Today is day two in our series of publishing the survey results and comments that the Board of Education received on a variety of topics. The topic today is the Superintendent.
Read the survey results below and then come back here and you decide!  Pleasantdale School District 107 |
| School Climate Staff Insights Survey - 2014 |
Superintendent |
Comments/suggestions:
-- When Dr. Fredisdorf first came to the district he helped align curriculum and helped teams and content areas come together for the common good of the students. That time has passed.-- Mark is relentless with the Mission of the District. For example, he has asked me on more than one occasion to recite the Mission. The District benefits from this relentless approach. Mark expects me to give 100% every day and I do not want to disappoint.
-- The superintendent is not aware of the daily work of teachers. He has outright bullied teachers in the past. The unclear decision making process leads teachers to not trust the superintendent as teachers feel they are not valued as experts in teaching children.
-- The superintendent has created a climate of fear amongst the staff. If you speak out you will be punished. Teachers have been yelled at and treated horribly by our districts "leader". He likes to yell and demean staff members behind closed doors. He will lie to the school board to cover his mistakes.
-- I think that our Superintendent was a good thing for our district 10 years ago. Now, I believe that he has lost focus on what is important and everything that he helped to create is crumbling because it was not given the opportunity to evolve and grow into what it needs to be today. Mark and the BOE are at odds and the staff is suffering greatly. It is time for rebuilding and beginning again.
-- Mark is very present in the schools - he greets staff members by name, remembers key events, and is very friendly. He is very well educated. There does seem to be fear amongst employees about speaking up (I don't know if that is fear of Mark, the Board, or administrators). Sometimes I feel like the district is being run under a business-type model (I am not sure where that might have originated), but I think that should be examined, as we a school district, whose responsibility is ensuring the safety and education of children. I don't necessarily have suggestions at this point on how to change this, but I do feel that "vibe" at times.
-- If test scores show success, then he does work for that. I have not had much interaction with him; however, I have heard and seen instances where others have not been treated with respect. I feel my successes have not been acknowledged in any way. Some of the community will view him in a positive light, and others will not.
-- The superintendent wants to see test scores increase no matter what. He often has already made decisions before a meeting even takes place, so it is a waste of time but made to look like it was a consensus decision.
-- There is a level of fear that comes with our Superintendent. A lack of comfort to make requests or question policy or initiatives.
-- I am a better teacher for having worked for Mark Fredisdorf. His unique perspective has always created a positive change for this district. For bringing this school district a strategic plan and mission based on clear core values, I am grateful. In communicating with myself, my students, my colleagues and the families in my classroom, he epitomizes those core values. He has always treated me with respect. He has always praised my efforts, offered suggestions in a clear, respectful way and highlighted my strengths as an individual. Mark has brought the staff members many opportunities to reflect on themselves as individuals. He understands that teachers that feel respected, prepared, confident and focused can instill those same qualities in their students. He has always heard our plea to EMPOWER EACH STUDENT. He has always encouraged us in any way possible to achieve that mission. He is an exceptional leader who respects and values his teachers!
-- The superintendent has NO respect in our school. He is a bully. He presents what he wants and how he wants to the board. He is self absorbed and therefore does not have the best interest of the school community at the forefront.
-- I have no trust in my superintendent for very solid reasons.
-- I believe that the Superintendent is as good as the people he surrounds himself with. It is not necessary to be an expert in all areas. You do need to be educated in those areas though. I believe that we have been guilty of following the book of the month from Heinemenn Publishers (Educational Publisher for Professional books). I believe that we stayed too long on SBG, Marzano, and our own district outcomes when we should have turned to Common Core training. Hind sight is 20-20. We are making up ground now. I realize that he is under pressure. Staff has been under pressure for quite some time changing, rewriting. I believe that he believes that he is responsive to employees. I believe that he believes that he is consistent when administering policies concerning employees. I believe that his perceptions are flawed.
-- It is impossible for the district to recover from a) the culture of fear b) administrative disregard for RTI and denial of special education services c) the deliberate diffusion of accountability resulting in the stagnation of progress as long as the current superintendent at the helm. His self-preservation is his highest priority, and this was true long before the arrival of his current woes. He should answer for the current state of the district; this culture of fear and disregard for policy is his by design.
-- We need a full time Special Education Director. If we secure a full time position for the Special Education Director, let's let them take care of that job rather than adding several other responsibilities to that position that are unrelated and overly time consuming.
-- I put "disagree" with the statement for "the superintendent has set a clear vision, strategy and timeline for CC and ngss implementation" but I think it's important to remember that the state of Illinois has not set a timeline yet. Some states like New York, for example, have set target implementation dates but Illinois hasn't set anything. Illinois has not even decided if we are going to adopt NGSS nor have they even set a date on when they are going to decide whether or not we will adopt NGSS. I think it would be a little premature for the superintendent to set NGSS dates for our district before we are even sure the state is going to adopt it.
-- Not having professional development in planning common core was a disservice to students, community and teachers.
-- I have tried to trust the superintendent, but have had bad experiences where he has misinformed the board with his opinions and not the consensus of the team.
-- During his tenure, our superintendent, along with previous boards of education, has guided the district forward. In recent months, I see his role as superintendent become somewhat stagnant due to the micromanaging and numerous requests of information from this school board, which is seldom within the realm of setting school policy and/or improvements for our students.
-- I feel that the superintendent has treated the different curricular areas differently. When language arts teachers disagreed with ideas of the previous principal, the superintendent backed the principal without listening to the teacher's concerns and at times reacted in a punitive manner.
-- More leading through encouragement and less dismissing of staff concerns would help solve some of our problematic issues.
-- The superintendent has put test scores above all else from Day One. Everything points toward that goal. As important as it is, it is not the end all in a child's education. I have grown weary of seeing the test data held up like a prize and then being thrown back at the teachers as if they aren't doing enough. Regarding the relationship between the staff and the supeintdent, school climate, trust, professional and respectful treatment of staff and the Teacher's Association are not new topics. In fact they were addressed by the Teachers Association several years ago with, sadly, little effect. The relationships that could have been built over the years, through collaborative and compassionate problem solving have, sadly, not happened enough to create a sense of thriving.
-- The superintendent has a strong presence in the school, but it is not a good one. There is very little trust among the staff for our superintendent. The work environment is toxic and overwhelming. He leads our district into things without thinking of implications that these initiatives will have for our students. He blindly followed Meg for years and truly is not educated as to what goes on in our school. Further, he is so consumed with his own image that he puts the students and staff at a close second.
 | ||||
| ||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 comments:
Wow, there doesn't seem to be a lot of positive comments here! The comments show he doesn't have the trust of his staff and he is feared by many of them. The questions show he is not respected by his staff and that they don't believe he has a clear vision, strategy or timeline for inplementing Common Core and NGSS. Maybe a change would do us some good??
This fits great with yesterdays post about transparency. Someone must have been trying to hide something because this wasn't included in the board packet. Why would you pick and choose what to release to the public. Either release everything or nothing, unless you are trying to hide something.
Post a Comment