From staff reports
For those who aren’t sure what sort of job Frank Rodriguez is doing as the Superintendent of the Beaufort County School District in a difficult time, according to the school board, he was better in his second year on the job than he was the first year.
The Beaufort County Board of Education just completed its second annual evaluation of Dr. Rodriguez on the 2020-2021 school year and released the results Thursday, Oct. 28.
Rodriguez earned a total composite score of 3.72, which falls in the “highly effective overall” range. His composite score increased from 3.31 last year.
The 2020-2021 Superintendent Annual Evaluation Instrument was developed and modified to include coronavirus pandemic-related adjustments by the Board’s Ad Hoc Results Committee and was approved by the Superintendent and the Board as a whole. The Evaluation Instrument for this year included 37 questions in the following five components of Professional Practice and each component was assigned a weighted value:
– Governance & Board Relations: 20 percent
– Community Relations: 15 percent
– Staff Relations: 15 percent
– Business & Finance: 20 percent
– Instructional Leadership: 30 percent
Scoring choices for each question were 1 for ineffective, 2 for minimally effective, 3 for effective and 4 for highly effective.
Each of the 11 Board of Education members completed individual evaluations, which were collated into a composite score and shared with the Superintendent and the Board. The average scores for each component for Rodriguez were:
– Governance & Board Relations: 3.70
– Community Relations: 3.73
– Staff Relations: 3.69
– Business & Finance: 3.76
– Instructional Leadership: 3.73
Taking into account the weighted value of each component, Rodriguez earned a total composite score of 3.72, which falls in the high effective range.
The Highly Effective range is from 3.26 to 4.0; Effective is 2.56 to 3.25; Minimally Effective is 1.76 to 2.50; and Ineffective is 1.0 to 1.75.
Rodriguez improved his performance in all five components of Professional Practice, when compared to the prior year’s evaluation. The component scores for the current 2020-2021 evaluation ranged from 3.69 to 3.76, whereas they ranged from 3.17 to 3.50 on the 2019-2020 evaluation. Overall, his composite score increased to 3.72 this year from 3.31 last year.
“The Board of Education congratulates Dr. Frank Rodriguez on his highly effective performance rating leading the Beaufort County School District in the 2020-2021 school year despite the unprecedented challenge of having to accommodate for the effect of the coronavirus pandemic in nearly every aspect of running the District,” Board Chair Dr. Christina Gwozdz wrote in her summary of the Board’s evaluation. “Instruction to students was delivered simultaneously in multiple modalities – virtual, in-person and hybrid learning environments – which had never been previously necessary. Hard work, effective leadership, flexibility and innovation by our Superintendent guided the District through this enormous challenge.
“In addition, Dr. Rodriguez is successfully overseeing the construction projects of the $344 million referendum passed in 2019.
“The Board sincerely thanks Dr. Rodriguez for his many efforts and for his dedication and commitment to the District.”
