Principal coach reports on progress

The good news is “we have good people in the right place” at Lake Roosevelt Schools, a consultant hired to coach principals in the school district told the board of directors Tuesday night, but “we have our work cut out.”

Mike Horn had been working in the district for a 10-day period of coaching principals, also talking with staff to get input.

In the course of discovering the district’s needs, he said, he’d learned that 78 percent of students at the school miss 10 percent of classes. “That’s daunting,” he told the board.

Hiring Horn was one of the early actions Broadnax took after taking the superintendent job in July. He said then that the consultant had been beneficial at another district where he’d worked with him.

Horn said the principal is the most important person in a school and must be seen as an instructional leader. He’d identified three key areas principals to “anchor” on:

Be an instructional leader.

Help teachers “move the needle” in teaching students.

Have good classroom management skills.

“If students are not focused, then how can you teach them,” he said.

Horn said teachers and principals tend to each operate in their own silos. Getting them out of those silos, he said, was his job.

One tool for that is to implement a policy of “walk-throughs” to get a “snapshot” of instruction and offer advice to teachers. Broadnax said he’d be presenting a plan for that at the next board meeting.

Broadnax said during his “listening and learning tour” of the district, which is about half complete, he’s had heartfelt, emotional talks with teachers, who want to improve their teaching and classrooms.

“As a board and as a superintendent,” Horn said, “that’s what you’re charged with.”

Broadnax said he hopes to be able to bring Horn back to the district, perhaps next summer.