Process To Create a New School District in Southeast Salt Lake County

Dear Parents, Educators, and Community Members,

     The Education Transition Team has now completed meetings with all of the School Community Councils in the new district. Our goal in those meetings has been to facilitate conversations with stakeholders, exploring their vision for the educational operations of the new eastside district. We saw the need to listen carefully to the concerns and aspirations of parents, teachers and other stakeholders in order to accurately represent their wishes to the new school board when they are elected in June.

     As a result of the information gathered in the SCC meetings, the Education Transition Team has identified common, emergent themes that are of concern and interest to parents, teachers, and administrators. The new school board will have the opportunity to organize ad hoc committees to study implementation strategies and best practices in these identified areas. The organization and research- based work of ad hoc committees will be a long term commitment under the direction of the new school board and superintendent.

     Dr. John Bennion, chair of the Education Transition Team, has now completed a series of Town Meetings entitled A Progress Report from the Education Transition Team to the Community, that you may have seen advertised on this website, in newspapers and public service announcements, and in various city newsletters. (That presentation can be viewed by clicking here.) The essence of that report was the identification of the major themes suggested by the School Community Councils for further study and eventual implementation.

     The first community mandate is the assurance of a smooth transition when the two districts begin to function separately in July of 2009 and avoidance of any disruption of services in current educational programs and support services. A great deal of time, energy, and thought will be given between now and the summer of 2009 to the accomplishment of this priority.  A major undertaking will be to decide which educational and support services should be shared by the two districts, at least for a time, and how those shared services will be provided and equitably paid for by both districts. The efforts of the Education Transition Team will focus primarily on this first priority so that the new board, superintendent and other key leaders will have a jump start when beginning that process this summer.

     The second objective identified by the community is to improve upon programs and services, including the possibility of major changes in some programs based on research and committee work. Again, this work will be accomplished under the leadership of the new board and superintendent.

     Teachers and parents alike recognize the competitive environment in which schools in the new district, and across the nation, find themselves. A strong charter school movement, open enrollment legislation, and the fact that the new district is not a natural growth area are factors that must be taken into account if our schools are to be competitive in their ability to attract and retain the teachers, administrators, and students they need.

     Parents and teachers, generally pleased with the operation of their neighborhood schools, see the need to move forward, to improve, and to be competitive. Jim Collins in the book Good to Great (2001) suggests that “Good is the enemy of great.” In order to move schools from the status quo, excellent though it may be, to greatness, SCC members identified some major themes for further study:

Retention and Hiring of Outstanding Teachers and Principals
     There is no doubt that this will be the foundation of a distinguished school district. Teacher growth and development, career incentives, both financial and professional, mentoring programs, etc. are all areas that require further exploration to enhance the ability of the district to attract and maintain the very finest professionals.

Greater Involvement in Governance
     A number of schools are requesting that more thought be given to local school autonomy and that a fresh look be taken at the distribution of authority and influence in decision making among schools, feeder patterns, and the district administration. The theme of governance was expressed by many SCCs in exploring how individual schools in the new district can have more flexibility, latitude and authority at the school level to make significant decisions around the educational needs and aspirations of their school community. Such authority might include, for example, more control over fiscal resources that directly support educational programs in the schools.

Community Building
     Parents want to be involved in meaningful ways in their local schools. The need to strengthen School Community Councils as a vehicle to that end is considered critical. Parents and teachers see SCCs as a potential governance unit that can be influential in the growth and development of schools in fostering student achievement.

Programs
     Special Education, Gifted and Talented, and English as a Second Language programs were mentioned frequently as critical programs that need to be conscientiously maintained and improved upon over time.

Curriculum
     Nearly every SCC reported that the emphasis on literacy throughout the district has been outstanding and must be maintained, while increased attention needs to be given to math and science and to the arts.

Modernizing Facilities to Support State of the Art Programs
     Many facilities are in need of upgrades and, in some cases, possible replacement, and this is a concern that must be addressed by the new school board as soon as possible.

     These are of course, not the only topics identified in SCC meetings; they are, however, the most frequently and fervently mentioned, and they will be among the early topics that require deeper study, research and consideration. Although most of the committee work around these topics will begin only after the election of new school board members and the appointment of a superintendent, there is some work that can begin immediately. For example, an ad hoc committee to study the effectiveness and potential of School Community Councils has been formed and tasked with making recommendations and offering support to SCCs across the district.

You may also be interested in some of the critical junctures in the weeks ahead:

  • Election of the new school board on June 24th.
  • Recommendations of the Education transition Team to the school board on Aug. 1st
  • Appointment of the new superintendent of schools in mid-August.

     Thank you for your interest and commitment to the new school district. Our children are counting on us to organize an outstanding district with high performing schools that are moving from Good to Great!

The Education Transition Team