Reorganization at District 65

Evanston/Skokie School District 65 this morning distributed a news release announcing a reorganization of responsibilities for some of its administrators.

Here’s the text of the announcement:

A shift in some of the administrative roles and functions was announced Tuesday, August 20th at the District 65 Principals’ meeting.

As in the past, families will continue to work directly with their child’s school to resolve questions or concerns. The shift is in administrative responsibilities and is designed to foster and improve collaboration and create a more comprehensive system of accountability from the central office to the school level. In the past there was an Assistant Superintendent responsible for School Operations and an Assistant Superintendent responsible for Curriculum and Instruction.

The reorganization of responsibilities makes each Assistant Superintendent responsible for Curriculum and Operations. It establishes for each school one primary point of supervision, management and leadership for all aspects of curriculum, instruction and accountability. It also more appropriately aligns other responsibilities across the departments.

Assistant Superintendent, Susan Schultz is now responsible for all aspects of curriculum and operations for Chute, Haven, Nichols, Bessie Rhodes, King Lab, Park and Rice. The title for this position is Assistant Superintendent for Middle/Magnet/Special Schools Curriculum and Operations.

Assistant Superintendent, Michael Robey is responsible for all aspects of curriculum and operations for Dawes, Dewey, Kingsley, Lincoln, Lincolnwood, Oakton, Orrington, Walker, Washington, and Willard. The title for this position is Assistant Superintendent for Elementary School Curriculum and Operations.

Ms. Schultz and Mr. Robey will jointly coordinate the Curriculum Advisory Council, District Improvement Plan, Response to Intervention (RtI), Differentiation and Enrichment, and other districtwide programmatic implementation. Elementary curriculum department chairs will work with Mr. Robey while middle school curriculum department chairs will work with Ms. Schultz.

Other responsibilities reassigned are as follows:

• Special Services Director Geneva Oatman, in addition to her current assignments including special education, also will supervise the directors and program coordinators for our family center, school-age child care, our early childhood education and 21st Century grant programs and services. These are programs and services that supplement the K-8 mandate. The reassignment of these responsibilities fits with the changing definition and scope of responsibilities for the array of “special services” our district offers for our families.
• CIO Paul Brinson’s office, which already has overall responsibility for student registrations, which include residency, will also handle all residency verification processes.
• Communications Director Pat Markham will now be responsible for managing the development of our school calendar and coordinating school and district crisis planning to ensure that each school and the district have current and responsive emergency plans.
• Family Center Coordinator, Angela Johnson will supervise the District’s African-American and Bilingual Family liaisons.