tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post4082665241634825892..comments2023-09-29T06:32:16.005-04:00Comments on My School Committee Blog: Middle School Principal Candidates Talk to ParentsCatherine A. Sandersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03523667921190365891noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-5113981453783668112010-04-07T14:07:35.356-04:002010-04-07T14:07:35.356-04:00My responses:
Just to clarify - I have asked the ...My responses:<br /><br />Just to clarify - I have asked the superintendent to post the resumes of all finalists for principal positions, as we posted all the resumes for superintendent finalists. I have also asked the chairs of both the Amherst and Regional SCs to post the superintendent's resume. I am, however, just one random person on both committees (and not chair of either). <br /><br />I agree with virtually all of Rick's points -- including keeping the focus on what is getting done (and when).Catherine A. Sandersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523667921190365891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-59249107545231725792010-04-07T13:17:10.063-04:002010-04-07T13:17:10.063-04:00Rick, if you can agree that not posting the resume...Rick, if you can agree that not posting the resumes is "bad," can the School Committee DO SOMETHING about it? Have YOU even seen them?! Can you FORCE Superintendent Geryk to post the resumes? If she does not, can you take steps to provide her with consequences for her actions?<br /><br />In my workplace, a refusal to carry out a direct order by a supervisor could result in immediate termination or, at the very least, an official letter of reprimand in the employee's file.<br /><br />Can the School Committee implement steps like these to make sure our Superintendent (whomever it is at the time) carries out your orders? I think Superintendent Geryk is just carrying on the tradition of past Amherst Superintendents of just doing whatever she wants, despite what the School Committee asks of her. When they are called on it by the School Committee, they then come up with a million excuses why they could not carry out those direct orders. <br /><br />Please, someone, hold our Superintendent's feet to the fire. Start out by insisting on the posting of the resumes (all three, no matter which finalist is chosen as the ARMS principal) within 24 hours. If that direct order is disobeyed, follow through with immediate consequences. We elected you to do this job and are now paying higher taxes to live in this town. Please DO IT!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-78963687527967081852010-04-07T12:07:14.399-04:002010-04-07T12:07:14.399-04:00Yup, not posting the resumes is bad. What I descr...Yup, not posting the resumes is bad. What I describe above is a process for monitoring whether things are getting done or not. That is an example of something not getting done.<br /><br />When that happens too often, you fire the person who is not doing what they should be, which means the Superintendent, because that is really the only person the SC can fire.<br /><br />I am open-minded about Ms. Geryk and we’ll see how she does; ditto for whoever is chosen for ARMS Principal. But again the critical thing in all of this is to monitor closely whether goals are being achieved or not. When you do that properly it becomes more factually obvious if a change in personnel is needed, instead of us floundering around and guessing whether someone is good enough or not.Rick Hoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04347110422224233217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-45745991546719594532010-04-07T10:12:56.713-04:002010-04-07T10:12:56.713-04:00Rick, I like your thinking. One additional goal o...Rick, I like your thinking. One additional goal of the district should be to increase transparency and trust between the administration/School Committee and the public. Take your recent decision to hire Maria Geryk for a long period of time and the current decision regarding the choice of middle school principal. In both cases, the public (through various means) has requested that the resumes of all three people (Superintendent Geryk as well as the two finalists) be made available on the web to the public. That request has been ignored. Why? This does not inspire confidence or trust in any of our leaders. I think this is a simple and honest request for information--why can our leaders not offer this transparency?ARHS Parentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-11675673507662563012010-04-07T09:29:03.394-04:002010-04-07T09:29:03.394-04:00Concerned Parent:
Your comment is one of the best...Concerned Parent:<br /><br />Your comment is one of the best I have seen in a while. I have been thinking a lot about this lately, especially around this <i>“I see the School Committee / Superintendent system very flawed”</i>.<br /><br />In thinking about this I like to split the problem into perhaps three parts:<br /><br />1. What are we trying to accomplish?<br />2. How are we going to accomplish it?<br />3. Who is going to accomplish it?<br /><br />#1 is the simplest and is described well by the <a href="http://www.arps.org/node/1082" rel="nofollow">District Goals</a>.<br /> <br />#2 is about tactics employed to achieve those goals; for example, bringing in Dr. Beers to help achieve this goal: <i>“Assess the effectiveness of the Amherst Regional Middle School. Prepare and begin to implement a set of recommendations based on the assessment.”</i><br /><br />#3 is about who will do both the assessment (sometime working with outside people) and most importantly, who will <i>“implement a set of recommendations”</i>.<br /><br /><b>The assessment has to be well done; and the implementation of recommendations has to be done quickly. </b><br /><br />I like to look at extremes and then move to the middle to see where we might lie:<br /><br />A. One extreme is that we hire a superman (or woman) as Superintendent. In that scenario, the school committee can pretty much go home and all of the above will just happen.<br /><br />B. The other extreme is that we have ineffective people in management and the SC has to be on top of them all the time to make sure something is happening. <br /><br />My thought on this is that “A” almost never happens in real life (it does happen sometimes). I think we lie between A and B, which is where most organizations, corporations and schools fall.<br />Are we closer to “A” or “B”? I don’t know. I am going to say “I don’t care” (for now) and here is why:<br /><br />I would do the same thing right now whether we are close to A or close to B, which is this:<br /><br /><b>Be relentless in keeping goals in front of us at all times and monitor specific progress on those goals at all times.</b><br /><br />Currently the school committees and ARPS administration is NOT doing this. All we do is talk about budget details. When was the last time the goals were pulled out and we went over each one and talked about the detailed status of each?<br /><br />Or take this one: <i>“Initiate an evaluation of the Special Education program”</i><br /><br />What we have heard is that an outside firm has been hired and that their report will be done in June. NOT good enough. We need a detailed status report at least once a month at SC meetings – preferably a page on the web site that gets updated weekly. We don’t want to wait until June and then find out the outside firm did a lousy job.<br /><br />Some say “trust” the administration to do this right. This is not about trust. The trust I have in the administration is that they mean to do well. I mean to do well too, but that doesn’t mean I don’t screw up – I do. This is all the more important as budget cuts happen because with reduced staff you are more likely to screw up.<br /><br />So I repeat: <b>Be relentless in keeping goals in front of us at all times and monitor specific progress on those goals at all times.</b><br /><br />---<br /><br />The other solution is to remove the current Superintendent, and any other people we think are not effective enough, and replace them, hoping to get closer to “A”. Well, on the Superintendent front we are going to do that by doing a search (which may or may not find a candidate “closer to A” than Maria). I am not sure what better option there is than that. Then technically (legally) all other positions are up to the Superintendent to hire or fire. <br />I come from the business world, and just as when you have a CEO you are not sure about, you really only have two choices as a board: keep that person, let them do their job, but monitor it closely (and give advice as needed), or fire them and replace them with someone else.Rick Hoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04347110422224233217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-71689984135903919982010-04-07T09:20:53.627-04:002010-04-07T09:20:53.627-04:00Catherine, has there been an announcement of the M...Catherine, has there been an announcement of the Middle School principal yet? I thought it was supposed to be yesterday? Is it being announced tonight at the School Committee meeting? Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-31750279609620972462010-04-06T17:53:28.361-04:002010-04-06T17:53:28.361-04:00Rick I do have a lot of respect for your views and...Rick I do have a lot of respect for your views and I am encourage by your election to SC but, the Beers report and subsequent reports will only be of value if they are acted on quickly? Our children are not going to stop growing while we wait for the administration to figure it out. At this point I unfortunately don’t have a lot of faith in our current administration. What is worse is that I see the School Committee / Superintendent system very flawed. It takes years to make meaningful change and it can all be undone in a moment by any administrator or one bad SC vote. Nothing seems to every get corrected. We just settle for our children receiving a good education at a very high price. It would be nice to spend less money and have the best Superintendent in the state like Hadley with a highly rated school. How we can have so many educated people in Amherst and spend the money we do per pupil without the best result is unconscionable, wouldn’t’ you agree? Forget about all of the details and focus on the amount of money spend and the brain trust we have. Something surely is broken and it is not going to be fixed by people who have been working in the system for over a decade. We need new outside people and we need many of them now. I really really hope that you and all the other committee members get just how out of sync we are and work very rapidly to correct it. Please hold Maria and any future Superintendent to the fire for results NOW not in 4 years when it is too late for my kids.concerned parentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-84793527303243124062010-04-06T06:22:16.555-04:002010-04-06T06:22:16.555-04:00Can someone fill me in on why Mike Hayes was not c...Can someone fill me in on why Mike Hayes was not chosen as the interim principal of ARMS in September when Glenda Cresto left? Seems to me that if there had been a viable principal-potential within the building, they would have appointed that person to lead ARMS instead of having to tap already-busy Mark Jackson (who already had one school to run). It concerns me that in September, Mike Hayes was apparently not considered ready to lead ARMS for an interim period of less than a year and now, six months later, he is being presented to us as a viable candidate to lead ARMS alone and for the forseeable future.ARHS Parentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-47263559611092203122010-04-06T02:11:34.355-04:002010-04-06T02:11:34.355-04:00My attitude is simple: If they hire the insider, ...My attitude is simple: If they hire the insider, it is time for an underride.<br /><br />If the only control we have over the schools is to starve them, so be it. When they get hungry enough, they will listen....Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-71434553607540910542010-04-05T22:29:21.857-04:002010-04-05T22:29:21.857-04:00It's hard to imagine the Beers report and reco...It's hard to imagine the Beers report and recommendations as your mandate for your first year as a principal. Talk about an uphill slope. Easier to imagine a principal of nine years of a high-performing middle school who is used to working hard, with few resources. Isn't this the choice? Pretty stark.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-90159240373289162522010-04-05T19:45:51.144-04:002010-04-05T19:45:51.144-04:00Whatever the outcome of the selection, I think we ...Whatever the outcome of the selection, I think we need Beers to be here a lot – as much as we can afford him to be. I think we have money in the budget to do so and will argue for using him more.Rick Hoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04347110422224233217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-22535187727265396442010-04-05T19:08:12.345-04:002010-04-05T19:08:12.345-04:00Maybe the model for school admin is broken. How ca...Maybe the model for school admin is broken. How can one person manage the day to day of a school while also changing its deeply-rooted cultures and practices?<br /><br />In a large company, is the CEO also the CFO, the COO and the head of HR? Certainly not. <br /><br />It would seem as if a large MS needs an on-site curriculum director, a teacher manager and an operations director, as well as a parent-family liaison and a dean of student life (some of these tasks are not full-time, but they could be). Wrapping all those jobs up in the person of one Principal...no.<br /><br /><br />Maybe this is why the decision seems so unsatisfactory: because nobody can do it all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-78073883381263940192010-04-05T18:46:39.400-04:002010-04-05T18:46:39.400-04:00Establish written policies for grading and homewor...Establish written policies for grading and homework. <br />• To be developed by teachers with approval by administrators. <br />• These should be for all subjects with a few exceptions based on the needs of various <br />programs of study. For example, mathematics teachers typically assign more homework; <br />English teachers typically assign more writing assignments. <br /><br />Establish and document in writing clear expectations for planning, delivery of instruction, and checking for understanding. <br />• Planning Guidelines for daily and long range lesson planning should be developed. <br /> o Plans should be collected with feedback provided. The frequency of the plan checks <br />should depend on the degree to which expectations are being met. <br />• Delivery of instruction and checking for understanding <br /> o The faculty should reach consensus regarding the characteristics of effective<br />instruction. <br /> o These characteristics should include criteria such as communication of daily learning objectives, checking for prior knowledge, whole group questioning, student engagement, differentiated instruction, etc. <br /> <br />Develop common formative assessments for all subject areas. <br />• These assessments should initially be given at the end of each semester but eventually <br />address shorter periods of time. <br />• These assessments should guide instruction and dictate remediation and acceleration <br />efforts. <br /> <br />Provide on-going feedback to teachers. <br />• The characteristics of effective instruction that are developed should be the basis for walk- through observations. Teachers should receive feedback periodically as a group regarding the summaries of the walk-throughs.<br />• Every teacher should receive an extended observation each semester which is followed by a “learning conversation” with the observer that stimulates professional growth and is not <br />evaluative. <br />• Administrators should be trained to hold “learning conversations” and receive feedback <br />from a trained observer following the conversation. <br /> <br />Develop a plan for professional development. <br />• This plan should have teacher input and document the support that will address the areas of need in the school improvement plan. <br />• The plan should be data-driven and evaluated on a regular basis. <br /> <br />Provide consistent leadership. <br />• An instructional leader should be hired as the principal of the school who is most likely to remain in that position for at least three years. <br />• Curriculum leaders should be given the means to guide the instructional program. <br />Currently the main impediment to this being accomplished is the lack of time for them to <br />do such. At a minimum, they should be given one period a day to work with the school <br />improvement plan, review and revise curriculum, develop common assessments, review data, and observe the delivery of instruction throughout the building. <br />• Teachers should be given the opportunity to provide input on a regular basis. <br /> <br />Increase communication with parents and the community at large. <br />• Develop a strategy to receive input from parent groups which are not typically represented. <br />• Provide data on a regular basis so that the successes and challenges of the educational <br />program are known to all stakeholders.curious observer continuesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-64576857143685855172010-04-05T18:46:39.399-04:002010-04-05T18:46:39.399-04:00Well, I read the Beers report which has a very com...Well, I read the Beers report which has a very comprehensive list of recommendations. It is a big task and I wonder if either of the candidates have the qualifications and experience to do this. They will need them. <br /><br />His detailed recommendations amount to building key structures into the school from within. Dr. Beers describes this difficult task as a 'long journey." He wrote:<br /><br />The curriculum leaders and administrators have recently been receptive to the challenge of increasing expectations in an effort to improve student achievememt. However, this is going to be a long journey. Many teachers have become accustomed to “doing it their way.” Some teachers choose to collaborate with their colleagues, but this is not the norm. It can be expected that there will be resistance to the standardization of some practices. The success of the recommended changes will depend on the willingness of the faculty to institutionalize “best practices.” In addition, the leaders of the school must be able to guide the change process and develop the <br />capacity of the faculty to implement the changes.<br /><br />Here are Dr. Beer's 8 recommendations which are quite detailed and by their detail show how much is missing from the middle school:<br /><br />Develop a data-driven school improvement plan that meets the following criteria: <br />• User friendly – no more than one page per goal, no more than five goals. <br />• A living document to be discussed at faculty, department, and parent meetings. <br />• Developed by teachers and administrators with final approval of the School Council. <br />• Aligned between the evidence of need (current status), the evidence of success (desired status) and the strategies to get from one to the other. <br />• Assigns responsibility for various tasks with timelines. <br />• Has ownership by the faculty and staff. <br />• Shared with all stake holders (students, parents, community) for review and suggested <br />revisions.curious observernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-33790364605716360892010-04-05T18:24:37.574-04:002010-04-05T18:24:37.574-04:00My response:
Anonymous 5:07 - I haven't made ...My response:<br /><br />Anonymous 5:07 - I haven't made clear my preference to anyone ... I have simply pointed out that different people value different things in a leader, which in turn could lead them to have different preferences between these two candidates. I have spoken up only when I felt that someone was misrepresenting what occurred at the public forum. I don't believe it is appropriate for SC members to make public statements regarding hiring of anyone they aren't in charge of hiring (e.g., I can and will express preferences re. the superintendent hires).Catherine A. Sandersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523667921190365891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-38249292618559423522010-04-05T17:14:11.996-04:002010-04-05T17:14:11.996-04:00The thing that bothers me the most is that this is...The thing that bothers me the most is that this is supposed to be a democracy.<br /><br />The people elect a school committee who hires a superintendent, but there it all breaks down.<br /><br />Apparently the Supt has the right to hire whomever she damn well pleases - with impunity. With no consequences.<br /><br />What ever happened to democracy????Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-11422416740484741352010-04-05T17:07:59.208-04:002010-04-05T17:07:59.208-04:00Catherine-
You have made clear your preference fo...Catherine-<br /><br />You have made clear your preference for Mr. Schlenter. Can you make a clear statement about whether you think both candidates are well qualified and capable of doing the job well?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-77747723058320294252010-04-05T15:16:19.204-04:002010-04-05T15:16:19.204-04:00to anon@2:57 PM
happy to respond if you ask non-a...to anon@2:57 PM<br /><br />happy to respond if you ask non-anonymously...<br /><br /><br />While I can certainly understand parents wishing to post anonymously when they post views critical of choosing M. Hayes (for whatever reasons), like many have ("...have kids and don't want them to face any repercussions").<br /><br /><br />But I don't understand why folks are posting anonymously when they are supporting the hiring of Mr. Hayes? Can anyone help me out here???Abbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989627808442831131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-39005444902962883402010-04-05T14:57:32.516-04:002010-04-05T14:57:32.516-04:00"It seems to me that most of the support for ..."It seems to me that most of the support for Mr. Hayes comes from teachers and most of those who do not are parents."<br /><br />Any grounds for stating this, Abbie, or are you just making stuff up?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-49373569263964191072010-04-05T14:34:59.245-04:002010-04-05T14:34:59.245-04:00I cannot imagine going for a professional job inte...I cannot imagine going for a professional job interview without throughly researching the job, which in this case would include the Beers report. The Beers report isn't just about ARPS - it is specific to the Middle School!! And let us not forget that Mr. Schlenter didn't apply for the job because he was interested in our lovely little town or anything like that - he is losing his current position. This is a no brainer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-69391254010038238812010-04-05T13:43:46.923-04:002010-04-05T13:43:46.923-04:00During his talk to the public, Mr. Hayes made it v...During his talk to the public, Mr. Hayes made it very clear that he was committed to ARMS professionally and that his family was committed to living here. If that is true, I don't see why he wouldn't accept a position as assistant to Mr. Schlenter if he were offered it. Mr. Schlenter is an experienced leader and educator and Mr. Hayes seems smart and eager to learn and must realize that this could represent an excellent opportunity for him no matter which way the decision is made. He wasn't insulted when Mark Jackson was appointed ARMS principal this year instead of him (why, by the way, was Mr. Hayes NOT chosen??) but instead worked with and learned from Mr. Jackson.<br /><br />Mr. Schlenter has 20 years experience over Mr. Hayes and if Mr. Hayes is not chosen, it should not represent an insult to Mr. Hayes but rather a recognition of the much greater experience both as a teacher and as a leader Mr. Schlenter has had. In twenty years, Mr. Hayes will be facing his own search committees with many more years behind him to recommend him at that time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-17345933578191527282010-04-05T13:30:56.193-04:002010-04-05T13:30:56.193-04:00Mr. Goodhind most likely pulled out of our search ...Mr. Goodhind most likely pulled out of our search not because of negative publicity about our districts but because he is a finalist for the Principal position at East Longmeadown High School. (http://www.eastlongmeadowma.gov/meetingDetail.html?mode=show&meeting=454) Given that he is currently principal of a regional middle/high school, it might be that he prefers to be the leader of a high school rather than a two-year middle school.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-82887362700862083642010-04-05T13:23:29.433-04:002010-04-05T13:23:29.433-04:00Given the hefty list of recommendations in the Bee...Given the hefty list of recommendations in the Beer's report, isn't the key question be which candidate has the background, skills and experience to implement them?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-1721613800334200002010-04-05T13:20:14.330-04:002010-04-05T13:20:14.330-04:00I can't imagine coming to a campus as; a final...I can't imagine coming to a campus as; a finalist and not revisiting the WEb Site for any new information (before flying out from Michigan) particularly about the MS. I would also be reading the newspaper on-line on a daily basis for the area where I might be working (and have done so in searches) as much to present myself in a positive light and to learn if I wanted to work in that district. I wonder if the other candidate withdrew after seeing all the negative stuff in the Gazette about our school district of late. Someone who is going to lead a school needs to do their homework and gear answers and questions to that particular school....at least if they are smart. How could you be prepared if you stopped doing your research when you submit your initial paperwork?<br /><br />ALso what makes anyone think that Mike Hayes would want to be the Asst. Principal. He applied to be the principal and if I would imagine will be in other principal searches as well. So before we start to rearrange the world we should figure out if Mike were even interested. <br /><br />I do hope that we can support whoever is in the principal seat. We need stability at the top of each school.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6270815429299703055.post-35333591681777948092010-04-05T12:33:06.319-04:002010-04-05T12:33:06.319-04:00Please note that the Beers report was posted on th...Please note that the Beers report was posted on the website on March 11, long after applications for the position were due, and well into the interview process. Probably candidates did their research on the district long before this report was published.lisenoreply@blogger.com