SWOT+Issues+-+Staffing

The compilation of important SWOT issues:  1. SFA must understand and fix the root causes of staff turnover. No matter how it is looked upon, a high turnover rate in SFA staff does not help the school improve or enhance its image.  2. SFA’s operating budget should fund staff’s professional development. There is clearly a need for the faculty members to remain current or better yet, a step ahead in their knowledge of instructional tools, methods, and resources to continually improve their curriculum instruction and articulation.  3. The Administration must effectively communicate to the parents actions taken to resolve conflicts/issues/concerns parents have over teachers’ perceived or factual deficiencies in the classroom. Parents must feel that their input on teacher’s strengths and/or challenges is considered and valued and not just swept away as disgruntled complaints.  4. May need to reduce staff based on declining enrollment.  5. Utilize more parent volunteers as a valuable resource to provide aid to teachers in need.  6. Development Director would benefit school enrollment, marketing, fund-raising, etc  7. Developing an “exit interview” process that will allow the administration to collect real data as to the possible causes of the high staff turn over rate in SFA. This should help to mitigate some of the negative perception experienced by the parents who may be concerned with the higher than normal turn over rate at SFA.  8. Providing the overall result of the exist interviews to the SFA community in order to prevent the perception among parents that there is something wrong with the school or that the faculty are not being treated well by the administration. This will also help to mitigate many of the rumors that begin at SFA upon leaving of a faculty member who may be popular among parents and students.  9. Lack of a system which can allow parents to be provided additional information about the success of a particular curriculum program beyond their own child’s achievement levels as to prevent parents from forming inaccurate perceptions about teaching abilities of the faculty members or the quality of the programs (I.e. Science scores indicate 8th grade students testing at well above grade level. However parents perceive the science program as an area of weakness)  10. Adjust staffing levels to mirror the current student levels. In 1999-2000 our census was 485 and a staff of 44. This year our staff is 57 and a census of 506. Not a good ratio trend.  11. Hire a Development Director that can help grow the census and therefore help staffing ratios  12. Decrease over-time pay and substitute pay by improving sick/ illness statistics.  13. Teacher qualifications: Hire qualified teachers with California Teaching Credentials, technological competency skills and Catechist certified; otherwise it hurts the school in moving forward.  14. Build unity within the staff, decrease stress and pressure felt by staff, avoid teacher burnout at this school. Evaluate the extras programs or activities that are in the school that causes the teachers to lose instruction time with classes (this is a negative among staff).  15. Professional growth investment in employees for higher quality teachers and longevity. Encourage the teachers to become active members of professional organizations within the educational field.  16. Staffing has stayed at the same levels even though enrollment has decreased <span style="mso-list: Ignore; msofareastfontfamily: 'Book Antiqua'; msobidifontfamily: 'Book Antiqua'; msolist: Ignore;"> 17. Staff support and fellowship … a happy staff is creative, excited about learning and stays <span style="mso-list: Ignore; msofareastfontfamily: 'Book Antiqua'; msobidifontfamily: 'Book Antiqua'; msolist: Ignore;"> 18. Professional development <span style="mso-list: Ignore; msofareastfontfamily: 'Book Antiqua'; msobidifontfamily: 'Book Antiqua'; msolist: Ignore;"> 19. Staff-student ratios.