UD holds seminars for superintendents and executive leaders

12:48 p.m., March 8, 2012--The University of Delaware Institute for Public Administration (IPA) and the Delaware Academy for School Leadership (DASL) held the second Superintendent and Executive School Leaders Seminar on Feb. 22 in Dover. The seminar is part of a three-part series designed specifically to address issues that pertain to superintendents and their school district executive leadership teams and inform them on the latest issues, trends and programs in unique topic areas of interest.

The February seminar, "Ensuring a Successful School Construction Project:  From Referendum to Ribbon-Cutting," focused on the key issues of project planning, referendum strategies, school design, construction phases, legal problems, contracts and building schools for the next 100 years. The co-chairs of the Delaware Bond Bill Committee (Capital Building) were also recognized at a special lunch program, during which they updated the audience on future capital-funding expectations.  

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Seminar organizers included DASL staff associate Steven Godowsky, IPA education management specialist Kelly Sherretz, IPA associate policy scientist James Flynn, IPA director Jerome Lewis, DASL director Jacquelyn Wilson, IPA research assistant Nathan Roby and educational leadership consultant Dennis Loftus.

Presenters included Tony Marchio (retired from Appoquinimink School District), John Marinucci (Woodbridge School District), Kelli Racca (Christina School District), Jim Green (Seitz, Van Ogtrop and Green, P.A.), Alan Brangman (University of Delaware), Stephen Mockbee and Nash Childs (Bancroft Construction), and Andrew and Brian DiSabatino (EDiS Company).

“We are all out there doing the best we can for every student, every day, and when we get the opportunity to talk about the possibilities and practices in our own districts with each other, we realize how much we can all benefit from working together,” said Racca. “Those experiences reaffirm that commitment we all make to public education.” 

A board member from another district said that the event helped her to understand what questions to ask as a board member when going through the school construction process.

The seminars are intended for superintendents, assistant superintendents, budget directors, human resource/personnel directors, special-education supervisors, principals, facility managers and school board members.

The first seminar, "Education and Employment Legal Issues, Trends, and Cases", was held in December, and representatives from every Delaware school district participated. 

The third seminar will be held on April 25, and is being planned around school finance, and human-resource topics and issues. 

For information on this series, contact Kelly Sherretz at kscollon@udel.edu or 302-831-4271.

About IPA and DASL

The Institute for Public Administration is a center within the College of Arts and Sciences’ School of Public Policy and Administration, and the Delaware Academy for School Leadership (DASL) is a center within the College of Education and Human Development.

Photos by Nathan Roby and Emily Poag