#5 - School Functions

Ever wonder what schools do all day?

Schools are really complicated things. We tend to think of them as just a place with classrooms and teachers where we can send our kids for the day, but it so much more. Here are some of the things they do, in no particular order. This is not intended to be the ultimate list. You could certainly argue for more or for less functions. It’s just a reminder of the many function that reside within a school that we don’t normally think about

Some Typical School Functions:

Information Technology

1. Help Desk

2. Hardware Installation and Maintenance

3. Software Installation and Maintenance

4. Learning Resources Center

5. School Networks Web Site

Finance

1. Budgeting

2. Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable

3. Salary Management

4. Purchasing and Receiving

Human Resources

1. Personnel Procurement

2. Training

3. Motivation and Advancement

4. Problem Resolution

Legal

1. State and Federal Compliance

2. Civil Issues

Program

1. Curriculum Selection and Compliance

2. Teacher and Classroom Assignments

3. Testing and Student Assessment

4. Academic Inspection and Corrections

5. Faculty Development

Services

1. Library Services

2. Food Services

3. Health Services

4. Counseling Services

5. Student Activities

6. Student Discipline

Administration

1. Secretarial

2. Records

3. Registration and Attendance

Facilities

1. Land and Building Acquisition

2. Supervision and Maintenance

3. Grounds Keeping

Transportation

1. Logistics – Routes, Drivers and Special Events

2. Storage and Maintenance

Extra Curricular

1. PTA Liaison

2. Other Institutions Liaison

3. Community Activities

Security

1. Security Planning

2. Campus Enforcement

3. Community Interface

4. Emergency Operations

It is becoming more and more common to divide school management into easier/smaller, separate units for better focus and control. Typical categories might be:

• Academics including Curricula and Books

• Operations and Administration

• Transportation, Facilities and Grounds

It might be a good time to re-imagine what school administration looks like. We can hardly expect a school board member to be an expert in all areas. Specialists exist in many of these disciplines and it might be efficient and prudent to spread out the workload. Let school board members concentrate on academics and let others, with the background or training, handle non-academic, important areas. It might also be a good time to rebuild the “system” so that it is truly transparent and local parents and citizens have (pre)approval, recall and veto powers.

Maybe we should break up the management into usable-sized pieces and allow them to focus on specific, focused and narrow areas.

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