1240 - EVALUATION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT

Grant County School

Bylaws & Policies

1240 - EVALUATION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT

Purpose. The annual evaluation of the Grant County Superintendent of Schools (the "Superintendent") by the Grant County Board of Education (the "Board") enables the Board to determine.

	A.	the degree to which the Superintendent has accomplished written goals and/or objectives, the time lines of which may vary, and satisfied other Board/Superintendent-determined measures of effectiveness;
	B.	the Superintendent's success in improving student achievement generally across the county;
	C.	the Superintendent's success in improving student achievement through the management and administration of low-performing schools;
	D.	the Superintendent's performance in the optional areas of performance as determined from the listing specified in §18-4-6(c), namely community relations, school finance, personnel relations, curricular standards and programs, and overall leadership of the School District as indicated primarily by improvements in student achievement;
	E.	the Superintendent's performance of his/her chief executive officer duties as delineated in his/her contract or other written agreement with the Board; and
	F.	the degree to which the Superintendent keeps the Board apprised continuously of any issues that effect the Board or its schools, programs and initiatives.

Other Evaluative Purposes: Other purposes of the Superintendent's annual evaluation are to:

	A.	enhance the Superintendent's effectiveness;
	B.	assure the Board that its policies are being implemented, and that Board programs, services and initiatives are being implemented to the satisfaction of the Board;
	C.	clarify for the Superintendent and individual Board members the responsibilities the Board expects the Superintendent to fulfill;
	D.	establish a structured means for discussion of the Superintendent's overall effectiveness in his/her position, and to allow the Superintendent to receive, in a formal setting, feedback from the Board as to his/her areas of commendation and areas for continued growth and improvement; and
	E.	accomplish such other goals as the Board and Superintendent may determine, consistent with statute and West Virginia Board of Education Policy 5309, "County Superintendent Performance Evaluations."

Implementation Procedures. The following procedures shall be followed in implementing the evaluative process:

	A.	Deadline for Annual Evaluation. The Superintendent's evaluation shall occur annually before June 30^th, and will be coordinated with the annual Board self-evaluation to ensure clearly-articulated Board priorities. However, if the Superintendent's contract is to expire on June 30^th, the evaluation shall be completed before the preceding March 1^st.
	B.	Evaluation Instrument. The instrument that the Board will use in evaluating the Superintendent's performance is the "Evaluation Instrument" appended to this policy, as customized by the Board and approved by the West Virginia Board of Education.

Customizing the Instrument. In customizing the "Evaluation Instrument," the Board will choose various items to include in both of the two (2) required categories of evaluation - the Superintendent's success in improving student achievement generally and specifically through the management and administration of low-performing schools as well as in any of the optional areas of evaluation. Additionally, the Board may add areas to the Evaluation Instrument relating to the Superintendent's performance of duties as the Board's chief executive officer, or as delineated in the Superintendent's contract or other written agreement with the Board. The Board may also add to the Evaluation Instrument evaluative areas addressing the degree to which the Superintendent apprizes the Board continuously of any issues that affect the Board or its schools, programs and initiatives. In the Evaluation Instrument, the latter items are referred to as "Informational Leadership" items.

2. State Board Approval; Subsequent Amendment. Once approval of the customized Evaluation Instrument has been received from the West Virginia Board of Education, the Board may proceed with the evaluative process, consistent with the Approved Evaluation Instrument. In subsequent years the Board may amend the Approved Evaluation Instrument, but before using the amended instrument, the Board must again receive West Virginia Board of Education approval.

Establishing Annual Goals and Objectives. Annually, before September 15^th, the Board and Superintendent shall establish written goals and/or objectives for the Superintendent to accomplish within a given period of time. As part of the evaluation process, the goals and/or objectives shall be a part of the evaluation process, inserted into the appropriate places on the Approval Evaluation Instrument.

			a.	Time Lines. Each goal or objective shall include a specific time line for completion. The time line need not be the same for each goal or objective and may extend beyond the end of the then-current school year, so long as there are adequate means of evaluating the progress toward meeting the goals and objectives during the current evaluation year, so long as there are adequate means of evaluating progress toward meeting the goals and objectives during the current education year.
			b.	Difficulty in Reaching Agreement. If the Board and Superintendent are unable to agree upon goals and/or objectives by September 15^th, they will engage the West Virginia School Boards Association and the West Virginia Association of School Administrators to facilitate agreement. If facilitation is not successful by October 31^st of then current year, the parties shall ask the State Superintendent of Schools to appoint an individual or panel to facilitate an agreement on the differences between the Board and Superintendent.

4. Individual Input. In order to complete the annual evaluation, each Board member will complete the Approved Evaluation Instrument. If the area "Does Not Meet Standards" is checked or indicated by a Board member, a written comment is required. Other comments are optional. As provided above, the form completed by each Board member will reflect the goals or objectives earlier agreed upon by the Board and Superintendent and assess the degree to which each Board member concludes that the Superintendent has met each of them.

Delivery to Board President. Board members shall deliver their completed evaluation instruments to the president of the Board before such deadline as the president establishes and announces to the other members in an open meeting. Each Board member may make and retain a photocopy of the instrument that s/he completed.

6. Composite Results. Following the deadline for Board members to submit the completed instruments to the Board president, the president shall tabulate the information received from the Board members, including the information appearing on the Approved Evaluation Instrument that the president himself/herself completed. The president shall fill out an Approved Evaluation Form to show composite rankings by Board members, along with the Board members' compiled comments.

Reviewing and Discussing the Composite Results. Prior to sharing the results with the Superintendent, the Board shall, in executive session, review and discuss the compiled rankings and comments. The Superintendent shall not attend this review and discussion. As a result of the discussion, and in order to fairly reflect the assessments made by the Board members, the Board president, at the direction of the Board through vote or consensus, shall modify the composite results to reflect the discussions of the Board.

Meeting with the Superintendent. The Board and the Superintendent shall then meet in executive session on that same day unless otherwise determined by the Board and Superintendent in advance in open session.

A. President's Remarks. At the outset of this meeting, the Board president will provide the Superintendent a copy of the Approved Evaluation Instrument containing the composite rankings and compiled comments. The president shall make a general statement regarding the evaluation and the various findings and conclusions, including the degree to which the Board members' assessment of the degree to which the Superintendent has met the various goals and objectives have been met.

B. Board Members' Remarks. In the presence of the other Board members in executive session, each Board member will then be given the opportunity to discuss the various evaluative components and any evaluation comments with the Superintendent.

	C.	Superintendent's Remarks. The Superintendent will be given the opportunity to share a personal assessment of his/her own performance.
	D.	Areas for Growth and Development. Based on evaluation results, the Board, in executive session, may prescribe areas for the Superintendent's further growth and development and time lines and means by which progress shall be measured. In doing so, the Board shall determine any areas for the Superintendent's further growth and development in with input from the Superintendent.

General Statement to the Public. At the conclusion of the annual evaluation process, the Board shall, as required by law, orally or in writing issue a general statement to the public about the evaluation process and the overall result. The general statement shall be formulated in executive session. Although the Board shall try to reach consensus among its members as to the contents of the statement, the statement must be approved in executive session by at least a majority of the Board members who timely completed and submitted the Approved Evaluation Forms and participated in executive session discussion of the Superintendent's performance. No separate or dissenting report of the Superintendent's evaluation shall be released by the Superintendent or any Board member except as provided below.

Release of Additional Information. By law, the release of any additional information about the Superintendent's evaluation can occur only by mutual consent of the Superintendent and Board. "Additional information" includes, but is not limited to all discussions regarding the evaluation, all versions of the Approved Evaluation Forms completed by individual Board members and the Superintendent if s/he has completed such an evaluation, as well as all versions of the composite form completed by the Board president.

Use of Results. As stipulated in statute, the Board may but is not required to use results of the evaluation to determine whether to offer the Superintendent a new contract and the level of compensation and benefits to offer the Superintendent in any new contract.

WV Code §§18-4-6, 18-4-1, 18-2E-5, 18-4-10(1) and (9)
WV State Board of Education Policy 5309