Higley board to evaluate Lutrey using new tool

When Higley Unified School District governing board members evaluate Superintendent Joyce Lutrey next month, they will have a new evaluation tool to use in the process.

The board approved the evaluation tool at Thursday's board meeting. The superintendent evaluation workbook was written and reworked by board members Nancy Eugenis and Venessa Whitener, who spent several months working on the 19-page document.

More parents could be keeping a close eye on how the board evaluates the superintendent after a parent group earlier this year called for Lutrey to step down and asked for new leadership to move the district forward.

The new evaluation includes state standards, provides areas to discuss where the superintendent has made progress, and includes more communication and feedback pieces.

The board had previously discussed the new two-part evaluation tool at the Oct. 14 work study session.

Part one describes fundamental job requirements the superintendent must follow. They are based on performance standards established by the American Association of School Administrators and the National School Boards Association, which have been adapted to align with Arizona's Professional Administrative Standards.

Part two evaluates Lutrey's progress toward the district's strategic plan goals, which were also approved at Thursday's board meeting.

The strategic plan outlines long-range planning goals and objectives and district strategies to accomplish goals and meet indicators.

The four goals of the plan are quality learning, quality staff, quality community involvement and quality communication.

The evaluation outlines four core school board roles: vision, structure, accountability and advocacy.

The board wants to set the right goals and develop an "effective and purposeful" evaluation plan and timeline.

Board members also want to evaluate the superintendent's performance, and discuss the communication of goals and progress between the board, superintendent and community.

"The purpose of evaluating the superintendent is not to micromanage the organization, but to provide oversight and public assurance that the policies are being effectively implemented," according to the evaluation. "Another critical purpose is to provide feedback and direction to the superintendent to assure continuous performance improvement."

Eugenis and Whitener looked at other districts' evaluations and consulted with Lutrey and associate superintendent Denise Birdwell to come up with the new evaluation tool.

The two board members said the evaluation should not be applied to the superintendent's salary. Eugenis suggested next year's school board should decide on a pay raise.

Lutrey said she had frustrations with the previous evaluation tool, and said at the study session it was OK to separate the evaluation tool from a salary increase.