Schools Division Office Functions: OSDS, CID and SGOD

A Schools Division Office (SDO) is the office of the Schools Division Superintendent, the official who holds authority over the public and private schools of a province or city under Republic Act No. 9155. The law gives the superintendent “at least one assistant schools division superintendent and an office staff for programs promotion, planning, administrative, fiscal, legal, ancillary and other support services” (Sec. 7(C)). Since DepEd Order No. 52, s. 2015, that staff has been organized into three offices: the Office of the Schools Division Superintendent (OSDS), the Curriculum Implementation Division (CID) and the School Governance and Operations Division (SGOD).

What each of the three produces is written in DepEd’s Office Functions, Version 3, released on May 5, 2023 by Memorandum DM-HROD-2023-0617. In brief, the OSDS runs the division: its plans, money, personnel, records, legal work and information systems. The CID looks after instruction, learning assessment and learning resources. The SGOD looks after school planning, school-based management, staff development, partnerships, facilities, learner support, and the papers of schools that open, convert or close.

The sheets describe work. They hold no power of their own. Who appoints, approves, disciplines or grants a permit is fixed by RA 9155, by its implementing rules in DepEd Order No. 1, s. 2003, and by the order on each subject. Many papers that pass through a division section are decided by the superintendent or by the Regional Director. As of November 13, 2026, Version 3 is the latest statement of the division offices’ functions, and DO 52, s. 2015 still sets their structure.

Key findings

• Three offices, one authority. RA 9155 gives the division’s powers to the Schools Division Superintendent (Sec. 7(C)). DO 52, s. 2015 arranges the superintendent’s staff as the OSDS, the CID and the SGOD (Encl. No. 2).
• The three sheets hold 19 key result areas, 67 objectives and 198 outputs. The OSDS sheet has 7 key result areas, counting the four parts of “SDO Management” separately; the CID sheet has 5 and the SGOD sheet 7 (Office Functions, Version 3).
• Version 3 is a management document, not a DepEd Order. The memorandum that released it says the sheets “will form part of the QMS Operations Manual” and guide each office’s operational plan, its Office Performance Commitment and Review (OPCR) and each employee’s Individual Performance Commitment and Review (IPCR) (DM-HROD-2023-0617).
• A section prepares; the superintendent or the Regional Director decides. The superintendent appoints teachers and school heads (RA 9155, Sec. 7(C)(3); DO 1, s. 2003, Sec. 4.3). The Regional Director approves new schools, grants private school permits and decides administrative cases against teachers (RA 9155, Sec. 7(B)(13); DepEd Order No. 88, s. 2010, Secs. 28 and 30.4; DepEd Order No. 49, s. 2006, Sec. 1).
• Small divisions have fewer units. Legal and information and communication technology (ICT) positions exist only in medium, large and very large divisions, and in small divisions the work of the Social Mobilization and Networking Section is merged with School Management Monitoring and Evaluation (DO 52, s. 2015, Encl. Nos. 1 and 4).
• The district supervisor has no sheet. DO 52, s. 2015 places District Instructional Supervision in the CID, and the word “district” appears nowhere in the three sheets. The supervisor’s functions are in RA 9155, Sec. 7(D).
• Three rules have changed under the sheets since May 2023. School-based management no longer has levels of practice for the division to validate (DepEd Order No. 007, s. 2024). Every SDO is to have a Mental Health and Well-Being Office (Republic Act No. 12080, Sec. 5). Division lawyers now report functionally to the Undersecretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs (DepEd Order No. 021, s. 2025).

What a Schools Division Office is

A division, in the words of the Act, “shall consist of a province or a city”. The SDO is the staff the Act gives its superintendent, and it works under the superintendent’s authority.

The Act lists eight things the superintendent has “authority, accountability and responsibility” for, each “Consistent with the national educational policies, plans and standards” (Sec. 7(C); DO 1, s. 2003, Sec. 4.2). The table sets each beside the office whose Version 3 sheet carries the work.

The implementing rules add the two powers that school heads meet most often. The superintendent “shall appoint the Division supervisors and school district supervisors as well as all employees in the division, both teaching and non-teaching personnel, including school heads, except for the assistant schools division superintendent”. And the superintendent “shall have disciplinary authority only over the non-teaching personnel under his jurisdiction” (DO 1, s. 2003, Sec. 4.3). Teachers and school heads are disciplined by the Regional Director or the Secretary. Who Decides What in DepEd? sets the five levels of the Act side by side.

Three documents therefore answer three different questions.

Above the SDO is the Regional Office, which evaluates the superintendent and approves the division’s staffing pattern (RA 9155, Sec. 7(B)(8) and (10)). DO 52 calls the Office of the Schools Division Superintendent the office that “provides local management and administration of the Department’s mandate at the schools division level” (par. 7(d.2)). The Regional Office post and the Central Office post cover the two levels above.

The offices inside a Schools Division Office

The approved structure is a chart in Enclosure No. 2 of DO 52, s. 2015. Enclosure No. 1 lists the same offices with what became of the older ones.

The CID and the SGOD are the functional divisions (DO 009, s. 2021, Part IX.A). The administrative, finance, legal and ICT units have no division of their own: they sit under the superintendent. That is why Version 3 has three sheets for the SDO and not a sheet for each unit. Finance, personnel, records, legal and ICT work appear as parts of one key result area, “SDO Management”, in the OSDS sheet.

What differs by division size

SDOs “shall be classified as small, medium, large, or very large”, and the class “will also determine the minimum staffing complement” (DO 52, s. 2015, par. 10). Three differences are written into the order.

In a small division, ask the OSDS who has been designated for legal and ICT concerns, since the order requires the services but gives the units no positions. Partnership concerns there go to the School Management Monitoring and Evaluation Section.

The number of school districts is one of the criteria for a division’s size class. Since August 18, 2021, DepEd has held all requests for redistricting and for “SDO size reclassification” until a new redistricting policy is issued (DepEd Memorandum No. 057, s. 2021, par. 3). As of November 13, 2026, no DepEd order or memorandum has lifted the hold.

The counterpart offices above each section

Enclosure No. 3 of DO 52 pairs each division unit with a regional and a Central Office counterpart. The pairing shows which regional and national offices a section works under for its programs. The names are those of 2015.

For learner support, the enclosure adds that “all units under SGOD may be mobilized for learner support programs and activities”. The Internal Audit Service and the Project Management Service have “no direct counterpart in the field offices”.

What Office Functions, Version 3 is

On May 5, 2023, Undersecretary Gloria Jumamil-Mercado, for Human Resource and Organizational Development, sent Regional Directors and Schools Division Superintendents a one-page memorandum with the subject “DepEd RO & SDO Office Functions Version 3”. It reads:

“These documents will form part of the QMS Operations Manual and shall also serve as a guide in the preparation of the Office Operational Plan, wherein the priorities of the office for the current year will be translated into their Organization Performance and Commitment Review (OPCR) and in accomplishing the Individual Performance and Commitment Review (IPCR).”

The memorandum adds that “any future revisions on the RO & SDO functions must be coursed through the BHROD – OED”, the Organization Effectiveness Division of the Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development. Its link to the sheets is for official DepEd email accounts.

Every sheet has the same parts: the office’s name and governance level, a statement of purpose, outcomes with their outcome indicators, and key result areas, each with objectives, outputs and output indicators.

The OSDS sheet names four key result areas, and one of them, “SDO Management”, has four parts that are counted separately here, as in the explorer above. One key result area, “Office Administration and Performance Management”, is in all three sheets.

The sheets carry no targets, no deadlines and no penalties. They create no positions and move no item from one office to another. A sheet says what an office is for and what it turns out. It leaves the rule on each subject to the order that governs the subject.

What each of the three offices is for

Office of the Schools Division Superintendent

The OSDS sheet states the purpose of the whole division office:

“The Schools Division Office (SDO) ensures the promotion of equity in access and continuously improves the quality of basic education in the schools division through leading in the development and implementation of the Division Education Development Plans (DEDP) consistent with the national and regional educational policies, plans and standards, building partnerships and networking with stakeholders of education, and effectively and efficiently managing the financial, human, and physical resources of the schools division”

Its five outcomes cover the whole division: schools and learning centers that implement a curriculum compliant with quality standards; a child-friendly and healthy environment; public and private schools recognized, recommended or given permits; administrative, financial and legal services for all; and funds used efficiently.

Its key result areas show how the office is built.

The first two key result areas repeat, for the whole SDO, the subjects of the two divisions. Financial management is one objective with 13 outputs and 22 output indicators, the longest list under any objective in the three sheets. Legal services has eight objectives. Open the OSDS sheet for the full text.

Curriculum Implementation Division

“The Curriculum Implementation Division continuously improves the management of curriculum implementation in the schools and learning centers towards the achievement of quality basic education.”

It has two outcomes: schools and learning centers that “can implement the curriculum effectively and efficiently”, and that “can continuously improve management of instruction for the attainment of desired learning outcomes”.

The CID’s Education Program Supervisors are the division supervisors whose role RA 9155 wants strengthened “as subject area specialists” (Sec. 7(C)(5)). Open the CID sheet.

School Governance and Operations Division

“The School Governance and Operations Division (SGOD) supports and capacitates schools and Learning Centers in ensuring a safe and conducive learning environment and compliant to policies and quality standards of Governance and Operations.”

Its three outcomes are schools that “effectively and efficiently deliver education services”, personnel who are “competent in performing their respective duties and functions”, and schools that “maintain a safe and conducive learning environment”.

The SGOD sheet has the most outputs and output indicators of the three: 83 and 103. Open the SGOD sheet.

The seven key result areas follow the SGOD’s sections without naming them. Planning and Research Management matches the Planning and Research Section; Community Level Linkages and Partnerships, the Social Mobilization and Networking Section; Human Resource Development, the section of that name. Quality Assurance and Provision of Technical Assistance carry what DO 52 gave School Management Monitoring and Evaluation. The sheet itself does not say which section carries which key result area.

Who handles what in the division office

The table lists what school heads and teachers most often bring to the SDO. The third column names the key result area in the Version 3 sheet. The last column says where the decision lies when it is not the section’s to make. The sections named are those of DO 52, s. 2015; a division may assign the work to a named focal person.

To find any other subject, search every sheet in the explorer above: “liquidation”, “permit” or “LIS” will show the office, the objective and the output.

Several of these subjects have guides of their own: the SIP, school MOOE, the school head’s part in hiring and personnel work, school-based management, the research management guidelines, BERF grants, learning action cells and administrative cases and grievances.

Three patterns in the table

The SGOD receives most school papers. Plans, statistics, SBM, facilities, health, DRRM, partnerships and the papers of new schools all enter there. When unsure where a concern about school operations belongs, start with the SGOD.

Money and appointments stay in the OSDS. Finance and personnel are not sections of either division. A question about a cash advance or an appointment paper goes to the accounting, budget, cash or personnel unit under the superintendent.

For some papers, the division evaluates and the region decides or confirms. The last column of the table marks them. The SGOD sheet says as much in one of its own indicators: “Number of schools endorsed for establishment/conversion/closed and approved by RO”.

A current example is the recognition of private senior high schools. Under DepEd Order No. 012, s. 2026, the school files at the SDO, and “The RO shall not accept applications from private SHSs in any manner.” The SGOD checks and validates the documents within ten working days. A team of regional and division staff inspects, with the regional Quality Assurance Division and the SGOD as required members. The superintendent endorses the evaluation report to the region, and the Regional Director signs the approval or denial (Part VII).

Where a sheet’s wording meets a law or order

Five lines in the sheets need to be read beside the rule that governs them.

1. “Public and private schools and learning centers are recognized/recommended/given permit to operate” (OSDS, third outcome). The SDO evaluates and recommends. The authority to approve the establishment of schools is the Regional Director’s (RA 9155, Sec. 7(B)(13)), and for private schools “Grant of Recognition shall be decided by the Regional Director” (DO 88, s. 2010, Sec. 32(e)). The outcome’s own indicator uses the narrower words: schools “evaluated and recommended”.
2. “Approved OPCRF, DEDP/SIP/AIP” (OSDS; the SGOD sheet has a similar line). DO 44, s. 2015 requires a school only to submit its SIP to the SDO. Approval by the superintendent comes from a 2018 Central Office procedure that divisions may adapt; the SIP guide has the steps. The sheet counts approved plans; it is not the source of the approval step.
3. “List of schools validated per SBM Level of Practice” and “Number of schools with improved SBM Level of Practice” (SGOD, Quality Assurance). DO 007, s. 2024, issued a year after the sheets, repealed DO 83, s. 2012 and its levels of practice. DO 007 governs: the SGOD leads technical assistance and monitors compliance, and validates no level.
4. “To conduct investigations of complaints against teaching personnel as may be delegated by the Regional Office (RO)” (OSDS, Legal Services). This follows the rules. The Legal Unit investigates; the Regional Director decides. For non-teaching personnel the same sheet has the unit “evaluate complaints and conduct investigation”, and the superintendent is the disciplining authority. Who Disciplines DepEd Teachers and School Heads? covers the procedure.
5. “To accept donations (e.g. equipment, tools) from program/project partners for proper utilization” (SGOD, Community Level Linkages and Partnerships). The outputs show that this means items “turned over to the SDO”. It does not move the school head’s own power to accept donations for the school, which RA 9155 gives directly (Sec. 7(E)(11)).

Where a sheet and a law or DepEd Order differ, the law or the order governs. The sheets were issued by memorandum to describe each office’s work, and the memorandum claims nothing more for them.

How the 2023 sheets differ from the 2015 general functions

Enclosure No. 4 of DO 52, s. 2015 gave each office its “general functions” in a few lines. Version 3 keeps the offices and rewrites the content.

The OSDS. The 2015 accountability of the Office of the Superintendent - Proper and the 2023 statement of purpose are nearly the same sentence. The 2023 text adds “regional” to the policies the DEDP must be consistent with, and speaks of the SDO, where the 2015 text speaks of the superintendent’s “care”. Legal services grew the most. In 2015 it had three functions: legal advice and opinions, interpreting laws and rules, and handling “legal and investigation matters concerning the schools division office and its employees, including those delegated by the Regional Office”. The 2023 sheet has eight objectives. It separates non-teaching from teaching personnel, and adds drafting actions on complaints “for signature of the SDS”, preparing and reviewing contracts and agreements, representing the SDO in court “when deputized by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG)”, and an “Electronic Certification of No pending administrative case”. ICT services went from two functions to four objectives, adding technical support for the Learning Resource Management System and coordination with the Central Office.

The CID. In 2015 the CID had five accountabilities: full implementation of the curriculum “(pre-school, elementary, secondary & ALS)” through localization and innovation; quality learning and teaching resources; research; technical assistance to schools; and basic and functional literacy “in the deprived, disadvantaged and underserved areas”. The 2023 sheet keeps curriculum implementation, learning resources and technical assistance as key result areas, makes research an objective under two of them, and gives learning assessment a key result area of its own. Three things in the 2015 text are not in the 2023 sheet. Technical assistance on “resource generation and social mobilization” and on “SIP implementation” was listed under the CID in 2015; the 2023 sheets put partnerships and the SIP in the SGOD. And the words “ALS” and “literacy” appear in none of the three sheets, which speak of “schools and learning centers” throughout.

The SGOD. In 2015 the division had no statement of its own, only its sections’. The 2023 sheet gives it one purpose. School Management Monitoring and Evaluation was “Primarily accountable for the implementation of standards and policies relevant to managing schools”, with three items: “Quality Management System Implementation”, “Assessment” and “Technical Assistance”. In 2023 these became the Quality Assurance and Provision of Technical Assistance key result areas, and the sheet adds work the 2015 text did not name: the documents for establishing, converting and closing public and private schools, the Child-Friendly School System, DRRM, youth formation, sports, and the quality assurance of training.

What the sheets added. The gain is the right-hand side of each sheet. An output is a thing a supervisor can ask to see: “Instructional Supervisory Plans”, a “Division Learning Resource Technical Assistance Plan”, “Liquidation Reports of Schools and LCs”, a “Directory of Private Schools with Status as to permit/recognition”. An indicator says how the output will be counted.

How the sheets are used

In the Quality Management System

DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2021 set up one Quality Management System (QMS) for all governance levels, “certifiable to ISO 9001 standards”. It requires four kinds of documents. Two are for the whole Department: the DepEd QMS Manual and the Procedures and Work Instructions Manual. Two are each office’s own (Part IX.A).

Version 3 supplies the “Office Functions” part of each division’s Operations Manual. The order also says that “Each governance level shall document all office processes in accordance with their office functions” (Part IX.B.2). In the SDO, the heads of the functional divisions “shall secure approval of their Planning Documents and Operations Manual from the Schools Division Superintendent”, who signs them and issues a memorandum approving them (Part IX.A.3).

The SGOD has a part in running the system. The order’s recommended QMS teams place the SDO’s QMS Secretariat and its Internal Quality Audit Team in the SGOD, and its top management in the OSDS (Part VIII). The QMS manuals themselves were issued by DepEd Memorandum No. 014, s. 2022, and DepEd Memorandum No. 068, s. 2025 of August 11, 2025 added a procedure on the quality workplace.

In the operational plan and the OPCRF

The sheets are a standing list. The office’s plan for the year picks from it. Under DO 2, s. 2015, the head of office accomplishes the OPCRF “to reflect the Office KRAs, Objectives and Performance Indicators” (par. 18), and a key result area “is the mandate or function of the office” (par. 20).

Memorandum DM-OUHROD-2024-0586 of March 27, 2024, the Interim Guidelines for the Office Performance Planning and Assessment for FY 2024 Onwards, ties the form to the sheets by name. “The head of office shall identify the Office KRAs based on the official issuance on the Compendium of Office Functions and the overall organizational outcomes of the Agency” (Annex B, item 5). It then gives two rules for the SDO:

• The functional divisions, the CID and the SGOD, “refer to the Compendium of Office Functions, version 3 (as issued through Memorandum DM-HROD-2023-0617)” (item 5(b)).
• The Office of the Schools Division Superintendent refers to “recalibrated KRAs based on the Functions of the Office anchored on the organizational outcomes and Job Descriptions of the RD and SDS”, in the memorandum’s Annex C (item 5(a)).

Part I-A of the revised form, “Commitment to Organizational Outcomes”, carries 60% of the office’s rating. The memorandum describes it as “office commitments and accomplishments based on the office functions and Key Result Areas (KRAs)” (par. 4(b)(i)). The remaining parts are innovating and intervening accomplishments (20%), organizational effectiveness (15%), and leadership and core behavioral competencies (2.5% each). OPCRF for School Heads explains the same form at the school level.

In the IPCRF: what the indicators mean for a section chief or a supervisor

An employee’s IPCRF takes its key result areas from the office’s. The rater and the ratee agree on “Individual KRAs, Objectives and Performance Indicators as anchored to the Office KRAs and Objectives” (DO 2, s. 2015, par. 17(ii)). For someone working in the CID or the SGOD, three things follow.

The indicator in the sheet has no target. “Number of schools with approved preventive maintenance Plan” says what will be counted. How many schools, by when, is written in the office’s OPCRF for the year and cascaded to the IPCRF. Of the 231 output indicators in the three sheets, 163 begin with “Number” or “No.” and 17 with “Percentage”; the rest name a document or a condition, such as “Approved Human Resource Development Plan”.

A section chief shares the office’s targets. The Section Chief or Unit Head is to “assume joint responsibility with the head of office in ensuring attainment of performance objectives and targets”, distribute targets and tasks, coach subordinates and assess their performance (DO 2, s. 2015, par. 64).

The line of raters runs through the division chief.

Source: DO 2, s. 2015, Annex A. The 2024 interim guidelines keep the first three rows for the OPCRF (Table 9).

An Education Program Supervisor’s objectives therefore come from the CID sheet: supervisory plans implemented, schools monitored, learning resources quality-assured, technical assistance given. The planning and research staff of the SGOD answer for approved SIPs, validated BEIS data and completed research.

Where the Public Schools District Supervisors fit

The three sheets cover three offices. The district is not one of them, and no sheet names the district or its supervisor.

The Act makes the schools district a level of its own, with “a schools district supervisor and an office staff for program promotion”. The supervisor is responsible for “Providing professional and instructional advice and support to the school heads and teachers/facilitators of schools and learning centers in the district or cluster thereof” and for “Curricula supervision” (RA 9155, Sec. 7(D)). The implementing rules add that the supervisor “shall primarily perform staff functions and shall not exercise administrative supervision over school principals, unless specifically authorized by the proper authorities” (DO 1, s. 2003, Sec. 5.1). The Supreme Court upheld the provision in 2006 (Public Schools District Supervisors Association v. De Jesus, G.R. No. 157286).

In the 2015 structure, the district sits inside the CID.

• “District Instructional Supervision” is the CID’s third section (DO 52, s. 2015, Encl. Nos. 1, 2 and 4, item 2.40).
• When the Civil Service Commission approved the qualification standards for the Public Schools District Supervisor, at Salary Grade 22, DepEd told it that “The PSDS will be part of the CID” (DepEd Order No. 26, s. 2016, enclosed CSC Resolution No. 1600324).
• The Philippine Professional Standards for Supervisors list the position as “Public Schools District Supervisor - Curriculum Implementation Division District Instructional Supervision” (DepEd Order No. 025, s. 2020).
• A district supervisor’s performance is rated by a Chief of Division and approved by the assistant superintendent (DO 2, s. 2015, Annex A).

So the district supervisor’s work is counted under the CID sheet, mainly in “Instructional Supervision and Management” and “Technical Assistance on Curriculum Implementation”. Other orders give the supervisor named tasks. District supervisors “shall serve as coaches to guide the schools in crafting and implementing the SIPs in their area” (DO 44, s. 2015, Part V.A.4). A school head reports accepted donations to the district supervisor as well as to the superintendent (RA 9155, Sec. 7(E)(11)). And DepEd Order No. 24, s. 2005 directed superintendents to recommend, in a deployment plan sent to the Regional Office, the best role for each district supervisor then in post: subject or grade level specialist for an area, principal, mentor of newly appointed principals for up to a year, or the superintendent’s staff in a municipality, “but without any administrative supervisory authority over schools” (pars. 2(c) and 4).

The Omnibus Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Laws Establishing Schools Division Offices, in effect since May 5, 2025, carry a newer description. For the divisions those laws created, the rules define the Public Schools District Supervisor as “personnel in the SDO who provides schools and learning centers in a district with relevant and timely services through the conduct of instructional supervision; provision of technical assistance in school management and curriculum implementation; establishing a conducive physical environment for learners and school workers; and sustaining strong and harmonious partnership and collaboration among stakeholders in order to improve access to and delivery of quality basic education” (DepEd Memorandum No. 062, s. 2025, IRR, Secs. 2 and 3(g)).

In 2021 DepEd formed a national technical working group to review districting (DepEd Memorandum No. 026, s. 2021). Its work was to “delineate functions in the positions under the schools division offices” (DM 057, s. 2021, par. 2). As of November 13, 2026, no DepEd order has restated the district supervisor’s functions for all divisions. DepEd Schools per District Supervisor has the number of schools in each district.

Is Version 3 still current?

As of November 13, 2026, Version 3 is still the current statement. No later version of the regional and division Office Functions has been issued, and no DepEd Order has amended the SDO structure in DO 52, s. 2015. The March 2024 interim guidelines on the OPCRF cite Version 3 by its memorandum number.

The offices are the same three. What has changed is the set of rules beneath several lines of the sheets, and one office that a law has added.

The Mental Health and Well-Being Office. This is the one office in an SDO that the 2015 structure and the 2023 sheets do not have. It reviews and approves schools’ mental health programs, visits schools, gives counseling where a school has no counselor, and sees that school counselors and their associates are trained (RA 12080, Sec. 6). The implementing rules repeat the Act’s two sections and add that, until a counselor is hired or the office is fully established, an SDO may adopt other organizational arrangements under guidelines from the Central Office (DepEd Memorandum No. 077, s. 2025, IRR, Secs. 6 and 7). DO 019, s. 2026 says the details of the office’s establishment and functions “shall be provided in separate issuances” (par. 8). As of November 13, 2026, no DepEd Order has set its place on the SDO chart; the counselor’s job description has the position report to the superintendent and the assistant superintendent. School Mental Health and Bullying under RA 12080 covers the Act.

Legal services. The sheet’s first legal objective is “To provide legal advice and opinion to the SDS, ASDS and other officials of the Division”. That stands. An opinion that will leave the office or affect policy now needs clearance from the Undersecretary’s office first. The order adds that this supervision “does not diminish the authority of Regional Directors or Schools Division Superintendents over administrative matters” (DO 021, s. 2025, par. 5).

More and smaller divisions are proposed, not yet made. RA 9155 describes one division office for every province or city, and where a law creates a new division, its organization and staffing follow the Act and DepEd’s issuances (Omnibus IRR, Sec. 4). The Second Congressional Commission on Education found that the Act “institutionalized a uniform SDO structure regardless of school population or geographic coverage”: “Davao City SDO supervises 542 schools while some SDOs oversee as few as two”. It recommended amending the law “to allow differentiated SDO configurations based on actual supervisory load” (Final Report, p. 37). On October 27, 2026, DepEd announced a plan for 13 new SDOs and 15 interim field sub-offices, after a review of 221 division offices that found nine provinces needing a change (DepEd, nagpanukala ng mga bagong SDO para mapabilis ang serbisyo sa mga liblib na paaralan). The announcement says DepEd will work with Congress to update RA 9155. Until a law or an order carries the plan out, the structure of DO 52 stands. RA 9155 at 25 follows the bills in Congress.

What this means for school heads

Send the paper to the office that handles it, and know who signs. Use the lookup table. Address a request to the official who can grant it, and file it where the order on the subject says. An application for the recognition of a private senior high school is filed at the SDO (DO 012, s. 2026). A complaint against a teacher is filed with the Regional Director (DO 49, s. 2006, Sec. 6). A section chief can tell you what is missing. A section chief cannot issue an appointment, grant a permit, approve a new school or decide a complaint against a teacher.

Expect each office to ask for what its sheet counts. The sheets order nothing from schools. They show what each office must turn out, and most of those outputs are built from what schools submit.

A school that keeps these current has most of what a monitoring visit will ask for. Most of them are administrative tasks, which DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024 assigns to school heads and non-teaching personnel, not to teachers; see the guide to DO 002.

Ask for technical assistance by name. Both divisions have a key result area for it. The CID counts “school heads, teachers, and instructional managers provided with TA along their identified needs”, and the SGOD counts needs assessments, approved plans and an “Accomplishment Report on Technical Assistance provision to schools pertinent to school-based management”. A written request that names the need, such as help with a root cause analysis for the SIP or with contextualized tests in Grade 7 mathematics, gives the division something it is measured on. Under DO 007, s. 2024, the school is the one that invites the SDO for technical assistance on SBM.

Do not expect a division section to decide what the law gives to someone else. The last column of the lookup table names who decides on appointments, complaints, permits and new schools. Two things are the school’s own. The school’s MOOE allocation is set nationally, and the school head spends it under DO 008, s. 2019; see how school MOOE works. The SIP is the school’s plan, and its priorities are the school’s to choose (RA 9155, Sec. 7(E)(4)).

Know what is the school’s to decide. The division supports and monitors. RA 9155 leaves to the school head the school’s goals, its improvement plan, its programs, its ways of teaching and the management of its resources, within national policies and standards (Sec. 7(E)). RA 9155 Duties of DepEd School Heads takes these one by one.

Keep three records. Keep the receiving copy of everything submitted to the SDO, with its date and tracking number: the OSDS counts documents “routed/released” within the timelines of its Citizen’s Charter. Keep the written agreements from technical assistance visits. Keep the division memoranda that assign a focal person for each program, since the person, not the section, is whom you will call.

Knowing the division office serves several strands of the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads: policy implementation and school planning in Domain 1, Leading Strategically; records, finance and facilities in Domain 2, Managing School Operations and Resources; technical assistance on instruction in Domain 3, Focusing on Teaching and Learning; professional development and performance management in Domain 4, Developing Self and Others; and partnerships in Domain 5, Building Connections.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the CID and the SGOD?

The Curriculum Implementation Division handles teaching and learning: instructional supervision, learning assessment, learning resources and technical assistance on the curriculum. The School Governance and Operations Division handles how schools are run and supported: planning and research, school-based management, human resource development, partnerships, facilities, health, DRRM and the papers of schools that open or close (Office Functions, Version 3; DO 52, s. 2015, Encl. No. 4).

Which office handles administrative and finance concerns in the SDO?

The Office of the Schools Division Superintendent. Cash, personnel, records, property and supply, general services, accounting and budget are attached to it, together with the Legal Unit and the ICT Unit (DO 52, s. 2015, Encl. No. 2). In the Version 3 sheets, this work is the “SDO Management” key result area of the OSDS.

Is the Public Schools District Supervisor under the CID or the SGOD?

Under the CID. District Instructional Supervision is one of its three sections (DO 52, s. 2015, Encl. No. 4, item 2.40), and DO 26, s. 2016 records that “The PSDS will be part of the CID”. The supervisor’s functions come from RA 9155, Sec. 7(D): instructional advice and support, and curricula supervision.

Can the Schools Division Office issue a permit to a private school?

No. The SDO receives or evaluates the application and recommends. The Regional Director has the authority to approve the establishment of private schools and decides the grant of recognition (RA 9155, Sec. 7(B)(13); DO 88, s. 2010, Secs. 28, 30.4 and 32(e)). For private senior high schools, DO 012, s. 2026 has the SGOD validate the documents and the Regional Director sign the approval or denial.

Is Office Functions, Version 3 a DepEd Order?

No. It is a set of sheets released by Memorandum DM-HROD-2023-0617 of the Undersecretary for Human Resource and Organizational Development on May 5, 2023. It forms part of each office’s QMS Operations Manual and guides the OPCRF and IPCRF. The offices themselves were created by DO 52, s. 2015, and their powers come from RA 9155 and DO 1, s. 2003.

Sources

Laws and court decisions

• Republic Act No. 9155, Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001 (August 11, 2001), Sec. 7(B), (C), (D) and (E).
• Republic Act No. 12080, Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act (December 6, 2024), Secs. 5 and 6.
• Public Schools District Supervisors Association v. De Jesus, G.R. No. 157286, June 16, 2006, En Banc, which upheld DO 1, s. 2003 on the district supervisor’s functions.

The Office Functions and the structure order

• Memorandum DM-HROD-2023-0617, DepEd RO & SDO Office Functions Version 3 (May 5, 2023), Office of the Undersecretary for Human Resource and Organizational Development, as posted by DepEd Region VIII; with the Version 3 sheets of the Office of the Schools Division Superintendent, the Curriculum Implementation Division and the School Governance and Operations Division.
• DepEd Order No. 52, s. 2015, New Organizational Structures of the Central, Regional, and Schools Division Offices of the Department of Education (October 30, 2015), pars. 4, 7 and 10 and Enclosures No. 1 to 4.
• DepEd Order No. 1, s. 2003, Promulgating the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 9155 (January 6, 2003), Rules IV and V.

DepEd issuances on the Quality Management System and performance management

• DepEd Order No. 009, s. 2021, Institutionalization of a Quality Management System in the Department of Education (February 24, 2021), Parts VIII and IX.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 014, s. 2022, The DepEd Quality Management System Manual and Procedures and Work Instructions Manual (March 15, 2022), and DepEd Memorandum No. 068, s. 2025, its addendum (August 11, 2025).
• DepEd Order No. 2, s. 2015, Guidelines on the Establishment and Implementation of the Results-Based Performance Management System (RPMS) in the Department of Education (February 6, 2015), pars. 17, 18, 20 and 64 and Annex A.
• Memorandum DM-OUHROD-2024-0586, Interim Guidelines for the Office Performance Planning and Assessment for FY 2024 Onwards (March 27, 2024), Office of the Undersecretary for Human Resource and Organizational Development, par. 4 and Annex B, item 5 and Table 9; posted by DepEd Region VIII under Regional Memorandum No. 391, s. 2024.

Other DepEd issuances

• DepEd Order No. 24, s. 2005, Rationalizing the Roles and Functions of District Supervisors (May 24, 2005), pars. 2 and 4.
• DepEd Order No. 49, s. 2006, Revised Rules of Procedure of the Department of Education in Administrative Cases (December 12, 2006), Sec. 1.
• DepEd Order No. 88, s. 2010, 2010 Revised Manual of Regulations for Private Schools in Basic Education (June 24, 2010), Secs. 28, 30 and 32.
• DepEd Order No. 29, s. 2011, Revised Guidelines on the Naming and Renaming of Schools (March 24, 2011).
• DepEd Order No. 40, s. 2014, Establishment, Merging, Conversion, and Naming/Renaming of Public Schools, and Separation of Public School Annexes in Basic Education (August 26, 2014), Part VI, as amended by DepEd Order No. 033, s. 2025 (October 9, 2025).
• DepEd Order No. 44, s. 2015, Guidelines on the Enhanced School Improvement Planning (SIP) Process and the School Report Card (SRC) (September 29, 2015), Part V.A.
• DepEd Order No. 26, s. 2016, Revised Qualification Standards (QS) for the Position of Public Schools District Supervisor (May 2, 2016).
• DepEd Order No. 35, s. 2016, The Learning Action Cell as a K to 12 Basic Education Program School-Based Continuing Professional Development Strategy for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning (June 7, 2016).
• DepEd Order No. 16, s. 2017, Research Management Guidelines (March 20, 2017), Sec. V.A.iii.
• DepEd National Capital Region, Regional Memorandum No. 13, s. 2019, School Improvement Plan (SIP) Instructional Videos, Styleguide, Appraisal Process, and Quality Assessment (QA) Tool (January 9, 2019), which forwards the Central Office memorandum of November 27, 2018.
• DepEd Order No. 008, s. 2019, Revised Implementing Guidelines on the Direct Release, Use, Monitoring and Reporting of Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses Allocation of Schools, Including Other Funds Managed by Schools (May 2, 2019), Part V.C and D.
• DepEd Order No. 025, s. 2020, National Adoption and Implementation of the Philippine Professional Standards for Supervisors (September 7, 2020).
• DepEd Order No. 003, s. 2021, Creation of the Child Protection Unit and the Child Rights in Education Desk in the Department of Education (January 15, 2021), par. 17.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 026, s. 2021, National Technical Working Group to Review and Revise School Districting Policies (May 12, 2021), and DepEd Memorandum No. 057, s. 2021, Moratorium on the Request for School Redistricting and Schools Division Reclassification (August 18, 2021), pars. 2 and 3.
• DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2023, Revised Designation of Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries to their Strands and Functional Areas of Responsibilities and Revised Signing Authorities (January 9, 2023), Annex C, item L.
• DepEd Order No. 007, s. 2023, Guidelines on Recruitment, Selection, and Appointment in the Department of Education (March 22, 2023).
• DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024, Immediate Removal of Administrative Tasks of Public School Teachers (January 26, 2024).
• DepEd Order No. 007, s. 2024, Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of the Revised School-Based Management (SBM) System (May 16, 2024).
• DepEd Order No. 022, s. 2024, Revised Guidelines on Class and Work Suspension in Schools During Disasters and Emergencies (December 23, 2024), Sec. III.5.h and Part V.
• DepEd Order No. 017, s. 2025, Revised Basic Education Enrollment Policy (June 13, 2025).
• DepEd Order No. 021, s. 2025, Functional Supervision of the Office of the Undersecretary of Legal and Legislative Affairs (OULLA) over Lawyers of the Department of Education Stationed at Regional and Division Offices (July 3, 2025), pars. 3 and 5.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 062, s. 2025, Dissemination of Omnibus Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Laws Establishing Schools Division Offices (August 1, 2025), IRR, Secs. 2, 3(g) and 4.
• DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2025, Guidelines on the Implementation of the Expanded Career Progression System for Teachers and School Heads in the Department of Education (August 28, 2025), Enclosure No. 1, Sec. 20.
• DepEd Memorandum No. 077, s. 2025, Dissemination of Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 12080 (September 18, 2025), IRR, Secs. 6 and 7.
• DepEd Order No. 001, s. 2026, Implementing Guidelines of the Enhanced Alternative Learning System (January 19, 2026), par. 13.
• DepEd Order No. 006, s. 2026, Guidelines on Ensuring a Safe and Motivating Learning Environment (March 24, 2026), Part IX.C.
• DepEd Order No. 012, s. 2026, Government Recognition of Private Basic Education Institutions Offering the Senior High School (SHS) Program (May 6, 2026), Part VII.
• DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2026, Institutional Guidelines on the Implementation of the School-Based Feeding Program (June 4, 2026).
• DepEd Order No. 015, s. 2026, Revised Guidelines on Classroom Assessment, Grading System, and Awards and Recognition for the K to 12 Basic Education Program (June 4, 2026).
• DepEd Order No. 019, s. 2026, Qualification Standards for Positions Created under Republic Act No. 12080 or the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act (July 22, 2026), par. 8 and Annex B.
• DepEd Order No. 022, s. 2026, Enhanced Minimum Performance Standards and Specifications for DepEd School Infrastructure and School Furniture (September 24, 2026).

DepEd announcements and reports

• Department of Education (2026, October 27). DepEd, nagpanukala ng mga bagong SDO para mapabilis ang serbisyo sa mga liblib na paaralan. Press release.
• Second Congressional Commission on Education (2026). Turning Point: A Decade of Necessary Reform (2026-2035), EDCOM II Final Report, p. 37.

DepEd office functions series

• DepEd Central Office Functions: Bureaus and Services
• DepEd Regional Office Functions: What Each Division Does
• Schools Division Office Functions: OSDS, CID and SGOD (this post)

Written by Mark Anthony Llego for NASH Reviewer. Sources: Republic Acts No. 9155 and No. 12080; Memorandum DM-HROD-2023-0617 and DepEd’s Office Functions, Version 3; DepEd Orders No. 1, s. 2003, No. 52, s. 2015, No. 2, s. 2015, No. 009, s. 2021, No. 007, s. 2024 and No. 021, s. 2025; Memorandum DM-OUHROD-2024-0586; the EDCOM II Final Report.