WGU D022 PEOPLE AND TALENT IN

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP: TASK 1 2025

A1:
George Madison Elementary is losing five general education teachers, therefor these
positions will filled. These positions will be part of the current staffing budget. The positioning
of teachers and grade levels will be shifted as shown below.
The building leadership team has collaborated to discuss school needs and how to
spend the extra $225,000. We have decided to hire a social worker at $86,000, an intervention
specialist at 75,000, and another general ed teacher at $61,000. The intervention specialist will
have the same salary as a teacher with a master's and at least seven years of experience. The
general education teacher will have less than four years of experience and only a bachelor’s
degree. This comes to a total of $222,000.

A2:
With the increase in staffing budget for hiring additional teachers and employees, my
first thought was the number of students enrolled this past year versus the number of students
that will be enrolled. With George Madison Elementary gaining 33 students in the coming year,
we needed to add another general education teacher to have manageable class sizes. Also,
shifting teachers will be needed, but this must be done to ensure teachers teach in grades that
coordinate with their specific licensure. In my state of employment, (Ohio), class sizes have
been a topic of discussion. Many teachers in Columbus Ohio have gone on strike and argue
that class sizes are the main reason. “In Columbus, Ohio, in the fall of 2022, teachers went on
strike to get lower class sizes.” (Flannery, 2024) Keeping classrooms anywhere from 20 to 24
students, allows teachers to have better management, build relationships, hold effective reading
and math groups, and provide sufficient instructional space.

The number of teachers per grade and class sizes are as follows:
Kindergarten- 6 Teachers- 120 students are projected to be enrolled in Kindergarten. To
support all the student's needs at such a young grade, I feel it’s important to have 6 teachers at
this level so that there are 20 students in each class.
First Grade- 5 teachers- 95 students are projected to be enrolled in First grade. With this being
another building block year, it’s important to keep class sizes as low as possible. There would
be 19 students per class.
Second Grade- 5 Teachers- 119 students are projected to be enrolled in Second Grade.
Second-grade classrooms will have the highest number of students at 23-24 per class.
Third Grade- 4 Teachers- With only 86 projected students in Third grade, 4 teachers will be
plenty. This leaves class sizes at 21-22 per class.
Fourth Grade- 4 Teachers- Like Third grade, Fourth grade only has 81 students leaving class
sizes ranging from 20-21 students per class.
Fifth Grade- 5 Teachers- 114 students are projected to be enrolled in Fifth grade. 22-23
students will be in each class.
Social and Emotional needs have become a huge part of education. To support social
and emotional learning (SEL), I feel it’s important to hire a school social worker to work with not
only the students but support teachers as well in ways to meet the needs of all students. “SEL
is a critical life skill that will not only help their personal development but also their academic
performance as well.” (WGU, n.d.) The school social worker will also help RTI students with
behavior needs. This will lead to tier 2 and possible tier 3 interventions to support students and
staff with behavioral issues.
The final hire will be an additional intervention specialist. According to federal law and
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, students with disabilities may not be discriminated against based
on their disability and must have a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). “An
intervention specialist shall serve no more than sixteen children at the elementary, middle, or
junior high school levels.” (Ohio Laws) With the projected enrollment, and to support student's
needs, we will hire a new intervention specialist to survey our students with disabilities.
Instructional space will be important to keep in mind as we are hiring 3 new positions.
Returning teachers will continue to teach from their classrooms as they are all going to be
teaching the same grade. The new general education teacher will also have an independent
classroom as one of the flex spaces. Since the intervention specialist works with a small group,
they may share a room with other intervention specialists or have the other flex space pending
on classroom sizes. Finally, the school social worker will have an office space to support one-
on-one or small-group interactions.
Best staffing practices will be considered while looking for candidates for each new hire.
The needs of the students will remain the top priority when looking for new hires. Also, the
administration will work cooperatively with staff and district officials to recruit and hire new staff.
At least one new hire will have less than 4 years of experience, so mentor teacher(s) from
current staff will need to be determined and committed to helping new hires. The building
leadership team (BLT) will act as a hiring committee to find highly qualified candidates that fit
the needs of the school and students. I will work with the school board, superintendent, and
human resources to ensure that the hiring process is legal and ethical and maintains integrity.
Candidates will be judged solely by their qualifications and how they meet the needs of the
students. All candidates will have equal opportunity based on their Title VII rights.

A2:
All teacher assignments will abide by teacher licensure qualifications.
Kindergarten:
Teachers: 6
Projected number of students: 120

Classroom: Teacher: Number of Students

K01 Kalani 20

K02 Martin 20

K03 Thomas 20

K04 Davies 20

K05 Kim’s Replacement 20

105 Turay’s Replacement 20

First Grade:
Teachers: 5
Projected number of students: 95

Classroom: Teacher: Number of Students

101 Yoshida 19

102 Carbonaro 19

103 Granert 19

104 Miller’s Replacement 19

205 Miesen 19

Second Grade:
Teachers: 5
Projected number of students: 119

Classroom: Teacher: Number of Students

 201 Leipnik 24

202 Williams 24

203 Patel 24

204 Mocellin 24

305 New Hire 23

Third Grade:
Teachers: 4
Projected number of students: 86

Classroom: Teacher: Number of Students

301 Alon 21

302 Gismondi 22

303 Hexner 21

304 Phan 22

Fourth Grade:
Teachers: 4
Projected number of students: 81

Classroom: Teacher: Number of Students

401 Parchen 24

405 Williams 24

403 Sherwin 24

404 Schwartz 24

Fifth Grade:
Teachers: 5
Projected number of students: 114

Classroom: Teacher: Number of Students

501 Seiler 23
 402 Costa’s Replacement 22

502 Johnson 23

503 Garcia’s Replacement 23

504 Piegorcsh 23

B:
Any new hire, including those hired through the additional staffing budget and from
teacher vacancy, will follow the same criteria. All new hires will need to have the educational
requirements and correct licensure that coincide with the position. All new hires through teacher
vacancies will need to have a bachelor's degree and/or master's in education. Also, for new
hires working with students K-3, and 4-5, the licensing requirements must match. For example,
a teacher at the 1st-grade level needs to have at least a pre-K through 3rd-grade level license. I
know licensure requirements change depending on the state and level of education, so I will be
sure to check and double-check license requirements and the status of candidates.
The new general education teacher who is a part of the additional funds will need to
have at least a pre-K through 3rd-grade licensure. To stay on budget, this new hire will only
have a bachelor’s degree with less than four years of teaching experience.
The new intervention specialist will need to have at least a “Bachelor of Science in
Education in Intervention Specialist - Mild/Moderate Educational Needs.” To stay on budget,
this teacher can have a master's degree as well but only five to nine years of teaching
experience.
The social worker will need to have a bachelor’s and/ or master’s degree in social work
and must be a licensed social worker. The amount of experience is not specified in the budget
details, but this would be factored into the decision-making process.
Skills that would be used as part of the selection criteria are as follows:
● Empathy toward children's needs
● Teamwork and collaboration
● Hard-working
● Communication
● Dependability
● Flexibility
● Leadership (Social Worker)
C:
At my school district, the application process starts by posting the job and description.
This is done in a couple of ways. First, the job description is sent to all current employees for
consideration. Then, the job descriptions are posted on the school website and through the
Ohio Department of Education. Each job is posted for a period of time, usually about 2 weeks.
Once all candidates are final, the hiring process begins.
Candidates will screened to ensure they have met all legal and district requirements.
These include education, licensure, background checks, and any other job-specific
requirements. Next, a list of potential candidates is presented to district leaders and school
administrators. In my school district, school administrators can interview candidates and make
final decisions. As the administrator of George Madison Elementary, I will conduct the first
interview along with the superintendent. Before each interview, we will look at resumes and
recommendations for each candidate. During the interview, I will have a list of non-discriminate
questions to ask the candidates. I will also ask the candidates if they have any questions for us.
The superintendent and I will narrow down the candidates based on the best fit for student and
school needs.
Next, I will have a second interview with the remaining candidates. For this interview, I
will include stakeholders such as faculty and staff who will directly work with the candidates.
For example, if we are hiring a new 2nd grade teacher, the 2nd grade staff will be invited to the
interview. I will keep my first interview impressions to myself to let the stakeholders “formulate
their own opinions about each candidate.” (Meador, 2019). After a second interview, I will
collaborate with the stakeholders to rank the candidates in order based on students’ needs and
stakeholders' opinions. This order will be used to make final decisions.

C1:
The interview process will start by ensuring that the candidates have the educational
requirements, licensure, and experience that align with the job description. This will ensure that
we hire someone that legally fits all state and district requirements. Next, the candidate will be
interviewed to evaluate the soft skills mentioned in part B. The evaluation will be done during
the interview but also will use the candidate's resume and past employers' or coworkers'
recommendations. The questions will be non-discriminate and approved by the district
stakeholders to ensure equality and relevance toward the job description.
Comprehensive Notes will be taken during the interview and then rechecked with the
candidate’s references at a later time. (Meador, 2019). The first interview will be with the
superintendent to ensure district policy. Also, as mentioned above, I will keep my first
impressions to myself during the second interview to let the stakeholders gain an unbiased
opinion of the candidates. Federal law will be abided by. Title VII ensures that no candidate is
discriminated against based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Each candidate will
be judged by their ability to complete the job description and support the student’s needs. In
appliance with Ohio law, all applicants shall be considered and given equal employment
opportunity.
Sources

Flannery, Mary Ellen. “Class Sizes: A Growing Issue among Educators.” NEA,
www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/class-sizes-growing-issue-among-educators.
Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.

Meador, Derrick. “10 Strategies for Hiring the Best Teacher.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 25 Feb.
2019, www.thoughtco.com/strategies-for-hiring-a-teacher-3194565.

National Council on Disability (U.S.). (2003). Rehabilitating Section 504. Washington,

DC : National Council on Disability.
https://search-ebscohost-com.wgu.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=edshtl&AN=edshtl.MIU01.102328898&site=eds-live&scope=site

“Rule 3301-51-09: Delivery of Services.” Rule 3301-51-09 - Ohio Administrative Code |

Ohio Laws, codes.ohio.gov/ohio-administrative-code/rule-3301-51-09. Accessed 16 Feb.
2024.

WGU. (n.d.) Cultural Competency and Social-Emotional Learning [SEL]