Drakulich grades herself a 'C' in superintendent evaluation

After eight months on the job, Sisters School District superintendent Elaine Drakulich grades her job performance a "C." School Board chairman Mike Gould agrees with this rating; other board members give her higher marks.

Board members reviewed superintendent Drakulich's performance at their regular meeting on Tuesday, March 11. For the most part the board responded to the self-evaluation that Drakulich crafted about herself.

"I am putting more weight on my observations versus Elaine's observations," said board member Tom Dumolt. "What I have seen in Elaine is that she has had a lot to learn and has done so. She has taken the interest to learn all the little things that are going on."

Board member Jeff Smith said that the district was fortunate to to hire Drakulich.

"As I look at the candidates that other school districts have for their superintendent positions, I'm not speaking of Bend, we are in so many ways a blessed community to have some body with Elaine's professional qualifications.... She knows what she is doing," Smith said.

"She provides good leadership for the board as we interact with her. Her Key Communicators are interesting and widely read throughout the community. She is in the schools, and I think more importantly she is in the classrooms. She is evaluating teachers, which is a luxury in a district of this size. I didn't give her expectations at the outset, so I don't have anything to measure her against. In a pass/fail, she indeed gets a pass."

According to board member Christine Jones, Drakulich stepped into a situation with many things to clean up.

"She has done a great job bringing the district into compliance," said Jones. "I really appreciate how much Elaine has tried to go out into the community and make herself a part of the community and communicate with the community. ... I think Elaine has rated herself far too harshly. ... I think I would give you an 'A-minus,'" Jones said.

Board vice-chairman Glen Lasken said that Drakulich embodies most everything the district could hope for in a superintendent. She has "...an understanding of education, an ability to communicate with educators and to lead, a passion for children and for education and community, a work ethic. Perhaps the most important is just her real intelligence," said Lasken. "The thing that made me smile was her grading herself as a 'C.' It's clearly not a 'C.' I'm with Chris (Jones) that it's an 'A-minus.' But the fact that she would look at her performance and say, 'I can do better,' means a lot."

Chairman Gould stated that when Drakulich took the superintendency, it was the most difficult superintendent job in the state of Oregon, with very high expectations in academics, athletics, vocational arts and arts and music.

"And the first thing that you get when you walk into the job is someone's else's budget. I'm most appreciative of the repair work that you've done for the district's culture and its procedures," Gould said.

Next Gould made some specific suggestions. "I would like to see you have a personal touch that is more consistent with our small community's values. We expect personal service. One of the things I would encourage you to consider is to call rather than e-mail. I would encourage you to request meetings personally instead having Mary (Clark, Drakulich's administrative assistant) arrange the meeting, and I think that you should be quicker to get stakeholders to situations around the table," Gould said.

"I think it is interesting that you graded yourself a 'C.' I think 'C' is right, too. It is the grade you deserve in relation to what you are capable of. I don't think we've seen the best of what you can do," said Gould.

Drakulich told The Nugget her evaluation "was very fair. I have done a lot of things this year, accomplished a lot, but from my perspective it's setting the groundwork to really fulfill that full circle and the work with the community. It's a good start but no where an 'A' in my opinion. The 'C' is where I am in comparison to where I think this district will be very soon and the pieces I need to do to move the district."