A matter of principals

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 | 11:52 a.m.

Faced with a shortage of experienced principals, the Clark County School District has launched a new hiring policy intended to lure more veteran administrators from other states.

In Clark County, 35 percent of elementary school principals have three years or fewer experience in the position. That's compared with just 7 percent nationally in 2000. And at the secondary school level, 45 percent of Clark County's principals had three years or fewer experience, compared with 16 percent nationally in 1998.

In the past, school administrators have been hired to fill a vacancy at a particular school, but under the new policy candidates may be hired without a specific assignment.

That gives the district the flexibility to snatch up qualified candidates as they become available, said Agustin Orci, deputy superintendent of instruction for the district.

Most principals switch jobs in the summer when the traditional school year ends, Orci said.

"We were missing out on some very talented applicants because, to their credit, they weren't willing to leave their schools in the lurch and drop everything to come here when we suddenly had an opening," Orci said.

At its May 27th meeting, the Clark County School Board approved offers of employment to four new principals from out of state -- including a married couple from Alaska. Their school assignments have not yet been announced.

All four individuals are slated to begin work Aug. 2. If principal posts are not open by then they may be given temporary assignments in other administrative roles to help them become familiar with the district, Orci said.

Keith Taton, who along with his wife is relocating from Anchorage this summer for positions as middle school principals in Clark County, said they would not have been able to accept the job offers if the new hiring policy wasn't in place. Keith Taton was National Middle School Principal of the Year in 1997 and his wife was Alaska Principal of the Year in 2003. They each have more than 20 years experience as school administrators.

"Clark County was our first choice but timing plays a big part in this," said Taton, whose daughter is dean of students at Guinn Middle School. "If you wait until August the really qualified people aren't going to be there -- they'll have been scooped up already."

Stephen Augspurger, executive director of the Clark County Association of School Administrators, said his group wasn't opposed to the change in policy provided the new hires were not given preferential treatment over qualified, in-district candidates.

"Positions that come open must be advertised so that everyone has an equal opportunity to be considered," Augspurger said. "The district has reassured us that jobs will not be pre-identified for the out-of-district candidates."

The district hasn't hired many outside administrators and those who do come in have had mixed success, Augspurger said.

"Those who start off as a dean or assistant principal and work their way up have typically fared better than those who start right off as principal," Augspurger said. "The district's primary obligation is to hire the best person they can for the job and I believe there are many talented and qualified people right here in Clark County."

With at least 10 new schools opened in Clark County in each of the last three years -- and 14 new campuses slated for the 2004-05 academic year -- the district continually has openings for deans, assistant principals and principals, said Robin Rankow, administrator over administrative recruitment, selection, promotion and recruitment.

State law requires individuals spend a minimum of three years teaching before applying for certification to serve as an administrator. Mary Ella Holloway, president of the Clark County Education Association representing the majority of the district's 15,000 teachers, said she is concerned people are moving too quickly through the ranks.

"I would like to see administrators spend some quality time in the classroom so that they know what teachers are dealing with," Holloway said. "It seems like people are going through the steps very quickly -- three years teaching, one year as dean, one year as assistant principal and then on to principal."

There have been changes in staffing for more than 500 administrative positions so far for the 2003-04 academic year, including everything from retirements and resignations to lateral transfers and promotions, Rankow said. That's about 50 percent of the district's total administrative roster.

Some of those moves are involuntary -- the district regularly re-assigns principals to different campuses even if their current schools are thriving. With a limited number of veteran administrators it's critical to "share the wealth," Orci said.

If the district's new hiring policy yields long-term successes in raising the average experience rate for administrators, those types of moves may become less necessary, Orci said.

Arturo Ochoa, who was reassigned last month from principal of Sunrise Acres Elementary School to Ruby Thomas Elementary School, said Tuesday he had been reluctant to leave.

"I was crushed -- but of all the places I could have landed this (Ruby Thomas) is looking like a wonderful place," Ochoa said.

Ochoa agreed that the district's employees often make rapid progress up the administrative ladder -- potentially to the detriment of the school community.

"As the building administrator you have crises coming at you from all directions -- the teachers, the students, the parents," Ochoa said. "You're also supervising a large staff. If you haven't walked in their shoes, how can you honestly give them directives and suggestions and expect them to value your judgement?"

Amy Yacobovsky, who spent three years as an assistant principal and will become principal of Ruthe Deskin Elementary School Aug. 1, said she's grateful that the person she's replacing is still on the job and able to show her the ropes. Shelly Channel, Deskin's current principal, will retire next month.

"I have a lot of questions and Mrs. Channel is here to answer them -- thank goodness," Yacobovsky said. "If she wasn't I would probably be calling all my friends who are principals and asking for help."

Providing rookie administrators with extra support is essential, said Vincent Ferrandino, executive director of the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

"People coming into the job with only a few years behind them are going to bring a great deal of energy and enthusiasm, but they'll lack the things that only come with experience," Ferrandino said. "Those principals are going to need additional support -- ideally, a mentor who has been successful themselves."

Clark County Schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia had planned to hire three new assistant regional superintendents to work directly with rookie principals. But that plan was shot down after members of the public and the School Board questioned the need for the positions as well as the $300,000 required for salaries.

"That was probably penny-wise and pound-foolish," Ferrandino said of the decision not to hire the new assistant regional superintendents. "Research indicates that unless you have a principal who understands the position and works well with the community, the school isn't going to operate as effectively and the students ultimately lose out."

Ferrandino said his organization is predicting that the national average for on-the-job principal experience will creep downward in coming years as more veteran administrators retire and are replaced.

The reason for the increase in retirements is more than just a natural "graying" of the profession, Ferrandino said.

"The role of the principal has become much more challenging," Ferrandino said. "Schools are getting bigger, the demands of No Child Left Behind are tremendous -- it all adds up."

And almost nowhere are schools bigger than they are in Clark County. The average enrollment of elementary schools in the United States was 441 in 2002, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The average middle school enrollment was 612 and the average high school had 753 students.

Clark County builds its nine-month elementary schools to hold 725 students and 920 on a year-round schedule. Middle school capacity tops out at 1,700 students and high schools are built for 2,700.

"Your schools are huge, by any standards," Ferrandino said. "Coupled with the (district's) growth, your principals are facing a whole range of unique challenges."