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The Trustees of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) take their responsibility to conduct the Director’s Performance Appraisal seriously. The Director’s passion and leadership set the expectations for his team and for all those within the system (students, staff, parents and the community). We believe that our students and staff are as capable as any throughout the province. Hence, the annual operating plan and budget development process includes specialized resources and professional learning to ensure HWDSB students and staff are successful.
Relying on the Director’s Performance Framework* that was approved at the March 26, 2008 Committee of the Whole, and subsequent Board meeting, the Trustees have completed their review of actual outcomes against intended expectations for the 2007-08 academic year.
The Trustees are again appreciative of the Director’s philosophy and approach around this process. Continuing such a transparent, accountable and indeed vulnerable process is critical to the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board endeavours to achieve the challenging outcomes it has established for itself. This is a journey………. taking a few steps at a time, year over year.
The approved 2007 - 2008 Performance Framework is intentionally complex. The Trustees have again assessed the Director against six distinct components listed below. Each has its own body of evidence and multiple quality indicators:
- Student Success
- Fiscal Responsibility
- Human Resources
- Director As Secretary of the Board
- Strategic Plan
- Communications and Community Relations
These six components support the over-arching “effectiveness” objective of the HWDSB – Effective Schools, Staff, and Environments. Additionally, four high level objectives were self-selected by the Director for completion during the academic year 2007-08.
The ability of Trustees to assess outcomes is dependent on having defined measures. Further improvement is noted, however, there is more to do to ensure outcomes and measures are defined and fully understood. The Trustees are looking for the appropriate measures for key indicators that will demonstrate a culture of continuous improvement at the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. We eagerly await the delayed launch of “The Data Dashboard”. This new tool should improve the Trustee’s ability to quickly assess the status of outcomes and achievement.
In summary, the Trustees are exceptionally pleased in four areas: Director as Secretary of the Board; Fiscal Responsibility; Communication and Community Relations and Strategic Planning. While acknowledging improvements in some areas and realizing there is work in progress, the Trustees expect more improvement in Human Resources, in particular the relationship with various employee groups.
The Trustees’ most serious concern is the overall area of Student Success. While there are many areas of notable success (English Language Learners, Special Education), overall forward movement with Student Success is lacking. Understanding what has worked versus what has not worked is critical to improving outcomes for our students. Through the Director, the Trustees will be encouraging deep engagement throughout the system to focus on necessary change and joint accountability that will bring about the results our students deserve. Efforts in this area will be closely reviewed throughout the 2008/09 academic year by the Trustees.
Jessica Brennan, Chair
On behalf of the Board of Trustees
Click here to view this media release.
Past Evaluation
Click here to access the 2007/2008 evaluation.
Click here to access the 2006/2007 evaluation.
