Evaluation of Superintendent of Schools

Purpose

To establish the Board of Trustees’ (the Board) expectations for an annual performance evaluation of the Superintendent of Schools (Superintendent) that is transparent, comprehensive, based on pre-identified key performance areas and linked to the Strategic Plan.

The Board is responsible for selecting a Superintendent to be the Chief Executive Officer of the Board and the Chief Education Officer of the Division in accordance with the Education Act. The Superintendent is responsible, and held accountable to the Board on behalf of students and the public, for the total operation of the school system in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Education Act, Alberta Education regulations, Board policies, and our Vision, Mission, Values and Priorities.

To reflect the Board mandated responsibility and expectation for providing a welcoming, inclusive, safe and healthy learning and working environment throughout the Division.

Definitions

Definitions for the following terms and for terminology for all other policies related to Board Policy AE.BP Welcoming, Inclusive, Safe and Healthy Learning and Working Environments are found in a glossary of terms (linked in References).

• Division Priorities
• Strategic Plan

Policy

The Board believes that an annual performance evaluation of the Superintendent is a vital process for creating and maintaining a healthy and continuously improving school Division. In addition, the Board believes that opportunities for regular ongoing dialogue and feedback between the Superintendent and Trustees helps to model and foster a collaborative working environment critical to a high functioning Division.

The Board is committed to an annual performance evaluation process that measures:

• The Superintendent’s performance with respect to the roles and responsibilities of the Superintendent.
• Achievement of the Division Priorities against the goals and outcomes in the Strategic Plan.

For each annual evaluation cycle, organizational outcomes and key performance indicators will be pre-identified and clearly communicated to ensure that the Superintendent and the Board understand what is expected and what will be evaluated. Both quantitative and qualitative information will be used to inform the Board’s evaluation of the Superintendent’s performance.

The evaluation process and supporting information sources will serve to:

• Provide feedback on the Superintendent’s leadership and performance in key areas.
• Allow the Superintendent to report on successes and challenges during the year, and provide feedback relating to continuous improvement efforts and annual goals.
• Recognize areas and trends that are showing positive change or progress.
• Enable the Board and Superintendent to engage in dialogue about results, any issues or concerns associated with the role and the evaluation process.
• Inform the organizational outcomes, key performance indicators and Superintendent’s own goals for the next evaluation cycle.

Expectations

1. A three (3) member Trustee Committee elected at the Organizational Board meeting will, in accordance with the terms of reference established by the Board for the Committee and this policy, be responsible for:
   
   1. Recommending the evaluation process to be used to Caucus Committee.
   2. Organizing and overseeing the evaluation process.
   3. Reporting the evaluation results to the Caucus Committee and to public Board.
   4. Initiating a timely review and/or renewal process for the Superintendent’s contract of employment in accordance with the Education Act and provisions of the Superintendent’s contract.
2. If the evaluation process calls for individual Trustee, staff or other stakeholders to provide feedback that will inform the evaluation process, the administrator assigned to assist the Committee or a contracted party external to the Division will compile and/or summarize the individual responses for reporting purposes to maintain respondents’ anonymity.
   
   
3. The evaluation process will provide the Superintendent of Schools with an opportunity to:
   
   1. Review all information used in the evaluation.
   2. Discuss the evaluation report with the Trustee subcommittee.
   3. Include a response to the evaluation in the report to Caucus Committee.
   4. Discuss the evaluation report with the Caucus Committee.
4. The Superintendent will be provided copies of the evaluation report submitted to the Caucus Committee and the final evaluation report to the Board.
   
   
5. The Caucus Committee evaluation report and the Board’s evaluation report will be filed in the Board records. The records will be accessible to the Superintendent, any Board Trustee for that evaluation period, or as directed by motion of the Caucus Committee.

Accountability

A summary of the Superintendent’s evaluation will be brought to a public Board meeting.

References