INDICADORES DE DESEMPEÑO Y METAS DE ATENCION ESTADO DE MORELOS

OPS Image

• Huge district. • Strength.

• Best kept secret in town. • Issues.

• Based on newspaper articles.

• “I cringe every morning when I pick up the newspaper.” • Parents complaining.

• The TAC building is an issue too. The marble and brass in the lobby give a “fancy” impression.

• People see all the cars in the TAC lot and thinks it is all administration. They don’t realize half the building is a Career Center.

Changing Image

• Image is much more negative than it was 5 or 10 years ago. • Very controversial.

Trust

• No trust because of the negativity. Good things are kept a secret.

• OPS always gets bad press, or the media takes a snippet of something true and spins it negative.

• It is hard to get good news out with the negative high profile of the Board.

• OPS is going in the right direction on test scores, but it’s never good enough or fast enough.

Regaining Trust

• OPS is moving in the right direction though the Board president has made some missteps. She has made a good impression on the community, but it will take time.

• Wipe the slate clean and start over with everything.

• There are executives and foundations in Omaha who don’t support OPS because of what they read in the Omaha World Herald or hear about.

• Everyone is forming opinions based on the newspaper.

Improvements Needed

• Diversity is lacking in staffing.

• There’s more to diversity than race – ageism is rampant. District needs to focus on other diversities besides race as well.

• Create a sense of team and sharing of information in the TAC building.

Strengths of Communication

• Retirement website and financial planning and retirement workshops. • Letters sent out on various issues.

• District is doing well with the superintendent search, making candidates available to people and to the press afterwards.

• District is trying to make communication more consistent.

• Transportation is constantly looking at improvements but the word doesn’t get out. • There are positive things in OPS, but information isn’t out there.

Communication Improvements

• “TAC exists not to serve schools but to dictate to them.” • Departments could learn from each other.

• “I think we do forget what the district is about.”

• “The longer you are away from a school building, the more disconnected you get.” • Within the buildings, morale overall is down. People are overwhelmed with constant

changes; personal time after work is affected. There is no compassion and too much negativity.

• Some things may be communicated to supervisors but are not being passed down. Why is there such a separation?

• District operates on a “need to know” basis.

• The “trickle down” theory of communication is not working well. Sometimes it feels like administrators don’t want to share the knowledge (or power).

• People who want to complain don’t have the facts, but they don’t either so they can’t address misinformation.

• All in the group agreed that TAC departments aren’t talking to each other.

• There is a lot of history between departments; ongoing feuds. Everything is about “turf,” and there is lots of duplication and a “don’t tell” attitude.

• For example, the Research department didn’t compare school calendars against testing calendars. People can’t think of their own department as being so important.

Sources of Information

• District email, but it’s so filtered. • Hearsay.

• Omaha World Herald or TV news.

• It’s “hush hush” if you work in TAC. When you leave the building you have to watch the news to find out anything.

• Some said they found out on the news that STD test kits were being passed out at schools.

• It was helpful to hear facts about the Teacher Action Plan.

• OPS News – most of the group said they read it; it’s good for information about students. • The videos clips are good.

Accessibility of Information

• It’s pulling teeth sometimes to get information.

• District does provide good training on things like Microsoft Office.

• District offers classes to expand skills (i.e., computer skills classes are held during the day).

• Supervisors have guest speakers all the time.

Information Desired

• They don’t have time to read the Board meeting minutes. This group would like a summary of Board actions.

• When something happens in a school, they aren’t notified, but they get calls from parents and aren’t able to respond. They feel stupid when they don’t know what happened. • They hear about new people through the grapevine. Introduce staff.

Information on Activities/Events

• This group wishes TAC staff could be in the buildings more.

• Secretaries should spend a day in a school to appreciate what school staff are dealing with.

• The only inservice is once a year, usually on phone etiquette. Need some team building.

Information on Board Policies/Actions

• They go to the Board web page and look for the agenda or minutes, but have to search because it’s not easy to find.

• People can watch Board meetings on TV. • One participant said she listens to the podcasts.

Timeliness of Information/Support for Role as Ambassador

• There’s a general orientation but not much else for new hires.

• “By the time you are hired for a position, you are already behind because the person you replaced is already gone.”

Best Way to Communicate

• OPS could use a bigger communication office. They should be able to have all the information and answer questions. It would be nice to have one office to call to get answers.

• Email, but something more organized, maybe a round-up or news bulletin. • Departments could send information out weekly.

• There needs to be a regular meeting or updates for TAC employees.

Social Media

• New teachers communicate that way, and HR has looked at it.

OPS Website/Portal

• It is not updated and staff information is out of date in some sections.

Source of Board Information

• The Board web page

Communication Role of Board

• Do a wrap-up summary of actions.

• It will take time for them to be more transparent. The president is trying. • There are too many Board members.

• New blood and perspectives will help.

• Communicate to potential candidates what to expect as a board member.

Opportunities to Give Input

• Most felt they do not have opportunities.

• People can contact a member directly, or speak at committee and Board meetings. • Some in the group said their supervisors are keeping them from talking to Board

members.

Leaders Listen and Consider Input

• Some felt leaders don’t listen, but others felt they do on some issues.

• Another participant said that district leaders listened to parents when a focus school was taken over.

Perceptions of Board

• “That’s what makes OPS a joke.”

• The Omaha World Herald was positive on how the Board handled the second superintendent search.

Image Improvements Needed

• Some Board members need to retire.

• When the Board argues publically it is very negative; the perception is that some Board members bring up issues because the meeting offers a big forum.

• One member plays the devil’s advocate and is chastised by the rest. • Some felt this is changing with the new Board president.

• Older Board members are “bullies.”

• When the former director of communication retired, so did the face of the district. • OPS doesn’t have a spokesperson anymore.

• The former director had a lot of friends in the community and generated good positive energy around the district. They don’t see anyone representing the district like she did. • Some felt there is more of that now with the Board president.

• It was stifling for those who couldn’t get their opinion out there because of the Board’s tight control.

Communication Expectations for Next Superintendent

• Open and honest.

• Take time to get to know the staff.

• Be accessible and take time to know people. • Don’t have favorites.