0.3 Preparing and training superintendents for the mission of  (Page 12/23)

Very Large Districts

In this group of 225 districts containing 25,000 or more students, the superintendent is a general supervisorof deputy superintendents, assistant superintendents, directors, and managers assigned to both leadership and managementresponsibility for district finances, budget, planning, personnel, pupil services, community relations, instruction and curriculum,grants, facilities, maintenance, transportation, safety, food services, special education, evaluation, testing, andaccountability.

The level of participation in supervising the management of critical district management functions is sometimesminimal due to the substantial number of managers. In these highly visible“bureaucratic”(often not well managed) districts, the superintendent is not a“hands on”manager. Typically the span of supervisory control for these superintendents is four to seven toplevel administrators. This means critical daily and long range management functions are performed by managers reporting and beingsupervised by other managers who report to the superintendent. The superintendent typically“manages”district management systems from a distance of periodic“key staff”meetings and“need to know”sessions.

Management in large urban districts with billion dollar budgets is a very complex undertaking, whichrequires great skill and experience. The large district superintendent, while not a“hands on”manager, must possess sufficient expertise to confidently know important functions arebeing performed correctly. It is difficult and tenuous to competently supervise a high level manager without personalknowledge and experience in that management specialty. Another burden placed on urban superintendents is recruiting and hiringcompetent senior level managers. This is problematic for superintendents with little or no experience in the wide array ofcentral office management responsibilities. Many current large district superintendents are hired for their“curriculum”(school reform) knowledge and experience rather than demonstrated abilitiesto manage billion dollar budgets.

Board members should not be surprised when serious fiscal, audit, budget, facilities or legal problems occur.These incidents not only reveal superintendents lacking management skills, but also question the competence of second tiermanagement.

Large Districts

Superintendent in districts over 10,000 have the opportunity to hire several office administrators to delegatemanagerial responsibilities. Their level of participation in management is similar to that of coordinator. Instead ofsupervising four to seven top aides in weekly scheduled meetings, they daily coordinate the districts’management by meeting with managers, making frequent visits to sites, reviewing documents, andproviding adequate supervision. They are sometimes“hands on”with the top management tier, but not so with program managers. Theyusually have to keep fewer board members informed than in very large districts where boards are usually nine or moremembers.