The School Board has approved the purchase of a three year partnership agreement with the Studer Group for $98,784 per year for three years. The Studer Group, founded in 1999 by Quint Studer, works with healthcare as well as educational organizations. According to the District, The Studer Group will “provide ongoing high quality leadership development through the implementation of a continuous improvement approach and an evidence-based leadership framework. Coaching services and support to administrators will include but will not be limited to: goal setting, action planning, effective use of data, leadership best practices, building school climate, and other deliverables related to leadership. Research has indicated that the engagement in these leadership practices have led to an increase in employee engagement and morale and student achievement.”
School Board Member Susan Duval was concerned about the cost of the partnership agreement and the lack of a workshop to learn more about the agreement. She had similar concerns relating to an agreement with the District Management Group for improving ESE services.
Duval stated, “These two items all by themselves are over $551,000.00. So I’ve got a problem with that. I see money that could perhaps be better spent on other items that are in high need in our district. I don’t see things in the proposal that will justify the expenditure of these funds.”
She stated that much of what the company says they will provide, the school district already has or is capable of doing itself.
“I understand the district is in better financial shape than in previous years, but as a board member I believe it’s always incumbent upon us to always keep the reins tight on spending,” she said.
Board Member Gus Guadagnino said that it’s more of an investment in our schools to help make a better product for our students.
Dr. Romano explained that she met with individual board members to discuss the agreement and why it is needed.
“Several years ago we heard a presentation at FSBA… from the Studer Group and Studer does a lot of work in the healthcare industry and the education industry on putting continuous improvement processes into organizations. His work is really (centered) around how to maximize excellence,” said Dr. Romano.
She explained that they’ve been in touch with other districts across Florida that have been working with the Studer Group and that’s how they’ve become A rated school districts.
She remarked further,
“They work with you to bring quality and efficiency and utilize your resources in the best way possible. That’s why we want to invest in this work. This involves leadership development and assessments for our staff- to take our leaders to the next level.
It takes strategic planning. It puts processes into place so that you get routine updates and understand the data that is out there on a routine basis.
The funding from this comes from federal Title II dollars so it’s not out of the general revenue fund with the exception of about $29,000 annually.
She continued, “The timing is excellent because the current strategic plan we’re working off of is coming to an end.” She said that there are committees working to create the new strategic plan for the upcoming school year “and this work aligns very nicely with that,” she commented.
Duval reiterated that she disagrees on the cost and not having workshops where they could have asked questions on the matter.
Board Member Linda Prescott recalled her positive experience with Total Quality Management (TQM) while working for Hewlett Packard in California. TQM collected data on improvement processes which she said was impressive.
Dr. Romano stated, “Ultimately the long term vision that I have as a Superintendent is that we would become recognized by the President of the United States… as a Blue Ribbon school district or would fall underneath the Malcolm Baldrige Award.”
She continued, “And we have the ability to do that. We’ve got the right people in place, doing the right things. Now it’s taking it to the next level. ”
The Studer Group agreement was approved 3-2 with Naverud and Duval voting against it.
FDOE TITLE II:
“The purpose of this title is to provide grants to State educational agencies and subgrants to local educational agencies to—
“increase student achievement consistent with the challenging State academic standards;
“improve the quality and effectiveness of teachers, principals, and other school leaders;
“increase the number of teachers, principals, and other school leaders who are effective in improving student academic achievement in schools; and
“provide low-income and minority students greater access to effective teachers, principals, and other school leaders.”
Dr. Romano referenced the Malcolm Baldrige Award. What is The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award?
“The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is the highest level of national recognition for performance excellence that a U.S. organization can receive. The award focuses on performance in five key areas:
– Product and process outcomes
– Customer outcomes
– Workforce outcomes
– Leadership and governance outcomes
– Financial and market outcomes
– Organizations don’t receive the award for specific products or services. To receive the award, an organization must have a system that ensures continuous improvement in overall performance in delivering products and/or services provides an approach for satisfying and responding to customers and stakeholders”
– https://www.nist.gov/baldrige/baldrige-award
Malcolm Baldrige Jr. was the United States Commerce Secretary under President Ronald Reagan. The quality award named for Malcolm Baldrige Jr. provides a comprehensive performance assessment for its applicants. The Studer Group was a recipient of the award in 2010.