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I think your practice is more the other way. >> Yeah, it is the other way. And I feel like given our role in that, it feel it feels like a procedural fake thing anyway. So why does it matter? But we're not going to do anything about it. >> Yeah. The only thing that I'm that I do ask if it stays the same. Wait, can you remind me how is it right now? So, your policy says that your superintendent and your HR have the authority to do it, but your practice I believe right uh is they've been bringing them to you before issuing them. >> Okay. So, to tying everything up, if in practice we've been doing that, then the words need to match the practice and >> that would mean adding this purple sentence in then. Is that what you're saying, Ben? If that's for one for much >> if that's been the practice right now then yes our policy should match what the practice is occurring unless the practice changes is then we can change leave the wording >> and I may have misguided Mr.
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Castillo I want to check in with Dr. Lauren as to what our actual practice has been. >> So we bring to the board the um the authority to issue preliminary notices in the fall. Yeah. >> Uh and that's a board action item that we had I think in November or October. uh that was in anticipation of those performance improvement inacquy letters that are issued to the individuals once they are inadequately performing in their observation for their evaluation. So uh at that point the authority to issue the letter comes to us and we is issue the letter and then we use that uh 10-day notice for the governing board which is what you receive in the board updates. So that's current practice. >> Yeah. So, I think when I said we we typically get it approved first, what I meant was we do the annual approval.
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>> Okay. >> Um and so I probably without looking at it at the time um when we had the conversation, I I may have misguided because I I was thinking of it from the perspective of well every year we bring that in October or November and get the board to approve it. >> So, our practice would still fall under that purple thing because we're giving them the approval at the beginning of the year. It's just not on like a we're not getting notice of the specifics of it. It is essentially >> I guess the question is is is the purple referring to >> receiving the authority annually or is the purple referring to an individual being put >> that's yeah that's the issue >> the way I read it's individual. >> Okay. So if it's individual then I would say our practice is more aligned with what the policy currently says.
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And I think your practice, if I'm being honest with you, that's more aligned with >> S2FG. >> Yes. >> As opposed to as opposed to making sure that the board approves them first. And this is one of the employment adjacent uh uh delegations that the board can make when it comes to personnel. And so I I would advise that we just keep the same practice on this one. >> Yeah. Yeah. I would agree. So, we're going to have to >> I mean, these are Sorry. I always think these are silly anyway because what are we going to object to the issuance of the thing? >> Yeah. I mean, a preliminary notice just means like this your first warning. >> No, no, >> it means like a notice that you may not be >> the beginning of the process of a >> non renewal. Contract. >> Okay.
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>> Yeah. >> And and your performance >> and it's specific to performance. It's not >> not because you violated board policy or something like that. That would be different. hypothetically like say if they get that notice and then they clean up their act and all of a sudden their students are doing great is are we bound to not giving them a contract? >> And I just want to make sure we're not specifically tying it to students because there could be a whole bunch of other issues not necessarily an academic performance. So I don't ever want that to be the the notion that this is happening because of the academic success because there could be a million and one more things occurring and behavior and you know tardiness that doesn't necessarily tie that in. So that's why I think it's important for us to let them handle that because they're in the inside of the schools 247, right?
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We only have the grand view. Um but just to clarify that and I didn't mean to interrupt you. Yeah, performance has to do with evaluation of their function as a teacher, not specific to student performance. So, this is teacher performance, not >> I would assume is I mean I'm sorry, just to to make sure that >> uh to recognize that the final evaluation score does include student data. Yes. >> Because that 33% of their final evaluation is based on classroom and site or site data depending on what their role is. Uh and the other piece is that keep in mind that in the process their due process as a teacher is to have a 45day window of improvement uh where that plan for improvement is part of the calculation of whether or not they're non-renewed uh or they're um able to receive a contract then for the next year.
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>> But classroom performance and improvement address a whole array of things, right? >> Yeah. Just not just tied down to that. >> Yeah. Yeah. I was just wondering like does that my my thing was >> preliminary notice is that a guaranteed you're not getting a contract or is there a chance for them getting >> yeah they have back together >> they'll have 45 days based on that improvement plan to to shape up >> all right >> 45 school days >> yeah okay thank you >> now and just one random um question is this the same standards that we have for principles and administrators and does that live in policy anywhere There's a different standard for renewal for administrators. Uh they can be non-renewed by uh notice prior to April 15th. Uh and they're just not issued a contract. Okay. >> So they're they're um their contract is an annual renewal.
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It's there's no guarantee that they don't have continuing status like a teacher might um where they would just roll into the next year and automatically be issued a contract if they're in good standing. Yeah, there's there's significantly less protections than than what we see here and that also is based on statute. Yes. Yeah. Psychologists as well. So those are the three uh employee groups that have that sort of evaluative piece that are based in stat statute. >> Okay. >> So we'll go ahead and revert to the original language in the policy. Everybody okay with that? Yes, please. >> Okay, but we're just going to take out the purple and revert to the original language. >> Yeah. >> All right. Well, I got my answer on that one. >> I'm commenting on your comment. What we agree to? >> She said tonight. >> This looks like a watch.
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Wonderful. >> So, this is partly a guardrail oversight issue. High stakes employment actions may warrant board reservation, but SOFG also depends on clear delegation and timely execution. Uh, I think we we hit everything on that one. Now, we're on the evaluation of the superintendent. Okay. Policy 2-201, evaluation of the superintendent. Uh, what this policy does, this policy codifies so the SOFG evaluation model. The board conducts a board self- evaluation using the SOFG instrument before the superintendent evaluation. The superintendent evaluation is based exclusively on progress towards student outcome goals and compliance with guardrails and standard/goals are confirmed publicly in the July September window with the evaluation documented through the SOFG rule rubric. This is the this is the board's accountability mechanism. It keeps the evaluation anchored to the board's right work outcomes and guardrail supported by monitoring evidence. So my question is to you is the board comfortable with the evaluation being exclusively tied to goals and guardwells uh and not broad operational criteria.
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>> Yes. The only concern that I have or question that I have is is there a midpoint? Should we do a midpoint review and then a final review? Because at the end of the day if we're evaluating our superintendent, it's hard to give feedback at the end of the year versus hey, you know, giving our superintendent an opportunity too. if for some weird reason we were not meeting anything, where does that year happen and do we give them enough time to fix those issues and then we do a final one? If I could just throw out because Dean and I had a conversation I think a couple weeks ago um because we used to have language around a midyear but technically the way we've structured under SOFG the superintendent evaluation all of my scoring is based on goals and guard rails whether the interim measures have been met or the annual targets have been accomplished and since we every month are reviewing our goals in the public meeting and to date I know there's going to be discussion later.
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We've had presentations in consent for the board and those progress for the guardrails and those progress monitoring reports are being approved by the board. We're fundamentally reviewing my evaluation every board meeting or at least a portion of my evaluation every board meeting. So the time when I would make the board aware like I have no problem with us having a midyear and you know having a conversation about how things are going but functionally to the point of the student outcomes focused governance. Um myself with support from the team we're really kind of walking the board through what's going well, what are we struggling with, why are we struggling with it, like is there if there's a legitimate reason we're off course with something that's when we're going to provide that reason. we're just going to do it without excuses, right? So, um, so I I'm comfortable with whatever the board would like to do.
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I just wanted to make sure I made that point because it does feel like that's kind of the focus of what we do every board meeting. >> Yeah. >> Do you think this is fair though? >> I hate to weigh in on fairness. >> Yeah. No, I know. It's It's so funny because there's It it comes back to your comment earlier um about what's within our sphere sphere of control and what's outside of our sphere of control. There are many things in the superintendence valuation, you know, that are in those different spheres, right? But for me, I don't I it is my personal belief that there's you should not take the role of superintendent if you're not willing to own what's outside of your sphere of control and to influence it to the best of your ability by focusing on what's within your sphere of control.
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So it's I mean I think it is fair because the only reason my role exists is to improve student outcomes. So if what we're me if we're accurately measuring our efforts to improve student outcomes and that's what I'm being evaluated on, I shouldn't be we're not an employment agency. I shouldn't be taking this job to get salary and benefits. I should be taking this job um to achieve those student outcomes, which is what we're measuring. I don't know if that directly answered your question. I tried it. We're going >> I'm rubber stamping this. Yes. >> Yeah. maybe making a lot of other superintendents uncomfortable. >> Um, maybe they need to be uncomfortable. Anyways, >> couple other wonderings. Now, I haven't I recall we've done one review or evaluation since I've been on the board, but is there any like >> um like uh words work?
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Um so like so so like your underlings, that's the wrong word. like like a really exceptional team like because I mean we see you on this one but we don't know what's happening out out there like >> you know so my my my thought is like yeah we're evaluating on this >> but you know what do we get to take into consideration or account or see like what is what the rest of the employees how they feel working underneath the superintendent. So, so the challenge with that is how people feel is not just a function of of my behavior and and my actions, it's also a function of their behavior and their actions. So, when you hold someone accountable, while they certainly have the opportunity to say, "Thank you, sir. I really appreciate being held accountable because it means I'm improving student outcomes." Sometimes people that are being held accountable are like, "You're the problem." Right?
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So, so it's that would definitely be a way of measurement that would not only be unfair, it would be problematic because it would require the board to get deep into operations to make a determination about the root causes of why that person or that group of people feel that way. And so, I do think it is virtually impossible to be superintendent in a district without upsetting some people along the way. And of course, probably the the um there's a a really famous book called Who Moved Who Moved the Cheese, I think is the title of it, right? So, um and if you want to think about an activity that would be the greatest moving of cheese that's probably ever happened in this district, it would be the implementation of student outcomes focused governance, right? So um you know we have created a great deal of discomfort for people throughout the system including myself and and our executive team but we engage in that discomfort because you know in instruction um Dr.
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Pombo and her team often talk to our principles, leaders, um, teachers and staff about productive discomfort for students, right? Like if we kept students comfortable all the time, what only thing I can guarantee for you is that their student performance would not improve. The way that we improve is through productive discomfort. So therefore, I'm the chief discomforter. >> And so it's >> second chief. We're the first chief. >> Oh, true. The board the board is definitely the top discomforting chief. And so and that is right and that is thankfully in no ways that have caused me to need to request some sort of remuneration. But um but the um >> yeah well so um but the the the challenge there is there's there's always going to be we need to disrupt the system in order to be able to move the system forward. And so if we're going to measure based on everybody's happiness, I mean my ultimate goal is I want everyone to be exceptionally happy and in part because they are so excited that we've improved student outcomes.
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But if my choice is between improving student outcomes or happiness, obviously my role is to ensure that we are moving forward with improving outcomes for our students because that's the reason our organization exists. Does that make any sense? >> Uh yeah. Yeah, I get that part. Um, and also like going back to say like our superintendent guard rail. So there's a lot that's about um like the teacher. >> Yeah. Yeah. So I guess in that sense like like you know maybe from the bottom up and >> do you see >> our guard rails and goals being our superintendent adhering to this or Yeah. I don't anyways but it's not like this big thing that I that I want. I was just like yeah see if if that >> aside from what I have seen the valuation be you know because I I feel very deeply that taking into account you know how you know the well-being of the staff and students and all and and I have no doubt that that you're >> hopefully my actions reflect that.
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>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um so but yeah anyway so I yeah I was wondering if there was any mechanism for taking that into account with evaluation >> right >> um and not necessarily in the evaluation because like we said and people's emotions will change daytoday based on the circumstance that happens one day I may like somebody and one day I love them you know it's just human nature but I do it is taken into account within our guard rails because when we're doing our stuff um when they have to do their staff climate, all that gets released to us and then it's our job, you know, to start being, hey, little red flag. Why are 90% of our teachers upset? You know what I mean? So there that's that's why the guardrails do live there because even though we're not focusing our board time in those conversations, it doesn't mean that it's not being tracked and there isn't a mechanism out in the district that it lives in.
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So I think we still get that aspect of it. Especially us being in a community, I think we would know right away if you know certain individuals that have leadership roles were being nice or not. Right. Right. >> Um but this work necessarily isn't about how nice or how not nice someone is perceived to be. It's are they actually hiring the individuals that they need to move the stu, you know, the needle for our students, >> right? Yeah. And that clarifies it because you made the point like we're looking at our guard rails monthly and that's where that lives. >> Yeah. And for the board, I think what's important and and to President Couo's point, um the interim, we bring in we recommend interim measures every year, right? The board approves those interim measures for those guard rails. So if the board was seeing a pattern that they had concerns about in relation to one of those, you could challenge me on like if I bring you an interim measure and I say, "Well, we're going to check how many tic tacs I'm handing out to staff." And you're like, "No, no, no, no.
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What we want to check is our staff survey data. Does it does it improve or does it decline?" um you know then we okay well we'll come back with a replacement guardrail and then we would bring you back another guardrail and you would be able to review it and say does this get at what we're trying to get at. So when we look at like the recruitment and retention guardrail as an example, each each of the past two years that we've set interim measures for that guardrail, they've been different based on what we consider to be hotspots that we're focusing on in relation to making sure that we're in alignment with that guardrail. And the board obviously reviews and approves it. But I only bring it up because I think it's important to to have a reminder that that's why it's so important when we're setting those that the board is looking at them critically because that for that next year that is how you will evaluate me determine whether I'm being successful and by virtue of evaluating me since I'm the only employee of the district by our recent policy edit um we um also have an executive team and all these folks that are hired by the superintendent.
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