Schools chief: It's all hands on deck
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on October 18, 2015 1:50 AM
Full Size
Dr. Michael Dunsmore
When Dr. Michael Dunsmore took the helm as superintendent of Wayne County Public Schools, he made it very clear there was no time to waste.
He said at the outset his goal was student success-driven, and as the new captain of the ship, he could not afford to linger too long on a learning curve.
Continuing in the nautical theme, he said Thursday his charge to central office staff has been simple -- All hands on deck.
"Everybody I've got here that's got that expertise, I need you out on the front lines," he said of efforts to shift some of the administrative personnel around and move toward putting them in the schools. "We've gotta change that now. We just don't have a choice."
Dunsmore praised the "fabulous" staff internally but makes a case for utilizing their talents and skill sets in the field.
"They're still here and working and we're all very, very smart people," he said. "We don't have time to sit in this building and talk about it. We need to get out there and help. That's just right now what we have to do and it's going to take a little extra work on our part but we'll get there."
One of his initial goals was to prepare a strategic plan to propel the district into the next three to five years. While that is still unfolding -- community meetings are currently being held this month at each of the six high schools -- other things have also demanded Dunsmore's attention.
When he took over the job July 1, he studied the district's efficiency, not only financially but big picture and how things funnel down to the front lines and affect students, he said.
"The first thing we looked at, obviously because it is one of the most important pieces, is the finance office," he said, explaining that two retired finance officers with experience at the state Department of Public Instruction and in larger districts, were brought on board to revamp the local setup.
"Everybody in public education is migrating to a different financial system, and I understand that Wayne County was starting that process," he said. "There was a huge amount of turnover -- (WCPS) had a finance officer retire.
"I'm just trying to streamline it. We've got the right people doing the right things. Obviously (former superintendent) Dr. (Steven) Taylor was here for a lot of years, the former finance officer was here for a lot of years. You just don't replace that knowledge overnight."
The budget is perpetually a big concern, Dunsmore said, adding that he is "pretty confident" overall.
"We're going to make some minor changes on the budget," he said. "Most of it is going to be, we're going to go to a line item budget instead of what has been done in the past. Working with (the county manager) and the folks in the county, which is what they want, it's a way to be more transparent."
In addition, he says he will further involve the building level people, specifically principals, in getting more input about the school needs.
"Rather than just saying, 'Well, I ran out of my supply budget,' if you're working with us on the front end and doing that line item, you know what your supply budget is," he said. "It's your job to manage it and it's our job to oversee it. And then if there are issues, we can tweak it down the road. Just don't tell us in April or May, 'I'm out of paper.'"
It will be a long-term conversation, but Dunsmore said his vision is to be efficient and transparent, with the strategic plan being the biggest piece of the puzzle as it serves as a road map to the future.
"I think we have a fabulous opportunity here because the county wants to work with us, Goldsboro city wants to work with us," he said. "We have all the players around the table. It's up to us now to do the leg work."
Dunsmore maintains that since his arrival, the only departure at central office has been through retirement. There have been some new hires, reassignments and shifts in duties, prompted mainly by the desire to match strengths with responsibilities.
"I realize administrative positions and salaries are always under the microscope," he said. "That's one area that's taken some hard hits in the budget, but we also have to carry burdens on those cuts.
"We've got to get our help and support out to our students and those principals and those teachers that are out there on the front lines. Right now it's all hands on deck because of that stuff. As we work through that, it's actually going to be a good exercise to make sure we have got all the proper supports in place."
The pressing need now is in response to the recent test scores released by the state, with personnel being assigned to the district's low-performing schools. Dunsmore said even if he had carte blanche to go out and hire staff, Wayne County, like all counties in the state, is scrambling to handle the situation.
"We're going to get out not only to those 11 schools that need help now but also the other 22. We can't ignore them," he said. "We're going to prioritize the 11 but the other 22 are also going to have to be supported, and a lot of things we're going to be doing in the schools will be across all 33."
Turns out the support piece is a prevalent theme, not only for students and teachers, but administrators, Dunsmore said.
"One of the things I heard from the principals when I came in here and sat down and spoke with all of them was the support piece," he said. "That was huge. I heard that loud and clear. But also walking in when the budget for this year was already set. There's little we can do right now and I realize the state settled the budget and we're moving forward with that. But it's not like I can go out and there's a line of people that we can tap into to do that.
"We have that expertise here. We just need to make sure it's out where it has to be."
He said he plans to position central office personnel where their strengths can best be used, particularly in the three biggest testing areas -- reading, math and science. The curriculum department and human resources will also play a key role in this effort, he said.
The bottom line, though, is be proactive.
"I'm not doing my job as the leader if we're having this conversation two years from now," he said. "Everybody's in this predicament the way they rated things across the state, so we need to fix that but also paramount with that is what's our plan moving forward so we can assess what we're doing.
"We should be making these little tweaks and adjustments over the summer so that when these students come back we're ready to roll and again, assess it, do our benchmarks throughout the year, see where we're at and basically grade ourselves before the state does."
Dunsmore pointed out that he is not placing blame anywhere and certainly not at former or current personnel efforts.
"With a leadership change it is always a challenge but I think the one caveat in all that is change is change," he said. "People get comfortable. We're creatures of habit. But I also look at that as change is nothing more than change.
"If what we have been doing, and I'm not saying this is just Wayne County, I'm saying this is public education. If what we've been doing is so wonderful, we wouldn't be in this predicament."
He maintains that public education is still a valuable commodity, although it could stand to do a better job of getting its message out there.
"It's just like the grading system -- 80 percent performance, 20 percent growth," he said. "To me, that is just heinous how they're doing it because if they would split it 50/50, which is what it should be, we would still have four schools that need support. We wouldn't have 11.
"We're doing a lot of good things and again, it's that perception piece that we have to work on that. If we have a strategic place and we're doing regular assessments and we're out reporting to the parents and the public, and we're making those tweaks, then it's our job as leader to make sure we're getting the supports where they need to be."
It all boils down to rolling up their proverbial sleeves and being about the business of making improvements to the educational system, he said.