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JULY 2003

What Do Superintendents Do In the Summer?
by Dr. Carole G. Hankin with Randi T. Sachs

It’s certainly quieter here in the summer, but that doesn’t mean that a superintendent can relax. For a superintendent, students or not, school is a twelve-month a year experience.

You could say that the three R’s for our summer are Review, Revise, and Regroup. Regardless of how successful our school year has been, there is always room for improvement. During the summer I can review our curriculum and other school programs and policies with my administrative staff. We take the time to review—look at how things have operated during the past year and identify any areas that should be changed. We then revise—deciding how to make the changes that will have a positive result. Finally, we regroup by planning how to make these revisions and assigning specific responsibilities to individuals in order to accomplish the goals we have set.

One of the other activities in the summer that takes the most time and energy is hiring. Teachers often make life-changing decisions after the school year is over. A fully-staffed faculty invariably becomes one with openings each summer—and those openings are often in the hard-to-fill category. In Syosset, we are extremely selective with our faculty, and often need to see candidates several times before we make a hiring decision.

Curriculum writing and enhancement is another area that we focus on in the summer. Did you ever wonder where teacher’s lesson plans come from and how different classes across the grade in schools and throughout the district manage to cover the same topics? While each teacher presents a lesson in his or her unique way, the overall outline for the curriculum has to be approved by the administration. In our district we examine curriculum areas from kindergarten through high school to see what is working well, and what can be improved, replaced, expanded, or eliminated. This is a time when we can brainstorm and consider trying something new in a unit of study. We encourage our teachers to get involved in curriculum writing projects in which they work as a team to develop a specific unit of study for a subject and grade.

The financial issues in operating a school district also get a close look during the summer. We take this time to carefully examine how the funds we had budgeted were spent during the year and confirm that we have planned the new budget accordingly. Once all classes are over for the summer we have all the information we need to completely finalize the budget for the coming year.

One thing is certain, the summer goes by all too quickly for superintendents as well as for students. I don’t mind though. I always love the first day of school and seeing students arrive ready to learn a whole new spectrum of information. Education has to be the most exciting career path there is. Each student holds endless possibilities for the future, and it is a privilege to be a part of it.#

Dr. Hankin is superintendent of Syosset Central School District. Randi Sachs is Public Information Officer of Syosset Schools.

 

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