Six priorities, receiving significant input from the Governing Board, will shepherd Scottsdale Unified School District Superintendent Dr. John Kriekard through the third quarter of the school year.
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Six priorities, receiving significant input from the Governing Board, will shepherd Scottsdale Unified School District Superintendent Dr. John Kriekard through the third quarter of the school year.
Dr. Kriekard presented his priorities at the Dec. 17 meeting, which were originally four but after ample board discussion, that focus shifted to six. He also presented on his previous four priorities from the past quarter before the board approved them.
Dr. Kriekard’s priorities for the next three months will include:
Staffing for all schools;
Budget meetings and strategies;
Background data collected for Coronado Learning Community facility meetings;
Enhance Arizona State University, Coronado Success Initiative and Charros partnerships;
Completion of the certified handbook; and
Discussion of an internal auditor in January.
Dr. Kriekard reported to the board the district had completed excess capacity studies of all learning communities and recommendations on the school growth plans, per last quarter’s goals.
A review of the administration’s evaluation process did not happen, Dr. Kriekard said, but meetings will likely occur with board members in January. The final priority from the past quarter was a recommendation on the district’s internal auditing.
“We spent quite a bit of time talking about it this quarter but have no conclusion yet or recommendation to you at this point” Dr. Kriekard said. “But we will in the next quarter.”
Board member Jann-Michael Greenburg expressed disappointment about not having an internal audit recommendation. He said this topic hadn’t been discussed on its own and he worried the public wasn’t getting a chance to hear discussions.
He also feared removing it from the priority list would lead to forgetting about it. Dr. Kriekard reassured him just because it wasn’t part of his list, doesn’t mean his staff won’t work on it. Board President Patty Beckman said her understanding was unfinished priorities roll forward.
Mr. Greenburg said he wanted the inclusion of the internal audit discussion because it would hold the board accountable and, in his opinion, force a later discussion.
Dr. Kriekard said he and Interim Chief Finance Officer Jeff Gadd discussed the point but haven’t come to a conclusion regarding a recommendation that wouldn’t waste the Governing Board’s time because it didn’t have potential board support. Dr. Kriekard said he also wanted to discuss the point with Ms. Beckman before bringing it forward.
“I appreciate that but that makes me concerned that the public is then being clearly deprived of the information contained in those discussions, as am I because I do not know where I stand with my colleagues on this issue, which is supported by the vast majority of the public,” Mr. Greenburg said.
Ms. Beckman committed to having a discussion in January with Dr. Kriekard and agreed to bring forth a recommendation from that discussion.
Board Vice President Allyson Beckham had similar concerns regarding Coronado Learning Community facility meetings. Initially, Dr. Kriekard wanted to hold off on this priority until the district selected a new superintendent.
He said it would be better to have a new superintendent in place for those community meetings rather than he do it and a new administration linked to his outgoing decisions.
Ms. Beckham said she wanted to see the data and information ready to go for the new superintendent ahead of potential April meetings so the district’s new leader would have a better understanding of those community meetings.
Ms. Beckham also expressed frustration because she wants to use the budget for innovations or new programs only to hear reasons why that won’t work, one of which is changes in leadership. What she wants is for better planning strategizing ahead of the deadline for the budget’s rough draft.
“I don’t want to get to March and say, ‘Oh, we didn’t plan well enough and we have to put that off for another year,’” she said. “It is December. This is perfectly doable.”
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