For years, critics of the School District of Palm Beach County — which includes parents, politicians and teachers employed by the district — have complained loudly and openly about the bloated workforce at its Forest Hill Blvd. headquarters and the vast amount of redundancy and waste that permeated from within the so-called “Taj Mahal,” radiating out into regional offices.
At long last, someone is cutting through the layers of fat. In a Wednesday announcement, Schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Avossa unveiled a new strategic plan, pulling a move out of the “downsize government” playbook and showing that maybe a bureaucratic administrator can take a mandate from the masses and make it work.
In his announcement, Avossa — who took over as superintendent last year — presented an overview of the district’s proposed 2016-2021 Strategic Plan that he will be presenting to the Palm Beach County School Board. The most unexpected part of the plan was a call for elimination of 58 positions in the district’s regional offices, reducing staffs by more than half and eliminating what he has called “redundancy built into the system.”
His proposal is the first of what is expected to be multiple refinements to the district operations and would take effect in July. More than 100 district employees currently stationed in those offices will need to reapply for new positions. While Avossa said many will be rehired into the 43 jobs that will remain, more than half will have to find positions as school administrators or teachers within the school system, or possibly leave the school district.
According to Avossa’s plan, approximately $4.5 million will be saved and channeled into the poorest schools within Palm Beach County, meaning that the reduction in systematic redundancy will be translated into financial assistance to the students and employees in most dire need of aid.
This is both a financial and marketing coup for Avossa, who is still in his honeymoon period with the district. In one fell swoop, he has managed to (a) rid the administration of some of its fat, (b) find a way to keep most of those impacted employed with the district if they so choose, and (c) funnel much-needed financial aid to the schools most at risk. And the public relations kudos he has already received from many within the county through this measure has already helped turn a negative view of the district into a positive.
Some are calling the announcement “surprising,” but given Avossa’s history, perhaps it shouldn’t be so unexpected. In 2012, when he was superintendent of the Fulton County schools in Georgia, he streamlined that district’s central office. That restructuring impacted approximately 60 positions, out of a workforce of 14,000, and included the reassignment of employees from the central office to regional offices, where they would work on instructional and curriculum programs to assist or coach teachers on specific needs.
As Avossa said during his introductory tour around the county last year, there is much to be proud of in the School District of Palm Beach Country, but also much to improve — and eliminating some of the bureaucratic layers is a great place to start.
Kudos to Superintendent Avossa for having the courage and fortitude to get rid of the excess administration in the School District.
These individuals will now be placed Back at the school sites to ‘hopefully’ WORK WITH STUDENTS and let’s hope not be subjugated by the school principal for added administrative tasks at the school site! (That could very well happen.)
Now, we, as a County and State need to make sure that School Board members are Term Limited.
It is ridiculous to have the same people in office with the same stale ideas and who advocate and defend their old buddies in the system. The Board has put us in the monetary bind and have done a poor job of using the billions in tax dollars we have sent them. We previously approved an increase in sales tax to build schools and now this foolish Board can’t even budget to keep the schools up to date. The School Board will now be asking us to approve ANOTHER sales tax increase!
It’s time for the citizens to say, “Enough is enough.”
There are also no bragging rights to having a huge school district. It needs to be subdivided into smaller districts (4-5) so that education becomes more Local and responsive.