Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/853426
LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 8.17 33 a weekly online video series in which he spends several minutes updating the public on advancements he's made, which in the first week will include hiring a chief academic officer and the announcement that he will not fill the vacant chief business officer position and instead will direct that six-fig- ure salary to teacher resources. All this while bonding with the staff in the five-floor VanHoose Education Center, an effort Pollio weaves seamlessly into his workday, charming those he encounters, according to several staff and teachers I've talked to who are excited to see where he takes the district. "I know that people in this building were surprised to see me walking around and interacting with people," Pollio says. "I guess that's something that hasn't happened before. ey look at me like: What do you need? I say, 'I'm just seeing how you're doing. What's going on?' I just don't feel my job is to sit in an office and sit up here." You've spent several weeks with district insiders, includ- ing Donna Hargens. What have you learned so far? "I'm a person who tries to simplify things. I try to say, 'Let's find a few things that we can get better at immediately.' As I've said many times, it's clear that culture, climate and morale are big issues in this organization. I felt like that being inside the organization. e survey data I've seen, it's very clear that that's a huge issue. at became an import- ant point with me interviewing with the board members. I'm a big believer that in a school, it only works if there's a healthy academic climate and positive culture. If that's not there, then the school won't be successful." A lot of those things are why people were pushing Donna Hargens to resign. Do you feel those criticisms were fair? "I think it would be unfair of me to criticize her for her job performance. at's not my role. at's board members' role to evaluate superintendents and make decisions about them. I think it's fairly clear that they were not pleased with some of those issues in our district. I can say that I think that's why they selected me. I have a track record in schools for turning around the climate and cultures, having positive teacher reten- tion, positive survey results." How do you improve climate in a school? What's your method? "School culture and climate are two different things that work together. I've always felt that culture is the belief systems of the adults in the building and how that relates to students and student learning and student achievement. And then the cli- mate is everything that happens on a daily basis in the class- rooms, the hallways, and I think that leads to morale. "I've tried to create an atmosphere based on these four things — the first one being that the people in the organization, the workers, whatever that job is, they have the tools and pro- fessional development they need to be successful and they feel supported. e second thing is that there is a team atmosphere and a mutual trust and respect at the school between adminis- tration and teachers. We're all on the same page, but we trust a certain leader and we know that they have everyone in the organization's best interests at heart. e third big thing that I always talk about is that the or- ganization is moving in the right direction. Usually a yes or no thing. e last thing is common mission and vision, a belief that we are here for a greater purpose than just to show up and my 150 students show up, or my 30 I have in elementary — what- ever it is. We have 155 schools, 155 principals. Without 155 great principals doing those four things, we won't be successful." How many current principals do you have confidence in to do that? "We don't have an opportu- nity to collaborate with other principals enough. at's one of the things I want to break down. As a principal, I can't say that I know the job performance of the principal down the road. I've got the school survey data that present some great stories, like that we have found a school knocking it out of the park. We need to replicate that and figure out what they're doing well, which I don't think we've done. "Meanwhile, I have some concerns, but I don't think I can judge just based on that one year — maybe it was a down year. A big part of that is using eyes to confirm data. It's incumbent on me and my team to be in schools to see and evaluate the culture and climate on our own. Right now, about 60 percent of our principals have about three years experience or less. We have to do a better job of develop- ment of our personnel. Just like teachers, principals need profes- sional development too. at's something we have to do before we get into the heart of: is one's doing it or this one isn't." A lot of teachers I've spoken to stress discipline as something they're concerned about — behavioral issues, kids who interrupt class. What kind of support do you give them? How do you turn it around? "As a principal, I had 1,100 teenagers at one location. Any- time you gather five teenagers, you could have problems. But with any age, with children, you will have issues. Having said that, I believe it can be done. is past year, I believe it was close to 81 percent of the teach- ers at Doss High School said the students follow the rules of behavior at the school. Doss is a high-needs, at-risk population of kids. "We have to do a better job in the central office of sup- porting schools in discipline and behavior management. Also, I believe that the better the instruction — the more relevant that instruction, the more deeper-learning concepts a teacher implements in the class- room, the more kids are doing real-world, real-life stuff — the better engaged students will be. e more engaged students are, the less behavior issues you'll have. I don't want to put it all on teachers because that's not the case. e reason Doss was successful was twofold. Number one, we improved the instruc- tional ability of our teachers in the classroom, and more importantly, we had systems and structures in the school that supported teachers day after day, every single day, 175 days of the year. We have to spread that to every school in order to be successful." You mentioned deeper learn- ing, which the district com- mitted to last year. Explain that a bit more. "What we've done in the past is thought school by school. We need to think systemically. We need to be a school district and not just a district of schools."