Committed to Community Coalescence.

About the time he emerged as the leading contender for the superintendency of the Westside Community Schools in Omaha, Neb., Kenneth Bird was putting the finishing touches on a doctoral dissertation that essentially advanced his own case for the job.

His study, examining superintendency transitions over a 10-year period in the Westside district, established a process for how the school board could ensure a smooth transition in superintendent leadership. In essence, Bird handed board members a statement of their responsibilities.

"I wanted to send a message to the board they were doing the right thing, providing continuity, stability, and the belief our system was moving on the right track," says Bird, who was elevated from associate superintendent in September 1992 when the board decided to forgo an outside search. Shortly thereafter, Bird received his Ph.D. from University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

School board members apparently received the advice in the spirit it was delivered. Shari Hofschire, a board member for nine years, says of Bird: "He doesn't overwhelm you with a physical presence or a powerful demanding voice."

What impresses her most about the superintendent is his knack for getting various stakeholders to coalesce around his vision for the school district. "He did it long before the so-called (participatory management) trend. He does it by nature," she says.

A product of the Westside schools, Bird, who turns 47 this month, has spent virtually his entire professional career in Westside, save for a seven-year administrative hitch with the Nebraska Department of Education's special education branch.

That longevity in the 4,700-student district offers him deep and abiding insights into community thinking. At the same time, Bird concedes it also leads occasionally to tunnel vision--something he consciously tries to avoid through involvement on statewide professional boards and an active schedule of speaking engagements nationally.

Many of his presentations deal with special education, a field in which he has taken national leadership as president of the Council of Administrators in Special Education. He says his years in special education "gave me a broader picture--personnel, budgets, legal compliance, close involvement with parents, and most importantly the unique differences and needs of children. ... It helped me shape how we serve students."

In his short time as superintendent, Bird has overseen the addition of seven instructional days to Westside's school calendar at a cost of $120,000 per day. He has his eye on a 200-day school year by the year 2000, though he concedes local parents aren't yet willing to accept a school year that begins the first of August.

Bird also has moved the school district's reach into a low-income housing complex, where a family education center that opened in 1993 provides nearly 200 youngsters with access to computers, a quiet after-school study environment, a certified teacher, and adult volunteers. Programs on parenting skills and computer use are offered to their parents.

The school district is piloting a performance-based assessment system this year for ninth graders. Before they graduate, they will be required to collect examples of their writing and document their skills in problem solving, teamwork, creativity, and appreciation for community service. Bird recognized the sensitive nature of including the latter abilities in the portfolios, so the district moved cautiously over three years to ensure plenty of parental involvement in the development process.

"We wanted to dispel [the perception] this was a watering down of standards and a moving own of the mean," says Bird.

Bob Doyle, a Westside parent who has served on several districtwide advisory committees, says Bid's careful approach into new ventures has impressed him at a time when other school communities in Nebraska have been embroiled in controversy over outcome-based reforms. "He's progressive without going off the deep end," Doyle says.

For his part, Bird admits he is amazed at how much he deals with individual concerns and questions. This growing demand on his time is fueled in part by the public's scorn of all government institutions.

"There's a feeling out there of bypassing the process and going all the way to the top to get your issue on the table," Bird says. "You can't ignore the cynicism, that this too will pass. We will never be allowed tat luxury again."