You might be tempted to think that school administrators would use the summer months to kick back and catch their breath before students return in the fall. If so, you couldn’t be more wrong.

“People say, ‘So what are you going to do now that school’s out?’ We get that all the time,” said Roger Foegen, superintendent of the Bangor School District.

Don Addington, Bangor High School principal has faced similar queries. “People want to know what we do during the summer months,” he said.

Davita Molling, accounts manager for the West Salem School District, worked for La Crosse County Human Services before coming to West Salem last year. “My former co-workers will say: ‘Oh, you’ve got the summer’s off now. No, actually I don’t — it’s our busiest time of the year.”

Nancy Burns, superintendent for West Salem, agreed that summer is the time of year when she has the most to do. She also offers a theory as to why that is not generally recognized: “I think that, while most people understand teaching, they don’t think about all the preparation that has to be done so that a staff can teach — those things don’t just happen.”

Foegen made the same point in a slightly different way. “I think people assume that, because kids aren’t here, that administrators aren’t either. Actually, for a superintendent, the summer is as busy, if not busier than during the school year,” he said.

During the first part of the summer, administrator’s math skills are put to the test because there’s a whole lot of number crunching to be done. School districts are audited every summer so just preparing for an audit can be time consuming. But the yearly audit is just one of many challenges faced by administrators.

Since the school fiscal year runs from July to June, much of June is taken up with wrapping up the budget numbers for the previous year. “We try to close out all last year’s expenses, resolve grant claims, title funds and mini-grants. There are all kinds of special revenues that require special reports,” Mollings said.

“We do a lot of state reports,” Burns added.

“In June I try to get a handle on the previous year’s budget. Have we been frugal? Are there any projects we can do if there is any money left over?” Addington said.

Once the previous year’s budget has been put to bed, there’s no time to relax because the upcoming year’s budget must be submitted for school board approval. Preparing for board meetings takes plenty or preparation as well. “My secretary and I each spend about 20 hours getting ready for board meetings,” Burns said.

While budgets and audits are being checked and double checked, other work must be done as well. With the inevitable resignations and retirements, new staff members need to be hired every year. “We’ve got to do interviews, reference checks and background checks — some jobs you might get 50 or 60 applications,” Foegen said.

Administrators sort through all the applications and interview the most likely candidates. That can be time-consuming, as can be the required reference and background checks — people can be awfully hard to reach by phone during the summer months.

“Plus we (the Bangor school district) are in the midst of a building project, so that just adds to the stress and the workload,” Foegen said.

Last year, in addition to all his other duties in June, Addington had to interview and hire six new teachers.

Another huge part of the summer workload involves ordering books and supplies for the fall. Every teacher turns in a report at the end of the school year detailing what he or she will need for the upcoming school year.

“We have to wait until July 1 when the new fiscal year begins to send in the teacher’s requests,” Mollings said. “That can be a real time crunch. The secretaries are putting through hundreds of purchase orders. If you came to our office, you’d see boxes and boxes of supplies coming in.”

“When the purchase orders for books and materials come in, someone has to check to see if the order got here correctly, and then pay the bills,” Foegen said.

In addition to preparing for an audit, dealing with budget issues, ensuring summer school runs smoothly and the hiring of new employees, administrators are responsible for writing new policy manuals and handbooks for students, parents and staff. They also prepare for the teacher in-service training that takes place in August just before school starts.

Although Bangor Elementary Principal Lois Meinking writes grants for No Child Left Behind, she also uses the summer to reflect on the previous year. “I try to see how we might improve things. I look at test scores and break them down in different ways to see if we can learn anything that way,” she said.

Addington said the nice thing about summer is the relative lack of interruptions. “Usually you can sit and work nonstop, a luxury you don’t have during the school year,” he said. He looks at summer as a time to work on projects he didn’t have time to finish during the school year. This year, he’s working on a database for the school’s keys.

“Too often, no one seems to know who has what key,” Addington said.

In addition to all the responsibilities listed above, there are myriad other things administrators are responsible for during the summer. Things like district safety plans, bus inspections, new staff orientation, student orientations and preparing required reports on summer school.

Bangor’s elementary school addition project and the start of 4-year-old kindergarten in the fall has added to the administrative workload, especially for Meinking. “Besides hiring a new teacher and an assistant, I’ve had to revise tornado plans and fire evacuation plans, then run them by the fire chief and the fire department,” Meinking said.

Meinking also is keeping up with her professional development at home as well. She’s reading a book on leadership lessons and another one called “The Lefthanded Child.” Meinking is going to be a lefty herself for the next couple months after an overactive greeting by her dog recently caused her to fall and break her right elbow. Still, she’s been able to find something positive in the experience, something that just might help her better understand her students. “It’s a really cool book — I’m learning a lot,” she said.

Despite all the work, administrators do try to take some summer time to pursue their own interests. Burns, for example, just returned from a trip to China.

Meinking, who enjoys working in her garden, thinks those kinds of activities are important, too. “If we’re not balanced in life, then it’s going to be hard to be there in August,” she said.

NO VACATION FOR EDUCATION

Sure, it might be summer, but that doesn’t necessarily mean school doors are closed. In fact, the summer can be one of the busiest times for a school district. This is the third article in a series that takes a look at what goes on in districts when school is “out” for the summer.

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