The Board of Education (BoE) appointed Liddy Coyle and David Brown last June to the ICSD Executive Team, which assists Superintendent Luvelle Brown in overseeing various aspects of administrative operations, human resources, and academics across the district.
The structure of the district’s central administration has evolved over the years to meet different needs and challenges based on the changing financial situations, according to Superintendent Brown.
“As the organization evolves, the leadership team must evolve as well; it can’t be static,” he said.
Prior to these new appointments, the district’s central administration consisted of Superintendent Brown, Chief Academic Officer Matthew Landahl, and Acting Chief Administration Officer David Johnson, who temporarily filled the position that Jason Trumble vacated when he became principal of IHS.
While the number of central administrators has increased from last year, according to Superintendent Brown, the BoE was able to do so without significantly increasing cost by eliminating other administrative positions elsewhere in the district.
As Chief Academic Officer, Coyle will oversee curriculum, professional development, and instruction. Coyle has been active in the district in various roles as a teacher, academic intervention specialist, staff developer, and master educator. The positions that she previously held were eliminated with her moving.
David Brown, as Chief Administration Officer, will support human resources as well as oversee student and family supports, transportation, food services, athletics, and building maintenance. With this appointment, Brown left his position as ICSD’s Director of Fine and Performing Arts, which he held for the last three years. This position is temporarily being held by an interim, Superintendent Brown said in the interview.
Coyle and Brown are joining Superintendent Brown, Deputy Superintendent Matt Landahl, Chief Operations Officer Amanda Verba, and Chief Human Capital Officer Robert Van Keuren on the team.
The Deputy Superintendent oversees principals and instructional directors, superintendent hearings, safety, and special education. He is also in charge of the Inclusion Plan, a new district-wide initiative to help inclusivity in schools, Superintendent Brown said in the interview.
The Chief Operations Officer handles fiscal management, grants, capital projects, and administration of the Dignity for All Students Act. Finally, the Chief Human Capital Officer oversees negotiations with employees, labor management, and recruitment.
“I feel like we’re at full strength, for the first time in a long time,” Superintendent Brown said in the interview. “Due to budget cuts and reductions over the past years, we’ve, from my perspective, been understaffed at the central level.”
Later, in July, ICSD appointed former Northeast Principal Jeff Tomasik as the new principal at Boynton Middle School after former Boynton Principal Joe Dhara resigned to take a position in another district.
After a community input gathering meeting and a month-long, nationwide search, ICSD announced Lily Talcott as the new principal of Northeast Elementary School in August. Talcott is making the transition to Northeast after having served as a Master Educator in the district since 2013. Prior to serving as an administrator, she had been a teacher in the district since 2006.
In addition to these changes, the BoE allocated additional money to the budget cycle last year—around $200,000—to support the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR), a form of teacher evaluation mandated by the state. With this money, the BoE will be hiring more administrators who will observe and evaluate teachers.