Anthony Gianaras

Managing schools FBLA

Drake University

Harding Middle School - Simplifying the creation of master schedules for students.
Background
Harding Middle School is a 6-8th grade building located in the Northeast section of Des Moines.
Harding Middle School serves roughly 800 students and is the largest middle school in Des
Moines Public Schools. Our mission is to provide each students with unique opportunities to
learn and grow.
Challenge
Our teachers and administrators have expressed frustration over the management process of
creating master schedules for students. The process for creating a master schedule is extremely
timely and tedious work. Several of the following processes must be considered by
administrators when creating master schedules: district allocations, student accommodations,
placing students into Infinite Campus, teacher feedback, course offerings, bell schedule times,
creating the schedule itself, adding students with specific accommodations, and following up
with teachers about student placement. These steps will further be outlined and refined through
the utilization of the improvement mapping process.
Solution
A meeting was scheduled with both my principal and vice principal. During that time, all of the
steps involved in creating the master schedule were mapped out and discussed in detail. In total,
seven key steps were identified. The steps are as follows: receive staff allocation, determine
specific student needs, create bell schedule, talk teaching assignments with staff, enter
information (all students and classes taught) into Infinite Campus, begin scheduling students, and
review student schedules. Each step contains several sub-steps, but the most time consuming step
being staff allocations.
We identified the staff allocations component as the most complex and time consuming piece of
the puzzle. During this process the district allocates the amount of full time employees (FTE) for
each building. Currently every building principal meets with the director of middle schools to
determine how each FTE will be utilized and what classes will be offered. Following the FTE
allocation, building Principals critique FTE designations based on who is on their teaching staff
and what courses must be offered per the state’s requirements. After critiquing the FTE
allocations, Principals send their recommendations to the middle school director who approves
their requests and any additional changes to FTE allocations and teaching assignments.
The proposed solution is to give principals more autonomy in requesting FTE allocations.
Instead of having FTE allocations dictated to principals leading to multiple meetings and emails,
the director of middle schools would send out a Google Document to better understand what
teaching designations are needed within each building. Principals can then make requests based
on the specific assignments for their employees and FTE’s can be selected accordingly. This
process will expedite the back and forth of meeting and critiquing FTE allocations. Instead of
assigning and refining, this new process will seek to understand the need before assigning FTE’s,
thus reducing the extensive evaluation that follows staff allocations and speeding up the overall
process of creating a master schedule for students.
Results
This proposal has yet to be implemented because the staff allocation process does not begin until
second semester. However, both my principal and vice principal are in favor of the proposed
solution and will request that the management process improvement be implemented next
semester. According to my principal, creating our student’s master schedules is some of their
most difficult work. There are many intricate steps embedded in this cornerstone feature of all
schools. By focusing on the most time consuming area in the process, we hope to improve the
overall speed and efficiency of master schedule creation.