The Webster Parish School Board personnel committee reviewed Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dan Rawls’ contract Monday following a performance evaluation submitted to the board over the summer.
The board’s executive committee tallied the evaluation scores and Rawls received an overall average of 2.27, which means his evaluation is more than proficient.
Board president Charles Strong, in August, explained in an email to to Dr. Rawls the rating scale and the criteria for the evaluation. The rating scale listed three as exceptional performance, two for proficient performance and one for needs improvement.
Rawls was rated in four different areas: educational leadership, district management, performance objectives and board and community relations.
Under educational leadership, in instructional management, Rawls received a 2.36, staff development and professional growth 2.25 and student services management at 2.17.
Under district management, in fiscal, facilities and operations management, he received a 2.42, administrative management a 2.58 and in personnel management a 2.08.
Under performance objectives, Rawls received a 2.33 in performance in all schools, a 2.00 in improve graduation rates by one percent per year, balanced budget a 2.58 and reduce the dropout rate a 2.00.
Under board and community relations, Rawls received a 2.40 in board relations and a 2.10 in community relations.
Summary comments by board members, who were not listed individually, included contract attachment data incomplete and needs better communication in the community, listing he needs to “listen” more, Strong said in his email.
After revealing the results of Rawls’ evaluation, the board spent much of their time reviewing and tweaking his contract. Several changes were made, namely due to changes from the state. The changes made were largely to comply with Act 1, the sweeping education reform dealing with teachers and evaluations, and Act 548, which deals with contracts.
Ronnie Broughton, personnel committee chair, says with the needed changes to his contract, Rawls and some of the staff members met to discuss some of his goals.
“We felt like what was important is that the superintendent be evaluated no different than any other employee,” Rawls said. “We use a rubric, just like a principal’s, just like a teacher’s; I have certain goals that I want to meet.”
The performance goals, he says, are specific ones he wants to meet, which are in line with Act 1.
“Specifically for a superintendent, mine are a little broader than a teacher’s,” he said. “It won’t be about one subject or one group of kids; these are aggressive, this is not a weak set of goals.”
He went through the goals, saying these are objectives he wants to meet for teachers and principals as well as increasing the number of students participating in an advanced placement class or dual credit course by five percent in two years.
“So you have a better hierarchy of success,” he said. “The better my teachers do, the better my principals do, the better I do. Everybody is being held accountable. Those are true performance objectives just like a teacher or principal gets.”
If his contract is passed in November, the superintendent’s salary will remain the same at $120,000 per year with benefits.
His current contract expires Dec. 31
