Posted on 04/23/2002 12:23:45 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
In a rare move for a school district, Orange County schools will soon hire a public advocate to answer questions and help direct students, parents and employees.
School Superintendent Ron Blocker said Monday he will create an ombudsman position as part of an effort to make the district more accountable.
"Some folks may be intimidated by our size or may not know how to navigate the district," the superintendent said.
The position was first suggested by Blocker's accountability committee in November as one of 10 steps that could build public confidence in the district's ability to spend tax dollars wisely. The district wants voters to support a Sept. 10 tax-increase referendum that would pay for more than $2 billion in school improvements.
"It's a wonderful thing," said committee co-chairman Dick Batchelor"This could help parents and anyone else get answers and find their way through a bureaucracy."
Few school districts have an ombudsman. Seminole County appointed one in 1993, but a decade later, the duties have become part of another district position.
"It is not a very popular position with employees or administrators," said John Reichert, who had been Seminole's ombudsman and now oversees human resources for the school district. "You had to come up with some decisions that were not very popular."
As the former ombudsman, Reichert handled dozens of complaints daily, mostly from parents and district employees. Parents often questioned school suspensions, and employees
had complaints ranging from charges of pay inequities to complaints of co-workers stealing school property, he said.
Other school districts that have hired ombudsmen include Chicago; Chesapeake, Va.; Montgomery County, Md.; and Poway, Calif.
"It's certainly not a national trend but you see it from time to time," said Renee Williams Hockaday, spokesperson for the National School Boards Association. "It's something we don't see a lot."
Blocker said he hopes to have picked an ombudsman by July. With the creation of the new position, the superintendent has agreed to most of the suggestions made by the accountability committee.
The district will be establishing oversight committees for everything from food services to security; hiring an auditor to assist the committees; hiring consultants to revise the way the district plans new schools; enlisting parents to inspect schools for maintenance problems; and sending an annual report to the public.
But the district has not embraced the suggestion to create a committee that would oversee the way the district would spend more than $2 billion from a proposed sales-tax referendum.
The oversight committee is critical to keep tax opponents from fighting the sales tax increase, said anti-tax crusader Doug Guetzloe, co-chairman of the accountability committee.
"I've made it clear that this is the deal breaker," said Guetzloe, who helped defeat a similar referendum in 1997.
Mary Shanklin can be reached at mshanklin@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5538.
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