayers, with the community and parents, even between the district and state. When you’re in it for the right reasons, that changes the whole landscape,” she said. “That’s the reason we were so willing to work with them on the charter petition. At the core, they were serious about student achievement and helping students get to higher places.”