PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — After four months, Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) staff, students, and families are getting a look at the results of the efficiency report meant to help the district spend wisely and invest strategically.
“What we hear when we go into central office studies is that the central office is top heavy,” said Public Works LLC Project Manager JoAnn Cox. “Nothing could be less accurate for CCPS. Your central office is understaffed relative to benchmark directives.”
Cox went on to say that the staffing gaps are most evident in executive leadership, instructional supervision, legal services, and communication services.
Overall in the report, there were 29 commendations and 68 recommendations. Though, Cox said she believed they would have had more commendations for the district had they had more time to do the report. She also said she found the dedication of teachers and staff to be “refreshing” after leading over a hundred and fifty similar projects.
One such example of ways to improve the central office was in Human Resources. Cox praised the department for their professionalism, dedication to staff, and fast responses to issues. However, understaffing in key roles meant the current staff was spread too thin and felt pressure from many directions to handle too large a workload.
Another point of concern was that Chief Academic Officers oversaw all principals as well as overseeing curriculum, special ed, and more. The current structure makes it hard to respond to emerging instruction and operational challenges.
The solution, said Dr. John Gaddis, another who worked with Cox on the report, is to reorganize and create an executive director role for day-to-day instructional leadership models to principals. This way, the deputy superintendent for schools and learning can focus on strategy, learning outcomes, and curriculum.
“Yes, there’s room for improvement, but you have a lot to be proud of in this district,” said Cox. The final 450-page report will be posted online.
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Calvert’s Dept of Ed was doomed the moment Goshorn and the rest of those conservative loonies got in. Same reason I won’t be sending my kids to a CCPS school.