I'm passionate about being reliable. It doesn't matter what the project or event is - being invited to dinner, completing a one-page memo, replying that I will attend a Monday night church meeting - if I say yes, I will come, I will do it, I mean yes.

Have I messed up? Yes (once again!), and I still remember some of the commitments I made that I didn't keep.

In the book, Aligning School Districts as PLCs, reliability means fulfilling expectations of roles.

You would expect to read about "collective" and "collaboration" in a book about PLCs - Professional Learning Communities. After all we don't have community by ourselves - neither do we collaborate by ourselves.

So how do we build a collaborative culture that focuses on learning for ourselves as well as our students? I think we start with being reliable.

The authors articulate three role responsibilities for high-performing collaborative teams: strategists, tacticians, and operationalists. They give everyone a place to belong, be responsible, and be committed.

At the strategic role, think school board; tactical role connotes building and district leaders; and those in the operational role are teachers. New terminology for us but not new roles.

Each role supports the others while playing a distinctive role. Of course some roles bridge responsibilities and commitments.

One of the book's authors, Mark Van Clay, who will facilitate the July Symposium for our leadership, says that

• strategists are open to understanding the impact of their charges on those in the other roles and are willing to bring those others into long-range strategic discussions;
• tacticians articulate, protect, and promote the strategic mission and vision; establish and enforce common values and collective commitments and coordinate projects and priorities with goals; and
• teachers at the operational level understand that student learning is a team responsibility.

What do you think? Is student learning a collective commitment?

What does this have to do with being reliable? Have you wondered before if a person will actually do his or her job? If you have been in a group where a person didn't carry her weight, you know what I am talking about.

If we desire collaboration, we must be reliable and committed to each other and the vision. We must know what to expect of others.

I dare you to be reliable as I dare myself,

Anna

When the board of education heard the school system's proposed FY 13 budget at its May 29 workshop and placed it on first reading for comment at its June 5 meeting, included were five more employee work days than originally scheduled on the school calendar. Among the reinstated days were two instructional days and three professional learning days. These had been cut earlier from the school year calendar along with five more Work Schedule Adjustment Days because of budget projections.

Employees were urged to give their preference for dates for the three professional learning days during the February winter break. The choices were Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday or Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Sixty percent of those responding to the survey choose the Tuesday through Thursday dates, February 19-21, 2013.

"As the general fund budget proposal was being finalized and new information was forthcoming, it became apparent that the budget could sustain five employee work days including two instructional days being reinstated for 2012-13," said Denise Burrell, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction.

She continued, "Dr. Jones recommended to the board of education that

• two instructional days be added on Thursday and Friday, January 3-4, 2013, which are now scheduled as professional learning days;
• Three professional learning days, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, February 19-21, be added during mid-winter break, and
• The January professional learning days be rescheduled for December 19 and May 31."

School System budget shows effects of a more positive financial position

Earlier in the year when the board of education adopted the cost reduction measure of 10 fewer work days for employees, no one could predict that in the course of FY13 budget development months later, the way would be cleared to reduce the number of days cut to five.

"My first priority was restoring work schedule adjustment days for employees," said Dr. Curtis Jones, Superintendent. "When we are in a people-intensive business like school, the value of the human capital cannot be overstated. Our employees are our greatest asset, whether teaching our students or driving them to school or performing necessary behind-the-scenes functions.
 

"The challenges coming into this next year included significant use of fund balance, a decline in the actual property tax digest, a projected decline in 2012 property tax digest, and known cost increases to health insurance. Thankfully, the factors beyond our control, like the local tax digest, did not decline. This situation coupled with two program changes we were able to make that saved $700,000 led us to the most financially favorable position we have had in four years."
 

For FY13 there are

• no salary increases for employees;
• 14 new cost reduction measures worth $3 million;
• a substantial increase in the employer's portion of employees' health insurance;
• 62.5 positions eliminated and absorbed; and
• five work scheduled adjustment days for employees.

The proposed General Fund budget for FY13 with the millage remaining the same at 19.06:

Total revenues

$75,944,635

Special Kudos!

Hats off to the ladies of Teaching and Learning for all of their hard work to plan, set-up and pull off another successful Teachers as Learners Conference!

Many, many hours of behind the scene work, manual labor and coordination went into making the conference run smoothly from start to finish. Once again they have modeled examples of strategic planning, teamwork, and doing whatever it takes to get the job done! Well done!

Carmen Barton

Denise Burrell

Ashley Crawford

Connie Gill

Deborah Howard

Lisa Jones

Sara Jones

Barbara King

Heather Kingsley

Ashley McLemore

Shelia Mincey

Melanie Stansell

Laura Youmans

...and everyone else who provided support!

A note from HR

Take your health assessment by Friday, June 15, 2012 and you'll automatically be entered in a drawing to win one of 25 iPads. If you or your eligible spouse have already completed a health assessment in 2012 you are already registered for this drawing, no action is required.