Today, the Orlando Sentinel published a LONG front page article (see below) by Tanya Caldwell on how Lake School District's Superintendent, Anna Cowin, has not performed required written performance evaluations for her SIX top managers since her election in 2004, and only two of the six had old 2004 evaluations from an earlier superintendent in their personnel files. These are the same managers she has requested significant raises for, and apparently there is no written evidence to indicate any justification for the raises (which were turned down by the Board awhile back.
There is a Board policy, like other Florida School Districts, that requires written performance evaluations for all staff, but Cowin has ignored it, and there are no sanctions that the Board can implement to enforce the policy.
First, no current staff should get ANY raises in the future approved by the Board until written evaluations are professionally done, and the Board ALSO needs to monitor compliance with this and other policies to highlight what is not being done by Cowin. Otherwise, the Board is part of the problem by not highlighting the lack of compliance by Cowin.
vj
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orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-noevals1008feb10,0,1677486.story
OrlandoSentinel.com
SENTINEL EXCLUSIVE
Cowin has not reviewed top Lake schools officials, records show
The Lake schools boss has not filed written annual evaluations of her immediate assistants.
by Tanya Caldwell - Sentinel Staff Writer
February 10, 2008
TAVARES
For nearly three years, Lake County Schools Superintendent Anna Cowin has supervised a group of top administrators without ever giving them written performance evaluations, the Orlando Sentinel has learned.
The news has left School Board members wondering whether their superintendent has been violating a policy that mandates written, annual evaluations for all district employees by their immediate supervisors. A copy of the evaluation report is supposed to be filed in the district's personnel office.
But none of the top administrators in the Lake County school district -- which includes three assistant superintendents, the chief financial officer, chief technology officer and chief human resources officer -- has received written evaluations while reporting directly to Cowin, according to the administrators and a Sentinel review of the officials' personnel files.
Cowin maintains that portions of the board's policy don't apply to her, and that she follows state law by assessing performance as she sees fit.
"What the superintendent's done with me is just given me goals and accomplishments," said Ken Osman, who became Lake's chief technology officer in 2006. "And every once in a while she'll bring me in and tell me where I need to improve. [It's] nothing like the kind of appraisals I'm used to."
No evaluations were filed in four of the six administrators' personnel files. Two assistant superintendents, Pat Nave and David Cunningham, had old evaluations from before Cowin was elected superintendent in November 2004.
The absence of a written evaluation for Cunningham could become an issue in his recent demotion. Cowin announced last week that she reassigned Cunningham, a recent semifinalist to replace her as superintendent, to become principal of a new middle school. The School Board is scheduled to review the reassignment Monday.
"You can't demote someone whom you have not evaluated," said Jimmy Conner, a School Board member and frequent critic of Cowin.
'Assessment system'
The lack of evaluations has some officials questioning whether Cowin has been following School Board policy.
"When a board puts a policy in place, it's the superintendent's responsibility to follow that policy," said Wayne Blanton, executive director of theFlorida School Boards Association. "They probably assumed that she had done the evaluations."
But Cowin said Florida law gives her discretion, and that the school district's policy does not apply to her top administrators.
Under her method, which Cowin says is undocumented, evaluations do not have to be written or filed in the district's personnel office.
School Board policy, which cites the same Florida law, among others, says that "each member of the staff shall receive an annual evaluation by his immediate administrative supervisor" and that "a copy of each employee's evaluation report shall be filed in the District Personnel Office."
Cowin responded: "If there's no evaluation report it doesn't have to be in the [personnel] file. I'm not using an evaluation report. I'm using an assessment system."
But the School Board's attorney,Steve Johnson, said the policy applies to all employees.
"She [Cowin] has to follow School Board policy," he said. "They are employees, no matter what position they have. There's no distinction drawn. They're administrative personnel."
Other counties evaluate all
Superintendents in other Central Florida school districts perform written evaluations every year for the employees who report directly to them.
"Everybody in Orange County has performance evaluations that are conducted by their immediate supervisors," said Dylan Thomas, a spokesman for the district.
For Orange Superintendent Ron Blocker, that means the employees on his executive staff. The superintendent and other supervisors use district evaluation forms to conduct their assessments.
Superintendents in Seminole, Osceola and Brevard counties also do written evaluations for their employees every year, according to officials in those districts. Those evaluations are required by School Board policy.
Even though Cowin hasn't been writing evaluations, she has lobbied to get double-digit raises for her employees, whose salaries have risen to six figures during Cowin's tenure.
Cowin wanted to give those in top positions a 14.2 percent raise in 2006, saying she needed to recruit key administrators.
She fought for a nearly 10 percent raise for top employees this school year. The School Board eventually approved up to a 7.8 percent raise in 2006 and a 3 percent increase in 2007.
The assistant superintendent positions now pay at least $103,000 a year. Before Cowin took office, they earned $87,053.
"I think it's absurd that raises would be requested without evaluations," School Board member Cindy Barrow said. "Nobody that's getting paid by the taxpayers' money should be paid without an evaluation. The board is going to have to discuss this because she is violating School Board policy."
Goals, monitoring not filed
Under her system, Cowin's top administrators have to submit their goals for the year. Cowin said she monitors her employees as they accomplish their goals. But neither the goals nor the accomplishments are documented and filed in the employees' files.
Blanton said the School Board doesn't have much recourse if it determines Cowin violated its policy.
"Unfortunately, with an elected superintendent there's not much that a board can do when one violates a School Board policy," Blanton said. "About the best they can do is reprimand her and direct her to perform those evaluations as soon as possible."
Board members are expected to discuss the evaluations Monday.
Lake County voters decided in 2006 to abandon the practice of electing superintendents in favor of allowing the School Board to appoint someone.
Cowin, who was elected superintendent in 2004, will leave office later this year. The School Board is searching for a replacement.
Tanya Caldwell can be reached at [email protected] or 352-742-5928.
