Beginning today, Aug. 1, a new leadership structure is in place for Virginia Beach City Public Schools. Notably, former Deputy Superintendent Sheila S. Magula will serve as interim superintendent.

Magula will hold this post until the School Board appoints a successor for former Superintendent James G. Merrill. Watch for updates in Kaleidoscope as the School Board seeks input on the qualities the public and VBCPS staff want in its new leader. In the near future, we will explain how you, as staff members, can weigh in during the search process.

On the more immediate front, a number of other changes have been made at the leadership level, resulting in new faces in some longstanding positions, some key administrators moving from one position to another and a few changes in departmental names and individual titles. What was formerly known as the Superintendent’s Cabinet has evolved into a two-level approach to leadership. At the senior level is an Executive Leadership Team (ELT), which ultimately will be responsible for implementing the direction of the School Board and ensuring compliance with state and federal mandates. The second level is the Leadership Support Team (LST), which is comprised largely of directors who supervise schools, curriculum development and implementation, special education services and student leadership services. A new leadership team page and organizational chart are now posted on vbschools.com. However below is a quick overview of some of the changes:

• The Department of School Administration is now the Department of School Leadership with more resources specifically dedicated to the elementary level. The intent is to strengthen the connection between schools and the central office so communication improves considerably.
• The Department of Curriculum and Instruction is now the Department of Teaching and Learning. This name change was made to more accurately reflect our core business. In addition, its new organizational structure reflects feedback leadership has received from schools that indicated a clear preference for support offered by school level versus the previous cross-curricular teams approach.
• The Department of Educational Leadership and Assessment is now the Department of Planning, Innovation and Accountability. This department will still seek to strike the difficult balance between enforcing state and federal regulations that govern our day-to-day work and serving as the spark that drives and shepherds the work of Compass to 2015.  Specifically, its operational changes include the supervision of the Office of Programs for Exceptional Children and ensuring that a staff member now will be dedicated full time to innovation and strategic planning
• Other department names and executive level leadership titles have been changed to be more reflective of the language of today’s workplace.

VBCPS leadership realizes some staff members may have questions about this reorganization as some programs, functions and supporting personnel may be in different places than where they were under the previous organizational structure. In the near future, more information will be posted on the School Leadership Sharepoint site on vbcps.com. In the meantime, those who have questions may contact any member of the ELT or LST and they will help you accordingly.