Superintendent's Column
June 2011
Our 90-Day Game Plan
It's nice to come home.
Many of you know I started my education career right here in Sweetwater. For several years I taught math and science, and coached sports before moving into administration. My wife retired from Sweetwater after teaching here for 33 years.
Sweetwater is in my blood. I feel very fortunate to have a shared history with this district. When you love something it's easy to get behind it. That's why I was honored to be called back during this transition.
I'm here to try and help. I wouldn't have come back if I didn't think I could make a positive contribution.
Here's my game plan.
Concerns have been raised, and I want to be sincere and honest about acknowledging the problems. My goal is to figure out where things stand, to determine what's been done right, what could be done better and fix the mistakes.
I asked the school board to let me review the dozens of administrative appointments that were made in the past two months. I want to be sure that we have the right people, in the right places to get us where we need to go.
That kind of analysis and decision making takes time. With the first day of school less than a month away, I'm going to make some temporary assignments of experienced administrators to fill vacant school leadership positions.
I've already started the clock on a 90-day plan to put the Sweetwater District back on track to success.
The first 30 days I'll work closely with the board and cabinet members to make a list of all the issues facing the district and prioritize them.
Critical concerns will require fast action. We'll give ourselves 90 days to respond to important issues and we'll work on long-term action plans to address the rest.
I've asked the San Diego County Office of Education to review the district's legal costs and compare the cost of services we receive with those of districts of similar size and serving similar populations.
A Board of Trustees' workshop is scheduled for Saturday, July 30. At that time, I'll meet with them to review the list of issues we've identified and begin discussing solutions.
Throughout the month of August, we will all continue coming up with action plans to address issues and concerns.
Finally, on Sept.1, we will invite all staff and community members to an Education Summit. At that point, we'll share what we've learned, the list of issues that need to be addressed and the proposals for fixing them. We'll look to the public for feedback on how we're doing.
Our hope is that by coming to the community in a spirit of good will and openness, we will usher in a new era of collaboration and communication.
The Sweetwater District has a legacy of excellence. We are known up and down the state for having many Distinguished Schools, many Blue Ribbon schools and the most Golden Bell Awards.
Our state scores are climbing. From VAPA to robotics to sports, we are the home of champions. We have many reasons to be proud to be part of Sweetwater.
We have a lot of good things that are happening here. And we have talent to fix the problems.
No one person makes an organization successful. It comes with many people pulling the rope in the same direction. Together we'll put Sweetwater back on top.