Meeting with Associate Superintendent

I met with Dr. Troy Harcey to talk about his calendar of activities for each year. Troy was a teacher, Assistant Principal, Principal, and now Associate Superintendent. Some of the regular, standing meetings that require preparation include board of education meetings, weekly IRT (Instructional Review Team) meetings, monthly DLT (District Leadership Team) meetings, principal meetings, Curriculum Team meetings, to name a few. During the course of the year, there are definitely “seasons” that recur: summer means planning for beginning of the year staff development, training on new initiatives, and a review of program profiles. Fall involves reports on class sizes, determining how to support teachers in the implementation of programs, framing up the choice and charter entrance procedures, and being visible in schools. Winter is when preliminary budget reductions are calculated and the structure for rolling out program or staffing cuts is determined. Spring is when contracts are issued, construction is scheduled, programs are evaluated based on data collected over the year, and all sights are placed on getting the next school year ready to go.

We spent a lot of time talking about the “unplanned” things that can consume days and even weeks. For example, he likened media/open records requests to the “upset parent” scenarios that play out at school. His current work was revolving around the question, “How much did Common Core cost?” As you know, there are layers upon layers to this question making it very difficult to give a figure.

Rely on experts...we can't possibly know everything that is going on. If we do, there's not enough going on! Part of the work of superintendents is to arrange people so that they can be most effective and make the best decisions while playing to their strengths and areas of expertise. Our superintendent uses Dr. Harcey the same way.

We talked about the political/public nature of things these days. When an upset parent didn't get satisfaction, they used to say, “I'm going to the school board with this.” Now, that parent says, “I'm taking this to the media.”

Board relations...transparency builds trust. Our superintendent took lots of time to develop personal and professional relationships with our board. Our superintendent keeps the board apprised of what is happening and deeply values transparency.

Collective effort...we need to work together and build on each others' gifts. Building social capital is a goal for Dr. Harcey.

We spoke about some of the things we are seeing that blur our focus on student learning: there is not enough teacher prep compared to other countries, we want our staff to be proud of our district, we want our staff to love coming to work (the “way it used to be”), we worry about prospective teachers who are being turned off to education...we need to put instruction back in the driver's seat (not technology, not assessment).

We discussed never ending issue with regard to communication in a large district. There is always someone who feels like they were left out of a communication circle.

We talked about the importance of emphasizing where we are going...not where we've been.

Sometimes resources are the answer, sometimes they are not.

We are going to have to get uncomfortable with instruction in order to improve it.

Using Blanchard's situational leadership model, there were many signs of Dr. Harcey being a “delegating” leader. He is a passionate leader but mentioned “getting the right people in the right places in order to maximize the use of their expertise.” He also spoke of relying on experts and realizing that he was going to have to trust the leaders in program areas to come up with innovative program suggestions. There were also elements of the “supportive” leader. His leadership style has never been a directive one.

Using Blake's model, Dr. Harcey was very high on concern for people and lower on concern for product. He spoke of people's job satisfaction, concern for pride in our schools, etc. He talked about building social capital. At several points during our conversation, I asked directly about continuous improvement and our conversation took a different turn.

Dr. Harcey's leadership resonates with me and I see a lot of myself reflected in him. To this end, while I really enjoy meeting with him and value our professional relationship, I know that if I'm ever to grow, I'll need to spend some time with leaders who are more directive and product-oriented.