The Roles and Duties of a Superintendent
The school superintendent is both the leader of the school district and the secretary to the board of directors. The superintendent is responsible for the academic programs, finance and operations, and human resource processes including the selection of the administrators, teachers, specialists, and support staff in the school district. The superintendent is also responsible to support the school board and keep them informed of district operations. The superintendent is charged with the management of the overall school system and the leadership for high quality academic and support programs. The superintendent is also responsible to communicate the vision, mission, and strategic direction of the school district. The superintendent is in many ways the guiding light of the district and must possess mature leadership qualities, set high standards and expectations, and be supportive of all district programs and staff.
The superintendent must oversee the development of the district’s budget and insure that the district stays within it. Each year the superintendent looks at the district’s enrollment and what the state allocates the district for expenditures and makes sure that the district hires the right number of teachers, administrators, and support staff to get the job done, The superintendent is responsible to keep all the schools and support facilities within the district running properly. When it comes to the hiring of faculty, the superintendent establishes procedures and processes to insure that the best teachers are selected. The superintendent must ensure that all personnel within the district are competent, certified, highly qualified, and endorsed for the position that they hold in the district. The superintendent is ultimately responsible for the hiring of the district’s administrators and for assuring that all employees are being systematically observed and evaluated on their performance and productivity levels.
The superintendent keeps informed and works closely with the curriculum director to oversee the district’s curriculum. The superintendent must keep well informed on trends, practices and technology that can assist the overall performance of the school system. Making sure that the students within the district are performing well on state and local standardized tests is an important role of Superintendent and one of the most important for the district.
Facilities within a district need to be managed and overseen by the superintendent. If a district grows or shrinks its is up to the superintendent to make sure that the schools within a district are functioning properly and providing the right place for students to learn and to achieve their potential.
Maintaining the records for the school is important as well and the Superintendent must insure that detailed data on finances, personnel, and academic achievement are maintained.
Each year or two the district is audited by the state for sound financial practices and frequently state and federal agencies do program audits to make sure that programs are serving the populations that they are funded to serve and that all areas of legal compliance are being met. The superintendent is ultimately responsible for fiscal and program compliance.
Maintaining an open line of communication between staff and administrator is important for success. A superintendent listens to the voices of the community through board meetings and local media channels.
The Superintendent is responsible to prepare, motivate, and lead the entire district into each new school year. The superintendent leads a school district and helps it function at the very highest level.