Deciding Who Does What

School Administrator, Feb, 1995 by Richard G. Neal

Under school-based management, confusion often arises over what decisions should be made at the central office and which should be made at the local school level.

For example, should text- book selections and purchases be in the hands of the schools, or should the central office handle that? Hundreds of such questions arise when a school district converts from a traditional mode of centralized administration to the decentralized school-based management.

The best way to decide who does what is to determine which functions logically belong to the central office under site-based management. Everything else is fair game for the schools to propose to take over.

I suggest these guidelines for delineating the functions of the central office under SBM:

* The activity and cost thereof are determined by forces beyond the control of the individual school. For example, the transportation of students to and from schools depends upon forces over which the individual school has no control. Therefore, student transportation remains a central-office responsibility.

* The cost of the activity fluctuates unpredictably. For example, major emergency repairs, such as the need to replace a collapsed school roof, should not be handled by the individual school.

* Cost savings can be obtained by economies of scale. The purchase of paper centrally achieves savings over each individual school purchasing paper. Funds can be combined among the schools, however, to allow bulk purchases by the central office.

* Activities and the cost thereof that have little to do with educational quality. For example, the resurfacing of a school parking lot has little impact on student learning, so such an activity should be left to the central-office staff.

* Escrow accounts for centralized activities. For example, the establishment of a salary reserve should be centrally administered to assure that all employees, regardless of exigencies, are paid for services rendered.

* Activities for which the accounting costs exceed the net value of the activity. Many data processing needs are most economically operated at the central office.

* Activities that by intentional decision of the superintendent are to remain centrally controlled. The superintendent might require (rightly on wrongly) that all evaluation of employees be according to a standardized district-wide format and procedure.

Naturally, activities falling into this category should be for good cause.

Controversial Ideas

Under school-based management, each school must submit to the superintendent an annual school plan and school budget proposal. Inevitably, such plans and budgets will include proposals that, in the past, have been beyond the authority of the individual school and pose serious questions for the superintendent.

In reviewing school plans that may contain new and controversial proposals, the superintendent should apply the seven guidelines previously listed, as well as these principles of good management:

* Schools should be judged by results, not methods. This means that proposals that promise good results should receive more careful consideration than those proposals that are heavy on methodology.

* Innovation and reform are more likely when carried out by those who have ownership, responsibility, and accountability. This means that the superintendent should keep in mind that under SBM the school is being held accountable for results. Therefore, the more that can be transferred responsibly to the schools, the more likely will innovation and reform occur.

* Those affected by decisions should have a voice in making those decisions. If teachers are expected to use textbooks, they should have a voice in their selection.

* Central offices have administrative functions with obvious accountable responsibilities that should not be shared. This means that some functions are patently clear to be school based (e.g., the development of the school plan), while other functions are patently clear to be central (e.g., student transportation).

Richard Neal is the author of School-Based Management, published by National Educational Service, Bloomington, Ind.