District Administration - June 2010 - (Page 49)

Smith sits with Candace Lankford, the Volusia County Board of Education chairwoman, during a staff meeting. Lankford credits Smith with multi-tasking and working through a budget in crisis. Below, Smith speaks with fourth-graders in the media center at the Sweetwater Elementary School in Port Orange, Fla. Smith is a strong believer that all children can and will learn. Margaret Smith accepts the 2009-2010 Florida Superintendent of the Year award from Bill Montford of the Florida Association of District School Administrators. ford. Since the 2007-2008 school year, Smith has cut a total of $54 million from the budget, closed six small schools, and downsized 1,100 positions. “These tasks aren’t for the faint of heart,” says Lankford. “Dr. Smith is not afraid to make tough decisions, but only after thoroughly reviewing all aspects of a situation. While she’s innovative, she is also pragmatic. And most importantly, she communicates almost daily with her board and is always available to address our concerns and challenges.” Smith pauses thoughtfully before responding to questions, and then speaks very deliberately and often at great length. She says, “What I have found over the years—and I’ve been in this business a very long time [she began as an adminiswww.DistrictAdministration.com trator in 1974]—is that in order to bring about change and student achievement, it’s so important to work with others to identify goals, what’s going to get us there, and then all the strategies and procedures we have to implement to reach our goals. “I believe that each student will learn,” she adds. “That’s what drives me. It’s not that each student can learn, but that they will learn. In order to bring that about, I believe I have to be very collaborative.” Participative Leadership As president of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, Smith was elected by her peers as Florida’s 20092010 Superintendent of the Year. But to her, it’s more an indicator of her management style than a crowning achievement. “I practice participative leadership,” Smith says. What she means by “participative” is keeping a schedule that would put a presidential candidate to shame and seemingly require at least half a dozen doppelgangers to pull off. It means being “very, very visible,” she explains. “It also takes a high energy level, which I have, and it has to be with all of the various groups.” Indeed, Smith meets, listens, speaks, strategizes, negotiates, encourages, supports and otherwise communicates June 2010 49 http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - June 2010

District Administration - June 2010
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Sustainability
Conversations
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Innovative Leaders Take the Phone and Run
A New Dawn in the Sunshine State
The Die-Hard Communicator
Cybersafety in the Classroom
Persuading Teachers to Go Rural
Product Focus
Research Corner
Professional Opinion

District Administration - June 2010