Dr Scott McLeod writes:
Leadership is absolutely critical to the success of any organization. Whether it be a school, corporation, government, faith institution, non-profit agency, or local community group, every organization lives and dies by its leadership. Organizations with effective, visionary leaders thrive. Organizations with lackluster, ineffective leaders muddle along or decline.
This is the 4th in his continuing series
on education in Iowa. I have already referenced his earlier posts
here,
here and
here.
One benefit that the Franklin school district has is with it's leadership. The School Committee is a good bunch of folks exploring the new media web, willing to go paperless (and go green in the process). They have had the foresight to bring in Superintendent Wayne Ogden. He was great for Franklin. What hurt him and caused him to tender his resignation for the end of this school year was our budget problems.
They were fortunate to backfill Wayne with Asst Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski. She has years of experience in Franklin and will be able to step right in so the district won't miss a beat. The administration and School Committee are making good progress on a suitable replacement for Maureen. They have been doing this at other levels within the district getting good relacements for principals and other key personnel. This is a hallmark of a good organization.
The one area that remains is the budget. Franklin as a whole needs to step up to the plate and properly fund the schools. We have been living off the largesse from the state and that won't last.
It is time that Franklin paid a fair share for the education of their own children.
