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Governor, district leaders explore school management options
by Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio
October 11, 2004

Decentralized management has taken hold throughout the St. Paul school district, including Roosevelt Elementary. (MPR Photo/Tim Pugmire)

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is planning a trip to Edmonton, Alberta, later this year to see how that Canadian city's public schools work. Edmonton has been a leader in the practice of site-based management - a decentralized system that gives principals a greater say in spending decisions. Pawlenty wants to explore a similar approach in Minnesota schools. The governor's interest comes as a surprise to some local school leaders, who've been using parts of the Edmonton model for several years.

St. Paul, Minn. — Pawlenty highlighted his interest in site-based management for schools last month in a speech to the Minnesota Business Partnership. He also announced his plan to visit Canada to learn more. Pawlenty says the Edmonton school district allows its principals to make key budget and personnel decisions.

"We need to look at a model that empowers principals as CEOs at the site level." Pawelenty said. "We have given lip service to this in Minnesota, but we have not meaningfully moved in that direction."

The Edmonton approach to school management began nearly 30 years ago. The superintendent at the time, Mike Strembitsky, is now a consultant helping other school systems make similar changes. He was in St. Paul recently for a meeting with Pawlenty and other officials. Strembitsky says the key in Edmonton was giving each school specific goals and the money to reach them. Each school now controls more than 90 percent of its spending.

"This didn't all start out as some elegant scheme that had been developed or planned over the years," Strembitsky said. "It was a belief I had that if you involve people in the decisions that affected them, they would do a better job."

Strembitsky says shifting power from the central district office to individual schools resulted in dramatic improvements. Edmonton is now cited as one of the best managed school districts in North America. Student achievement levels have also climbed.

	Maria Castro

Variations of the concept have spread throughout the United States. A recent report from Today's School magazine says 85 percent of schools nationwide and in Minnesota are using site-based decision making.

Decentralized management has taken hold throughout the St. Paul School District. At Roosevelt Elementary, Principal Maria Castro says a site council made up of teachers, parents and other neighborhood residents meets at least four times a year and helps her make important choices.

"It makes a tremendous difference in terms of the schools taking ownership, staff being involved with decision making and also your community members being invested in the school," Castro said. "That means our parents, our community agencies that help support the school. What we try to do is get everyone engaged in the process of the site council."

The St. Paul School Board made a district-wide commitment to site-based management in 1999. The central administration still controls spending for such things as food service, special education, staff development and transportation, but schools control the rest.

Dennis St. Sauver, the district's director of leadership development, says a site council in St. Paul is responsible for more than 50 percent of a school's budget. He says council members make recommendations about spending priorities and staffing.

	Roger Barr

"They can decide to hire a counselor or a social worker or an extra reading teacher or a science teacher," St. Sauver said. "Those decisions are made within their own building."

Site councils also help write annual improvement plans, which outlines specific steps for boosting school performance. The building principal is the one held accountable for that performance, and they have the final word on all site decisions. Roger Barr of the group Support Our Schools works with several St. Paul site councils. He says few principals flex their veto power.

"They learn very quickly that the relationship is positive for both sides," Barr said. "It makes better decisions that are accepted throughout the building, and people get behind something that they own and they work hard to preserve it."

Barr says he doesn't think Governor Pawlenty needs to go to Canada to learn about site-based management. State education officials say they're aware that many Minnesota school district are making decisions at the building level, but they say the approaches vary widely, and none have gone as far as Edmonton in shifting authority and resources to principals.

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