Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Maria Geryk Appointed to Permanent Superintendent
You can read the press release at: http://www.arps.org/node/2772.
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The commentary here reflects entirely my own views about policies and discussions occurring at the Amherst and Regional School Committees Meetings -- it does not represent the view of the Committees, District, or the Superintendent.
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- Regional SC Meeting, Tuesday, March 29, 6:30 pm, Town Hall
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I allow anonymous posts because I believe it is important to hear as many voices as possible, and I understand that sometimes parents, teachers, and/or community members do not feel comfortable identifying themselves. I do not censor posts, and I do not promise to respond to everything written by others. I do read all posts prior to posting them to avoid inappropriate language. I also will not post any entry identifying district staff/teachers by name. District employees may not feel comfortable responding to these types of comments on a public blog, and it is therefore not fair to comment on individuals. However, I do allow posters to identify and respond to other posters on this blog, even if they are teachers or staff. In order for us all to have a productive and constructive conversation I ask that all participants refrain from making any comments they would not feel comfortable saying face to face. Please consider this request before posting. Thanks much.
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You can watch the meetings live (as long as they are at Town Hall) on Channel 15 (ACTV).
You can watch meetings anytime on demand: http://www.actvamherst.com/Site/Meetings_on_Demand.html.
Contacting the School Committee/Superintendent
This blog is designed just to share thoughts/ideas with me ... so if you want to share any thoughts/ideas about our schools with all members of the School Committee and/or the superintendent, please come to a meeting (each meeting starts with time for public comments) and/or send an email to the entire School Committee (schoolcommittee@arps.org) and/or the superintendent (gerykm@arps.org).
I allow anonymous posts because I believe it is important to hear as many voices as possible, and I understand that sometimes parents, teachers, and/or community members do not feel comfortable identifying themselves. I do not censor posts, and I do not promise to respond to everything written by others. I do read all posts prior to posting them to avoid inappropriate language. I also will not post any entry identifying district staff/teachers by name. District employees may not feel comfortable responding to these types of comments on a public blog, and it is therefore not fair to comment on individuals. However, I do allow posters to identify and respond to other posters on this blog, even if they are teachers or staff. In order for us all to have a productive and constructive conversation I ask that all participants refrain from making any comments they would not feel comfortable saying face to face. Please consider this request before posting. Thanks much.
School Committee Broadcasts
You can watch the meetings live (as long as they are at Town Hall) on Channel 15 (ACTV).
You can watch meetings anytime on demand: http://www.actvamherst.com/Site/Meetings_on_Demand.html.
Contacting the School Committee/Superintendent
This blog is designed just to share thoughts/ideas with me ... so if you want to share any thoughts/ideas about our schools with all members of the School Committee and/or the superintendent, please come to a meeting (each meeting starts with time for public comments) and/or send an email to the entire School Committee (schoolcommittee@arps.org) and/or the superintendent (gerykm@arps.org).
About Me
- Catherine A. Sanderson
- Amherst, MA
- I'm a psychology professor at Amherst College, and a mother with three kids in our public schools (ages 12, 10, and 6). But most importantly for this blog, I'm a member of the Amherst and Regional School Committees (as of April 1, 2008).
Blog Archive
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2011
(40)
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February
(14)
- Making Evidence-Based Decisions
- Closing the Achievement Gap: Strategies That Work
- Amherst Bulletin: February 18, 2010
- Two Updates
- Maria Geryk Appointed to Permanent Superintendent
- Next Week's Meetings
- My Decision: Part 2
- My Decision: I'm Not Running
- Geryk Mulls Offer
- One Year Appointment for Maria Geryk
- Still More Superintendent Search Updates
- Superintendent Search Update
- Final Interview: Thursday, February 3, 2011
- Few Students Show Proficiency in Science, Tests Show
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February
(14)
16 comments:
The article does not tell how various committee members voted. Was it unanimous? If not, who voted for and who against?
Steve and I abstained, Rob hadn't arrived at the meeting at the time of the vote. All other 7 members (Irv, Rick, 5 non-Amherst members) voted in favor.
And those evil conservative accountable types who frequent my evil blog over on the wrong side of the Amherst blogosphere/tracks would like to know when the formal evaluation kicks in?
How did Irv and Rick get from their rather searing view that MG doesn't like to address problems or people who disagree with her and a 1 year wait and see deal-- to a 3 year contract? What changed? Their views or their ability to stand up for their views?
Larry - my recollection is that evaluations are to be completed by February 1st of 2012 and 2013.
Curious Observer - Rick voted on all occasions to appoint Maria for 3 years, so he didn't change his view. I imagine that Irv felt comfortable changing his vote based on the contract language/evaluation.
The contract goes thu June 2013, with the possibility of one year extensions after that. So, it is not a 3 year contract...it is a 2 year contract.
It's sad that you and Steve abstained. Many school committees, after a split vote determines which candidate gets the job, then has a unanimous vote as a way of moving on and pledging support for the new superintendent. As a candidate, she did not have your support. But now she is the districts' superintendent and you want her to succeed.
Anonymous 4:34 - here's my quote in today's Bulletin: Catherine Sanderson, the outgoing School Committee member who did not vote for Geryk, said it's time to pull together behind the superintendent.
"It's imperative that all members of the School Committee and the community support Ms. Geryk in her efforts to tackle the immense problems our community is facing," she said. "The success of our schools will be dependent on her efforts and work, and we all want her to succeed."
I believe that quote is pretty clear in my hope that Maria is successful.
But when I vote, I need to make sure I feel good about that vote and that I can stand by it and justify it to others. And I didn't feel I could do that if I voted "yes" for all the reasons I identified at the meeting on February 6th. Thus, I abstained.
God almighty, 4:34 pm. How much more do you want from this woman? Give it (and us) a rest.
I would have abstained too, and on this basis (review the bidding):
Irv had crafted a compromise, and on the predicate that the SC unify to offer his compromise 1-year contract, he flipped the U26 vote to 4-2.
Although the 1 year term was proffered, the SC obviously found itself ultimately voting several days later on a 2 year deal - a term that likely would not have gotten sufficient U26 support had it been proposed outright.
So the maneuver that nudged Amherst from 3 unified against to 2 against /1 "for" was the classic Trojan Horse negotiation - only it was Irv himself who set it in motion - unusual.
In Steve or Catherine's shoes, if I'd opposed making the Geryk selection, and then upon her selection I'd opposed offering a 1-year term, why would I vote to FOR a 2-year term? I could have voted AGAINST, but that's divisive. Voting to ABSTAIN is the respectful answering bid, and seems the only classy thing to do in the situation.
One no-trump.
Tom - thank you for so eloquently describing exactly how and why I abstained - much appreciated!
Oh let's get real.
It's obvious that you and Steve abstained because you didn't support Maria Geryk and compromise of any sort, even from one year to two years, isn't in your repertoire.
If you really cared about doing what's best for the school, for the children, for the town, and for our future, you would have voted for the two-year contract. Geryk was getting hired anyway. Supporting her for two years rather than one, especially when you are leaving the SC sets an tone of support on the school community.
But, then, I don't think you really care about that. You seem to only care about you. Is that right?
Hi "Brain" 8:50,
ABSTAIN was the only vote that represents a stand on principle.
In the final strokes, Geryk was going to get the contract with or without Steve or Catherine's votes.
In the fallacious and a priori structuring that pervades some comments on this blog (e.g., "Because the internal candidate was selected, that means the national search was unnecessary;" "Because Maria Geryk emerged as the selected candidate, that means the search proved she was the best candidate"), to vote FOR Maria would not only have been a betrayal of principle - and at least some, perhaps many, constituents - but would later have been used as a club ("You made such a fuss about Maria but in the end you voted for her! Arrgghhhh!!").
Where will I be able to go to find peculiar ideas like these, when this blog comes down in a few weeks?
:-)
Once again, I couldn't have said it better than Tom (on all fronts)!
Brain: as an observer of the blog, and a parent of children in private schools, it is clear that if Catherine only cared about herself, she would have spent all of her energy investing in herself and her children outside of Amherst schools. Why all of this headache from everyone?
It's nice to know that some parents in Amherst still have principles. It's also obvious that many who post on this blog don't have a clue about civility, respect and they lack principles.
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