Changes ahead for structure of Lincoln School administration

The retirement of Lincoln Schools Superintendent/Principal Carla Anderson at the end of this school year could mean a change in the structure of the school's administration.

Anderson, who has served four years in the combined role of Superintendent and Principal, submitted her retirement announcement to the School Board in December, citing health reasons.

Although the Board expected Anderson to seek a renewal of her contract, which expires in June of 2019, her intention to retire opened options for the Board, who decided to advertise for two separate positions – Superintendent, and combined Teacher/Principal.

Anderson recently took time to explain the dichotomy between the two roles, and the reasons behind separating them.

"The superintendent is like the CEO of the school. The principal is under the superintendent, who answers to the state of Montana - they are responsible for all of the information that goes out to the State about your school," Anderson told the BVD. "Some of that can be delegated to the principal by the Superintendent, but normally the Superintendent does all of the (Office of Public Instruction) work."

Anderson said the amount of time paperwork involved for each child is staggering, especially if the child has special needs.

"All of the students in our school who have an individualized education plan...anytime there's a meeting for that child, an administrator has to be in that meeting," she said. "That's a lot of meetings.

Dropping enrollment and a tight budget inspired the Board's decision to search for an administrator to fill the roles of both Superintendent and Principal in 2015 with the retirement of longtime Superintendent Kathy Heisler, who also filled the role of counselor. Now, an increase in enrollment, the establishment of a pre-school program and the award of a major literacy grant means a changing environment and a roomier budget.

"When they decided to combine it, there were 110 students here," Anderson said. "Now we're back up to 150, and that's just too many kids...it's a lot of paperwork. More than anything, just all of the reporting to OPI is huge."

The School Board once again contracted with the Montana School Board Association to aid in the candidate search and hiring process, and made the decision to advertise for two separate positions at a Jan. 2 special School Board meeting.

"Maybe the principal is responsible for all the high-school discipline, and also maybe teaches a couple of classes themselves. Then the superintendent would probably be Superintendent and Elementary Principal, so were anything disciplinary to arise with a younger student, the superintendent would take care of it," Anderson said.

Anderson said the change in structure will be contingent on the applicants.

"They could get somebody who says 'I've done that for years on my own and I can do it again,' and it could change their mind, but at this point that's what they're looking at doing," she said.