Thursday will be a memorable evening as fans along the path around the Falls will see several names for the very last time on the back of an official Green Bay Packers jersey. A number of aspiring NFL players will have their last shot at making the team before the next roster cut. Decisions were made after Friday’s game. A number of players were sent packing, and a few new faces were brought in to shore up some of the weak spots before things get serious with the regular season.
Not unlike the Packers, Wisconsin school superintendents will shortly find themselves in the regular season. What some might call less meaningful preseason activity will be behind us. In reality, as the Packers coaches would confirm, preseason activity can have a critical impact on whether a team makes the playoffs and a chance to contend for the Lombardi trophy. Preseason is about personnel and putting together a game plan. Sometimes the game plan is determined by outside forces, but personnel matters usually are a local responsibility.
There’s a perception this year of many more last-minute personnel shifts in the education field. For the Packers, the kicking staff was one area that drew extra attention over the weekend. For school people, leadership positions and specialized teaching areas seemed to be some more unsettled. A couple of factors come into play. First, with leadership positions, one move usually results in a domino effect. Once one vacancy is filled, it can create another vacancy in a neighboring district or an internal need to restructure if a position is filled from within.
A second factor has to do with the “free agency” concept that expanded from the sports world to the education arena. With the recent changes in public employee bargaining rights, for many districts there is more flexibility, while at the same time educator compensation has plateaued. Some districts have found that in order to fill certain specialized teaching positions, extra “signing bonuses” or higher starting salaries need to be paid. Some educators go back to their current employers with new offers in hand to renegotiate their pay.
That never was an option under the old rules with a master contract agreement. “The one for all and all for one” philosophy has in some cases been replaced with something much different as a seller’s market has emerged in some fields of education.
Given these situations, in many districts that starting roster for the regular season has a few empty spots or names written in pencil. At this point, the Oconto Falls School District is set for opening day.
As we wrap up the preseason, one of the most important aspects is to get the new teachers off to a great start. A very deliberate three-day orientation is held, with additional sessions throughout the school year.
It is always satisfying to see these new-to-the-profession or new-to-the-district educators start with the district.
One of the elements of orientation is to provide a tour of the district and the school buildings. This year we welcomed three Oconto Falls High School graduates to our crew of new teachers. It was interesting to listen to them as we toured a number of the buildings. They had personal experiences to share from when they were students. Two of them had been at the high school when we experienced the fire in December 2001 and could really relate to the impact the event had on staff and students.
It was also very satisfying to know that these OFHS grads are outstanding teachers and will help continue the great work in our schools. It is a credit to where they came from, but more importantly, what they did after they crossed that graduation stage as they prepared for a career in the education field.
Ultimately, we are at the end of the preseason for the school year, and things will really pick up after the Labor Day weekend. This season we won’t be playing with hopes that we could come home with the Lombardi trophy, but hopes that we can give the students the inspiration to do great things in life.
We know that three of those former students will do some great things as we start the new school year. We are glad to see these three names, along with the other new teachers’ names, stitched on the backs of this year’s official Oconto Falls educator jerseys as we are about to start the regular season.
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