The Kansas City, Missouri School District (KCMSD) is on a journey of transformation. As a school board united, we reached a major milestone for our scholars: the unanimous hiring of an excellent Superintendent in Dr. John Covington. The next success markers on KCMSD's path are professional and stable leadership.

During decades of having stifled power under desegregation, the school board devolved into a mire of inappropriate practices that Michael Casserly of the Council of Great City Schools referred to as "micromanaging." These practices have included as many as 14 board-related meetings per month, a managerial committee structure, a neutered spending cap of $25k that results in board items being re-approved two or three times and Superintendents that have an average lifespan of less than two years. Under "business as usual", Dr. Covington will not succeed and we will fail our scholars.

On our new path, we are professionalizing KCMSD's leadership team -- the Superintendent managing and the school board governing -- by abandoning "business as usual." We are restoring the authority of the Superintendent and implementing a governance model where the school board governs through policy and the Superintendent is held accountable for delivering results. We are stabilizing KCMSD's leadership team by entering into a long-term Superintendent contract. We are aligning Dr. Covington's evaluation/incentives with our mission/vision and we will host regular public meetings to demonstrate the urgency and unity of KCMSD's convictions.

While Dr. Covington is extremely competent, he cannot be expected to work miracles or to be successful in isolation. Our scholars deserve the professional and stable leadership team that top-performing schools require. This will only occur as we, the school board, move to relinquish our managerial controls over the district and instead pursue policy-governance along with community & corporate engagement. The first steps have been taken.

Labels: KCMSD, Transformation, What's Working