The stories we’ve heard from the Listening and Learning Tour and through the development of the Transition Team Priority Statements has demonstrated the urgency to chart a new course with our new strategic plan while making thoughtful organizational changes. Incremental change will not get us to where our students need us to be.

Last fall, we partnered with ERS, a national organization known for its expertise in managing public funds in school districts, to assess our organization and identify how we can more efficiently utilize resources in a way that improves educational excellence. We invite you to read the full ERS findings here. These findings will inform our next steps around restructuring and parallel strategic planning. Several of the key findings follow:

• Revisit and revise the theory of action that guides DPS decisions and action. Identify clearer pathways to student success. Broaden opportunities available to our most marginalized students. Direct more resources and better support to students who face the steepest climb.
• Strengthen Central Support to school linkage. Increase coherence within the school district by improving communication between leaders at the Central Office and leaders at school sites. Clearer guidance will enable schools to unleash creativity and continuous improvement.
• Tighten Central Support to schools by ensuring resources align to highest priority. Narrow our priorities. If everything is of equal importance, there are no priorities.
• Go farther to distribute funds equitably to drive greater equity in student experience. Seek (and monitor) equity in distribution of resources between and within schools.
• Set the expectation that school-level improvement plans will address and support district-level goals. Taking this approach can advance collaboration and promote continuous improvement system-wide.
• Re-organize the Central Support staff so functions are more tightly linked to Board of Education policy aims. Form should follow function.
• Align school and Central spending more intentionally to Board-adopted district priorities. Ensure Board-approved Ends Statements are the focal point for school and Central Support expenditures.
• More systematically engage the community in budget formation and budget forecasting. Doing so can lead to more widespread understanding of – and support for – tough decisions.

The Cabinet level positions are made of Office leaders that report directly to, consult and provide information to the Superintendent. They are also members of the District Leadership Team. District Leadership Team (DLT) positions are a cross-functional team previously known as the “Senior Leadership Team”. This change in name shifts focus from leaders as individuals to our collective team leading together. The Executive Director level positions lead departments - groups of teams that report to the Office leaders. For example, the Portfolio Department reports to the Office of the Deputy Superintendent of Schools.

The urgency to find and fill positions has pushed us to recruit aggressively and limit our posting process in order to make swift decisions that support the district’s direction.

Some grant funded positions may be considered as part of the organization, depending on the work’s alignment to the narrowing of our priorities.

We invite you to read the full ERS findings here.

The Office of Equity and Strategy was reevaluated. We want to emphasize the importance of both functions by including and embedding them into existing Offices.

Yes, planning for the Chief of Staff Office is under way and we hope to share more details soon.

Yes, the town hall slides were sent out in the afternoon after the town halls. You can find them here.

In past reorganizations, positions could be assigned to individuals without having to engage in a posting and selection process. With the Equal Pay Act of 2021, we are posting and engaging in an interview selection process for all roles that are promotional opportunities or have a material change.

Centralized services will see shifts that narrow our priorities and give us room to make a higher impact with our shared services to schools. The priorities and strategic planning are being worked on now and we are eager to share updates as soon as they are available.

Yes, many leaders are already scheduling time with teams to discuss the changes and their next steps or vision for moving the work forward. As new information is finalized, new and current leaders will set up time to discuss any changes. 

We know this process takes time - so please reach out to your manager or department leader with any questions or submit them to our question form.

We anticipate having estimated savings by the end of the fiscal year. We will sit down with budget owners in July and build out detailed budgets which will then allow us to calculate actual budgetary savings.

Teams are working hard to finalize the org charts as soon as possible. We expect decisions to be made no later than May 16.

A new process for hiring and posting positions is being rolled out in the next week.  Once this process is in place, hiring for vacant positions may resume with approval from the sponsoring Cabinet member.

Employees have access to a number of resources to support well-being and mental health. You can view them all here

July 1 is the official start date for most new roles. Some newly hired team members will begin transitioning into their new roles before July 1.

Interviews are currently taking place and will continue until selections are finalized. 

Who will conduct the interviews? Interviews are being conducted by newly named Cabinet members. 

All team changes are planned to take effect on July 1. There may be some situations where we will need to move teams before this date to support.

All Executive Directors and above are reapplying to their roles in response to significant team and responsibility changes. Existing positions that are Director or below and have a material change in responsibilities will need to be posted and applied for. New positions that are Director or below that are created in response to new teams or priorities will also need to be posted and applied for. Existing positions that are Director or below and do not have material changes will not be posted and do not require reapplying.

Information on these roles be shared as soon as possible. We do not have final decisions on these roles at this time.

Who will conduct these interviews? In most cases, the direct supervisor for the posted role will conduct the interviews. In some cases where the new direct supervisor has not started yet, we may need to find alternative decision makers or modify timelines. 

Everyone will experience some changes. Potential changes include moving offices, realigning to different departments, changes in titles, changes in responsibilities, new leaders, or new team members. While some roles will be more impacted by others, there are some roles that will not experience any changes. More information regarding specific teams and departments will be shared as soon as possible.

We haven’t started space planning yet, but it’s likely that many team members will move desks.

If you are currently covered by DPS health insurance benefits, your medical coverage will end on the last day of the month in which you leave DPS. You will be sent information on continuing benefits through COBRA, within a month of your termination date. The COBRA effective date is the same date as your first day without coverage from DPS. You will have the option to continue medical, dental, and vision coverage, as well as your Flexible Spending Account (FSA) through COBRA. You have 60 days from the date WageWorks sends out your COBRA enrollment packet to complete and return it. In order to continue your medical, dental and vision benefits under COBRA, you will be required to enroll and pay the full monthly cost plus an additional two percent administrative charge.  Health coverage under COBRA can be continued up to a maximum of 18 months.

Pension Plan (PERA): For information about your pension plan please contact PERA at 303-832-9550, or visit their website at www.copera.org.

Because all individuals potentially subject to the RIF have not yet been identified it is not possible to communicate specific timelines for notice at this time. The District, however, is committed to maximizing the employee notice period to protect affected employees, ease their transition into new employment, and ease the burden on their families. Furthermore, the District intends to provide more notice than the minimum notice required by law to further minimize the disruption to employees and their families.