GESD believes that every child has the capacity to learn and achieve academically. As individuals and as an organization, they are committed to a culture of honesty, trust, respect and fairness with each other and the diverse communities they serve. They also commit to welcoming each individual to their safe, secure and well maintained schools and facilities. They are dedicated to using multiple resources to best serve their diverse population of students. They believe in professional and personal excellence among staff members and each employee’s responsibility to positively impact student learning and success.
Culture and structure are crucial within an organization. Beach(2006)states: "the culture and the structure are closely interwoven; friendships are dictated by structure; familiar work routines rely on structure; and even the location at which particular jobs are done depends on structure"(2006, p.84). Glendale Elementary School District recently went through a transformational change and the entire structure and culture changed drastically from the leadership position of the superintendents. The school district went from a hostile environment to a more cohesive work place. There are many attributes that make the culture and structure successful from the transformational change of leadership.
Dr. Johnson was the previous superintendent for GESD from July 2007 to July 2010. Dawn, who is a fifth grade teacher at GESD, considered Dr. Johnson a "control freak" and a "micro-manager" (D. Gath, personal communication, July, 2011). She didn't allow the teachers a lot of freedom and she selected people for administration that agreed with her ideas and opinions and never opposed them. People throughout the district began losing trust in administration and each other. Teachers were beginning to leave the district at a high rate or being forced to retire because of their age. The culture had been destroyed and the structure was beginning to fall apart.
When the school district finally came to the realization that the district as a whole was falling apart, they began to discuss the possibilities of not renewing Dr. Johnson's contract and searching for a new superintendent. There were certain attributes that the board, parents and employees of GESD were looking for in the next superintendent. Glendale wanted to revert back to the vision that the district implemented many years ago and that was: diversity, teacher retention, student achievement and a collaborative work environment. From there they decided to do a nation wide search for the new position. They narrowed it down to three candidates and administered several interviews before offering the position to someone. They decided on Joseph Quintana because he was a teacher at GESD twenty years prior, his wife was a teacher in the district and he also worked with the interim superintendent for years and was highly recommended (D. Gath, personal communication, July, 2011).
Dr. Bligh (2006) states, "a transformational leader is someone that transforms the way that people see change and help them see why change is important"(2006, Bligh). It was very important for Mr. Quintana to restore the importance of change because there were so many people that were lacking commitment and also support from the district. The teacher retention was dropping drastically and the district took the necessary steps to change that. The district was not retaining there veteran teachers and teachers across the district were young and inexperienced (D. Gath, personal communication, July, 2011). This in turn contributed to low morale and the low student achievement. There were only five to six teachers at each school with more than seven years of experience. Quintana (2010) stated at a board meeting, "I have never seen such a young staff in a district. What happened to our seasoned staff"(Quintana, personal communication, May, 2010)? The transformation from Dr. Johnson to Joseph Quintana is still in the process of restoring its core values that the district incorporates into every school across the district.
Quintana currently employs many characteristics that many employees respect and for so long thrived for in a leader. He has provided a more positive environment in each school. There are still administrators in the district that don't agree with the way Quintana runs things at GESD because they supported Dr. Johnson and never wanted her to leave. He has put more money into the classrooms and provided teachers with more resources and a effective way of teaching. Dawn (personal communication, July, 2011) stressed, Dr. Johnson chose to put more money into administration costs at the district office, and in return took away from the classrooms. Quintana has restored the hope of teachers and administration and continues to collaborate with everyone to make GESD more successful. GESD is an ever changing organization that continues to strive for student achievement. There are many teachers that are hesitant and resistant towards the changes that have occurred at GESD. Anderson (2010) states: “Resistance is a reaction to the emotions being brought up by uncertainty and fear”(p. 164). Mr. Quintana is willing to face these hurdles and levels of resistance head on and to provide a more successful future for students and employees across the district. If these changes continue to evolve in the right direction, GESD will continue to see growth in student achievement and teacher retention, which they are always striving to reach.
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