Great opportunities for the Normandy School District have come disguised as great challenges, said the district’s superintendent Stanton Lawrence at the “state of the district” luncheon today at Lucas Crossing Elementary.
The district has struggled for accreditation and financial stability. It absorbed the Wellston School District into its own last year. It constantly faces safety issues in the surrounding community. However, Lawrence said that in order to address these challenges, the district has adopted systems and changes that have made it more efficient.
“People seem excited about the changes they’re seeing all through the district,” he said. “I tend to be apologetic because the changes should have come a long time ago. You can’t witness a district was limping along and under performing and not do something to change it.”
After last year’s reorganization of the district, where he asked all employees to reapply for their jobs, the district lost 160 positions and is now saving $1.5 million annually. Only three of the eleven principals were rehired, and all employees will be held accountable to producing at high levels, he said.
“We are not only leaner,” he said. “The state of the district is stronger and we are planning strategically.”
Lawrence said he and the board make decisions as a team, and the decisions are based on data. In two weeks, the district will launch a “data dashboard” on its website that will allow the community to see the district’s current state. The dashboard will include academic performance scores, attendance, discipline/behavior, and school finance. People will be able to see if the district is meeting its budget targets or not.
In the fall, the district started conducting internal assessment tests, similar to the state’s MAP tests, to conclude how students are doing throughout the year. Lawrence said this will allow the district to assess performance throughout the year, rather than just at the end of the year when it receives results from the MAP tests. So far, the assessment tests show that students have improved up to 13 percent in some grade levels in communication arts and mathematics. These test scores will also be available on the data dashboard soon.
Lawrence discussed an idea that has not been popular among some teachers’ union leaders and members – paying teachers for academic outcomes.
“If a teacher has a track record of all of her kids performing at high levels, why shouldn’t she be compensated beyond a teacher where none of her kids are performing at a high level,” he said. “I’m going to push it really hard, but it’s going to cause a lot of push back from the organizations. But I already told them where I’m coming from.”
This year, Lawrence became a father of the school district as his son entered kindergarten.
“If there is any way that I can demonstrate how committed I am to this school district than the fact that my son is attending school here,” he said.