Davenport school board hears plan for quarterly and annual staff recognition

The Davenport Community School District’s recognition committee presented a proposal at the board meeting to expand how the district recognizes employees, including a quarterly recognition program, expanded annual awards and continued celebration of longtime employees.

The update was delivered during the presentations portion of the meeting by a recognition committee representative and Superintendent Schneckloff. “One of the priorities that President Klein Jerome has for this upcoming school year is putting together a plan for how we're gonna recognize all staff in the Davenport Schools,” Superintendent Schneckloff said. The committee said the goal is “to build a culture of appreciation, build a stronger community amongst our staff, demonstrate our district’s values … and build trust and pride in our community.”

Why it matters: District leaders said more consistent recognition will help nominate outstanding staff for state and national awards in real time and celebrate contributions across job classifications. The district reported receiving more than 300 nominations for the existing Growing Excellence awards this year; committee members said they want to capture achievements as they happen so nominations for external awards can be completed on behalf of staff who may not submit applications themselves.

Key details: The committee proposed a quarterly staff recognition event, selecting one member from each classification unit via internal nominations; an expanded annual recognition in addition to the Growing Excellence awards with categories such as rookie of the year, lifetime achievement/career milestone, student impact and community impact; and continued recognition of employees with 10-, 20- and 30-year service pins at the start-of-year event. The district piloted a retiree breakfast this year — honoring about 60 retirees — and plans to continue it.

The committee also highlighted smaller, regular recognitions: tracking teacher attendance across schools and rewarding top schools (Hayes, Wood and Mid City were named this year) with a superintendent-hosted cookout. Committee members said those efforts reduce substitute usage and reward schools that keep teacher absence rates low.

Discussion vs. decisions: The board discussed and praised the initiative but took no formal action to adopt a new policy or budget at the meeting. Director Potts said the recognition program is “long overdue” and thanked the committee; Director Barnes echoed the praise. Superintendent Schneckloff said the program should help the district prepare nominations for teacher-of-the-year awards at state and national level.

Ending: The committee asked for questions and received none during the meeting; the board signaled support and several members offered public praise during board reflections. The district said it will refine the cadence and nomination process before the next school year.