Analyze and Reflect

First

What is the process used to develop or update policy?

Mr. Knaack replied, “The mayor would take an idea and he would meet with my administration, then we would look at that with our attorney and we bring it to city council and if the city council agrees, then I would have a city council agree to a policy and that's our policy gets me” (R. Knaack, personal communication March 25, 2019).

How are the constituents of the organization involved in the process?

“Since you are involved by first of all electing people to handle all the different business in the city of Menomonie and so the constituents are my voters and they give me directions on what direction they like to see, they like to see the lake clean, the downtown revitalizing and busy again, they like to see friendlier police officers, they like to see single-family homes, and affordable housing. So, all those things that constituents would bring to the mayor’s office or to city council members and then when we get to a subject matter that's on the agenda comes up then. Constituents of people from the Menomonie can come either for public hearing if it's like a big building project or for public comments about agenda items for the evening at a city council meeting” (R. Knaack, personal communication March 25, 2019).

How often is policy evaluated, reviewed and updated?  Why?

“Usually when there something that would say to us that the stop sign needs to be changed or we could save a lot of money if we went to 12 hour shifts for a police officer instead of the eight-hour shifts. So, all policies are looked at kind of as the come up resulting of something else that that brings them forward but otherwise our policy manual for employees is look at ever year handbook but as far as general policies and ordinances with in the city you know they are only looked at periodically when there's an issue otherwise I think they are pretty standard” (R. Knaack, personal communication March 25, 2019).

What is unique about the organization’s policies?

“I can create a policy and put it forward to the city council if they voted into policy and make it a part of our rules, or it could be anything, but it might be one of those rules that you know even the mayor has to abide by the rules. So, for instance if I have a policy where I am going to put a four way stop sign and someplace used to be a yield sign well the mayor still has to stop at the four-way sign even though you know it was his idea. it goes by organization, the police have their policies, the fire department has their polices, and our street cleaning people they have their policies are water department has their policies kind of broke down by department to a little bit different policies but it does fall on the mayors plate to take a look at policies” (R. Knaack, personal communication March 25, 2019).

What is missing or inadequate about the organization’s policies?

“I think when you have bad leadership, like if you have you have a bad mayor or a bad city council, I think policies maybe are not always as good for the citizens as they could be. So, it's important for people to get out and vote for what they think is a good representative of what their values are” (R. Knaack, personal communication March 25, 2019).

Second

What is the process used to develop or update policy?

We use guidelines put in place by the MN Department of Human Services and the MN

Health Department.

How are the constituents of the organization involved in the process?

Once we have decided that we need to update or develop a new policy as recommended by the Minnesota Department of Health the owner and the two directors of Noah’s Ark along with the accountant work on the policy together using the guidelines given to us. We are a small business, so we do not have a board of directors or other governing body that create the policies and guidelines for the center. The four of us create together and then the information is passed on to the employees through myself (the director).

How often is policy evaluated, reviewed, and updated? Why?

Policy is evaluated yearly or if there has been an incident that may require us to look closer at our policies then we will do it as needed. We do parent surveys twice a year to get input from the parents as to what we may want to change. Policies are also evaluated by the Health Department and MN Department of Human Services. Typically, the Health Department does a yearly evaluation and the Department of Human Services has done an evaluation every two years. Although, beginning this year the MN Department of Human Services will be conducting yearly evaluations. NAEYC also, evaluates our program for Re-certification of Accreditation every five years. I feel it is important to get the necessary updates and be evaluated in order to ensure

that your program is following all of the necessary guidelines.

What is unique about the organization’s policies?

One thing that stands out to me about our policies is that we use the Department of Human Services as a guideline to ensure we are following the rules and guidelines to operate a child development center in the state of Minnesota however we are a privately-owned organization and we only have 2 centers. The director answers directly to the owner of Noah’s Ark and together they create policies and procedures. It is a family run business and families feel that when they enter the building.

What is missing or inadequate about the organization’s policies?

One thing that I wish we could do, is review policies with staff more than just once or twice a year. I feel that I give frequent reminders that get forgotten or not taken as seriously as they should which, can sometimes be frustrating as a director.

1- Analyze policy development of the two organizations through discussing similarities and differences.

 

2- Reflect on your learning and summarize your reflection using the following questions:

What have you learned that will impact your leadership development?

How have the interviews influenced next steps for you in your development as an educational leader?