Audit Pans School System's Management Choices, Communication

OCALA -- When the SchoolMatch audit team turned its eye to the central administration of the Marion County public school system, it found a confusing hierarchy with job duties divided unevenly, dubious qualifications for some administrators and a dearth of women in power positions.

"People that were doing job functions that ... did not have the experience to do those job functions," said SchoolMatch President William Bainbridge. "That is not unusual in districts with elected school superintendents.

"What you get in districts with elected school superintendents is a kind of a mix of people who are hired because of their experience and qualifications and people who are hired for political patronage."

The SchoolMatch audit found that some administrators have too much responsibility, while others don't have enough. It also called for a review of qualifications for people in administrative and support positions, noting that an individual's expertise didn't always match with their job duties.

It also found that the district does a poor job of communicating, both internally and to the general public.

Superintendent of Schools John Smith said the qualifications of everyone in central administration meets those in their stated job requirements, and if the qualifications seem to be out of line, then the job descriptions need to be reviewed.

"I don't know whether they're taking that tack, or whether they're saying you've described a job here but you've added some other things to it, informally, other duties as assigned," Smith said.

Under state law, administrators are hired by and serve at the pleasure of the school superintendent.

"The board's role is to approve the position to begin with, whatever it is... secondly they define that position," Smith said. "Once those two things happen, then it's my responsibility to fill that based on what they set as policy."

According to SchoolMatch, not enough of those positions have been filled by women. None of the three assistant superintendents or 10 department directors are women, though seven of the 15 supervisors in the county office are women.

SchoolMatch said in the school districts comparable to Marion County, 29 percent of top positions are occupied by women.

Because of the virtual parity on the supervisor level, 25 percent of the school district's top management structure are women.

"That's based on their criterion," Smith said of the perceived gender inequity. "We don't have any quota in terms of minority administrators, in terms of gender, things of that nature.

"I think we have a record that shows, in the last several years, we have assigned ladies to positions of responsibility at just about every level," he added. "Our current practice is to recognize our women leaders and assign them to big responsibilities."

The central office hierarchy itself isn't well-defined either, the study says. "The line-staff relationships at times exhibit too many layers of bureaucracy," the report stated. "The current structure where subordinates report to more than one superordinate appears to be unrealistic, unproductive, and ineffective."

Smith agreed that it's sometimes human nature to keep some oversight of duties under an administrator even after they've been given to someone else.

Case in point: When the school district created a safe schools supervisor position earlier this month, the plan called for that person to report to the student services director because many of those duties fell under that person.

School Board members balked at the additional bureaucracy and the job was changed so the safe schools supervisor will report directly to Smith.

Smith conceded that central administration needs to be reorganized and points to an upcoming study funded by the state and conducted by the Florida Association of District School Superintendents as a more detailed blueprint for that change.

"When we talked to Dr. (Luther) Rogers, we identified some areas and said, give us some advice here," Smith said. "Particularly in the area of technologies, in the areas of data processing, in the areas of processing student information, student services -- all of those areas have grown tremendously over the last couple years."

That audit report should be released at the Feb. 9 School Board meeting.

As for its communication problems, SchoolMatch pointed to a disparity in parent, teacher and administration perceptions of how the school system is performing as evidence of a communication gap.

Internally, the audit said the district needs better data to track education trends.

It also suggested more communication with the public and establishment of a yearly accountability report based on how well the district is meeting standards outlined in the SchoolMatch audit.

Smith acknowledged a communication gap and said the district needs a plan to communicate better. But he also said many of the impressions were based on history and the district is doing better. Last year it hired a public information officer and it has hosted business and community leaders both in a planning and brainstorming session and a showcase of the career preparation tracks.

"The strategic plan was not by chance, inviting the community in," Smith said. "It was based on design and my discussion with (School Board Chairwoman) Cheryl Appelquist."

Bainbridge said that while the central office structure raised red flags, those problems are common too.

"We've seen worse, and we've even seen worse in the state of Florida," Bainbridge said. "All I'm saying is there's enough concern here to raise it as a recommendation."

When pressed, Bainbridge refused to dissect the school district's central management structure.

"I don't want to get into individuals," Bainbridge said. "Our job is not to come in there and muckrake on particular people and personalities.

"I will say it creates a great burden for (Deputy Superintendent) Fred Smiley," he added. "He seems to be -- on that side of the house -- the glue that holds this thing together."

Smiley, Bainbridge said, has to spend time both assisting other administrators and training them.

"They're not as familiar with their jobs as we would like to see them be," Bainbridge said.

Smith said part of the problem is that when he first became superintendent he cut back central administration to its current structure -- three assistant superintendents, 10 directors, 15 supervisors -- and as programs have been added, people were not.

"As growth continues to impact us, for the most part that structure that was put in place six years ago has been intact," Smith said. "We've added a position here or deleted one there -- what happens in those cases you identify a need and say 'Who's got this?'

"You invariably end up assigning responsibilities to one area, one department, one position that may or may not be appropriate in terms of workload and balance among others responsibilities," he added.

Bainbridge agreed that sometimes happens over time and when administration is downsized.

"Some of this has occurred because of cost-cutting," Bainbridge said. "Where someone was qualified with their job, but because of cost-cutting, they threw three or four areas at them outside of their expertise."

But Bainbridge said that type of stopgap job assignment isn't the best way to manage a school district.

"It happens in school districts around the country, but we think it's a serious problem," Bainbridge said. "When you look at the budget and the sheer magnitude of the Marion County school district, it seems hard to defend having people spend money in areas where they don't have the expertise to spend that money."