Candidates speak on Amherst schools

Hampshire Gazette
By SCOTT MERZBACH
Friday, March 12, 2010

AMHERST - From the Proposition 2½ tax-cap override to the search for a new school superintendent, the five candidates for two seats on the School Committee discussed a wide range of issues at a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters Thursday night.

Incumbent Kathleen Anderson is joined by Ernest Dalkas, Richard Hood, Vincent O'Connor and Rob Spence on the ballot in the only contested race on the March 23 election ballot.

Anderson, of 19 Deepwoods Drive, said she would not take a formal position on the $1.68 million override, noting that the schools would like to have the additional revenue, but that she appreciates raising property taxes could pose hardships for some.

"What I want to say is we need the money," Anderson said. "We need the money."

Anderson said she comes from a family of educators that places a high value on the process of schooling.

She said a School Committee member's essential characteristic is being able to see the big picture and having a calm demeanor. "Engaging with people requires a lot of patience," Anderson said.

With the need for a new superintendent after the departure of Alberto Rodriguez, Anderson said a national search would be a priority so that a fresh set of eyes could examine the district.

Dalkas, of 170 E. Hadley Road, said he strongly supports the override. "If you look at the schools, you look at what's being cut," Dalkas said.

Dalkas said he is concerned about the loss of intervention programs and physical education classes.

He comes from a working class family in Holyoke and is a disabled veteran, having served a tour of duty as a Marine.

As a School Committee member, he said there is a need to hear what townspeople have to say. "I feel I have a strong ability to listen," Dalkas said. "I've bridged the gap in many areas of my life."

Dalkas said he wouldn't rule out an internal search for a superintendent, noting that there are likely to be qualified candidates who could step up from within.

Hood, of 69 S. Pleasant St., said passing the override is necessary for the functioning of the schools. "I do support changes in the schools, but I don't want the administration to use the excuse that they don't have the money," Hood said.

Hood came to Amherst in 2001, moving his family to be part of the school system. He said he has a passion to bring people together through collaboration to work toward a common goal.

"The process in which we reach decisions is more important than the decision, in some ways," Hood said.

He said he would likely support a national search for a new superintendent.

O'Connor, of 179 Summer St., Unit 1, said he got into the race because of the override and hopes to push for the University of Massachusetts and the other colleges to lend more support to the town and its schools.

"I'm for it, and I'm going to speak out for it," O'Connor said.

A 36-year resident of Amherst, O'Connor said he believes good programs are being sacrificed and that class sizes will increase too much without the override.

O'Connor said he wants to treat public and parent concerns with respect. "Had that been done, the outcome of the Chinese immersion school, and the founding of that school, might be different," O'Connor said.

O'Connor would not go out for a superintendent search right away, saying the dust needs to settle because having a superintendent stay for only eight months reflects poorly on Amherst.

Spence, of 16 Bayberry Lane, said he isn't taking a position on the override, noting that he supported the School Committee's idea of simply presenting cuts that will be made. "I really think it's up the voters to decide."

Spence, who works in the emergency room at Wing Memorial Hospital in Palmer, said he moved to Amherst in 2004 for its strong public schools.

As a School Committee member, he hopes to be an effective communicator, a deliberate decision maker, and "to work collaboratively as leaders and team leaders," Spence said.

In replacing Rodriguez, Spence said a search should be done far and wide so Amherst can land a transformational person to lead the schools. "I think we need top talent," Spence said.

Other seats

No other contested elections appear on the election ballot, but two newcomers are running for seats on the Select Board and board of library trustees.

Jim Wald of 454 Old Montague Road is running for one of the two open seats on the Select Board, along with incumbent Alisa Brewer of 5 Fairfield St.

"My goal is to guide Amherst toward a more sustainable future," Wald said.

A former chairman of the Comprehensive Planning Committee, Wald said residents should know what services are being lost if the override doesn't pass. He added that he supports economic development in the context of the master plan.

Emily Lewis of 15 Salem Place is seeking a three-year term on the trustees, joining incumbent Kathy Wang of 11 Dickinson St.

Lewis said she wants to maintain the Jones Library and the branch libraries as the heart of the community.

"They're a wonderful resource, a home away from home," Lewis said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.

Education Matters: She's baaaaack!

Amherst Bulletin
By CATHERINE A. SANDERSON
Published on March 12, 2010

Author's note: After considerable reflection and discussion with Amherst citizens, I have decided that it is important to continue writing this column for the Bulletin, although I will now write it alone.

Over much of the last decade, Amherst and Regional School Committees have supported programs and policies proposed by the superintendent and district administrators without requiring any objective evidence of their merit.

This lack of oversight and participation has resulted in some unfortunate decisions: purchasing two portable classrooms for Mark's Meadow while elementary enrollment numbers were dropping; investing further in an elementary school math curriculum with no evidence about its effectiveness; hiring three full-time administrators to oversee special education and not a single full-time administrator to oversee curriculum; and choosing trimester scheduling, which leads to long breaks in instruction, and, in tight budget times, less instructional time.

Perhaps as a reflection of dissatisfaction with the consequences of this laissez-faire approach, in the last two years the community has elected School Committee members who expect more communication, justification and transparency around school policy decisions.

This more activist School Committee has worked collaboratively with the administration to make decisions based on data and commitment to core community values. We closed an elementary school to focus our limited resources on preserving small class sizes and the music program. We redistricted the elementary schools to achieve equity among low-income students, because research shows this approach enhances children's educational success. We adopted a new policy that requires the district to send all families who choose to leave our schools an exit survey to better understand if our schools are meeting community needs. We adopted another new policy that directs the superintendent to conduct a regular evaluation - based on objective data and comparison to a set of benchmark districts - of all curricula and programs. We created an ambitious set of goals for the new superintendent, including conducting an evaluation of the middle school, initiating a review of the special education program, and evaluating the elementary math curriculum. These changes, which were endorsed unanimously by all School Committee members, will have real and lasting benefits for children in our schools.

Throughout the implementation of these changes, some people have worked hard to defend the status quo and resisted such evaluation or even consideration of changes in current practice. Much of this defense has relied on anecdotal evidence - teachers' beliefs about a program's effectiveness, emotional appeals from parents about their own child's experience and testimony from current and former students. But to best serve all students, we need to make decisions based on what actually works, not on what we think, feel or hope works. In the end, such evaluation may not change what we do today; however, it will show the community that our educational and fiscal decisions are based on data and best practices, and thus enhance the community's confidence in all of our schools.

On March 23, Amherst voters will select two candidates for three-year terms on the School Committees. I hope all voters will learn about each of the five candidates and carefully consider how they vote. Some people believe we should help struggling students by relying on strategies that feel good, whereas others believe we should use programs that have been objectively shown to raise achievement. Some people believe we should allow teachers to develop innovative curricula and practices to teach core academic subjects, whereas others believe we should adopt approaches with demonstrated success in other districts. Some people believe we should support all budget recommendations proposed by the administration, whereas others believe we need to carefully evaluate our spending practices to make sure that our limited resources are used in the best possible way.

Your decision will have a profound impact on our policies - and our children - going forward, and we need people in place who can make those decisions wisely, using the data at hand, with a clear sense of their implications.

Catherine A. Sanderson is a professor at Amherst College, and a member of the Amherst and Regional School Committees. This column reflects her own views, and not those of the School Committees.

A by-the-numbers comparison

Hampshire Gazette
By NICK GRABBEStaff Writer
Friday, March 12, 2010

Here are 10 reasons why Amherst's per-pupil spending is so much higher than in Northampton, according to school administrators:

1. Teacher salaries are higher. In Amherst, they average about $60,000, while in Northampton they are about $10,000 lower. But Amherst is a more expensive place to live, with an average single-family assessment of $334,300 and average annual tax bill of $5,666, compared to $303,000 and $4,000 in Northampton.

2. Old figures. The latest figures listing per-pupil spending, put out by the state, are for the fiscal year that ended last June. The Amherst schools eliminated the equivalent of more than 50 full-time positions for the current year, but that lower level of spending hasn't shown up in state figures yet.

3. Well-paid administrators. The Amherst superintendent makes $173,000 a year, compared to $113,568 in Northampton, and the Amherst high school principal makes $128,663, compared to $89,166 in Northampton. The Amherst elementary schools all have assistant principals; Northampton's don't. Amherst has special education administrators making $98,731, $98,095 and $95,767; Northampton has two making $87,524 and $78,518.

4. OUT-OF-DISTRICT SPENDING. Amherst's spending is higher than Northampton's for students who attend schools outside their districts, according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Web site. For example, Amherst is paying $320,760 for 24 students to attend Smith Vocational and $224,000 for 16 students at Franklin County Technical School this year. These numbers are significantly higher than last year's.

5. Health insurance. The per-pupil costs for insurance were $1,706 in Amherst and $1,045 in Northampton last year, according to the state Web site. For this year, Amherst found a way to limit increases in health insurance costs.

6. Transportation. The Amherst regional district paid $675 per pupil for busing students last year, while Northampton paid $317, according to state figures. Some of this can be attributed to the greater expense of sending buses to Leverett and Shutesbury, and Amherst is planning to save money on busing next year by having fewer stops.

7. Teacher-student ratio. Amherst has a higher one than Northampton, according to school administrators.

8. Operations and maintenance. Amherst spends $1,263 per pupil on the elementary level and $1,458 on the regional level, compared to Northampton's $1,072. This category includes custodians, heating and maintenance of buildings, utilities and technology maintenance.

9. Degree holders. Amherst, home to a state university and two colleges, has a high percentage of parents who have postsecondary and advanced degrees.

10. Other budget items. Amherst elementary schools and the middle and high school spend more per-pupil than Northampton on professional development ($294 and $352 vs. $199), administration ($626 and $652 vs. $494), instructional leadership ($1,134 and 1,288 vs. $814), and guidance, counseling and testing ($396 and $525 vs. $360).

Apples and kumquats: Comparing Northampton, Amherst schools not so cut-and-dried

Hampshire Gazette
By NICK GRABBE
Friday, March 12, 2010

AMHERST - As this education-centered town prepares to vote on a tax override March 23, some are questioning why it spends more per pupil on public schools than other nearby communities.

The Amherst elementary schools spent $15,846 per pupil and the regional (secondary) schools spent $16,909 per pupil in fiscal 2009, according to the state's Web site. The Northampton public schools spent $11,699 and the state average was $13,062.

There is much difference of opinion about the reliability and relevance of these numbers. Administrators and School Committee members cite many reasons for the disparity between per-pupil spending in Amherst and Northampton (see accompanying story).

"It's fair to discuss what we're spending and why it's important, but it needs to take into account both the reasons behind the numbers and our aspirations of what kind of school system we're trying to be," said Andy Churchill, chairman of the Amherst School Committee. "If we're saying we're trying to be great and it costs more, that's fair. And if we're not trying to be great and want to be cheap, that's fair. But it's not fair to say we're trying to be great and we should be cheap."

But Catherine Sanderson, another School Committee member, doubts that Amherst children are getting a better education than Northampton children.

"It is not clear that this money is being well spent," she said. "If we are spending so much more than other districts, why do our kids spend more time in study halls and have fewer course offerings than kids in other schools?"

Amherst school administrators are working on comparisons of spending to other towns, at the request of a citizen committee that's been examining the budget.

Northampton Superintendent Isabelina Rodriguez could not be reached for comment Thursday as to whether Northampton uses Amherst as a benchmark comparison for teacher and administrator pay, class sizes, and MCAS scores. Northampton School Committee Vice Chairwoman Stephanie Pick referred those questions to schools business manager Susan Wright, who could not be reached Thursday evening.

Seeking fair comparisons

Comparing a city's school spending to a regional district is an apples-to-kumquats exercise, they said. Many of the Amherst school district's costs, such as for a personnel director, come under the Northampton municipal budget; so, they are looking at how the Amherst regional district stacks up with other regional systems.

"Sometimes comparisons are not helpful," said Maria Geryk, the interim superintendent. "It's not negative to look at other communities and reflect on our costs, but it takes someone very skilled at looking at finance and data reporting. It's complicated."

Two regional school districts in the area that Geryk plans to use for comparisons have lower per-pupil spending than Amherst. The Frontier regional district - serving Deerfield, Conway, Whately and Sunderland - spends $14,936, while the Gateway district - serving Huntington, Worthington and other area towns - is spending $13,611, according to the state Web site.

Amherst is "walking a fine line between being fiscally responsible and our goal of having a great outcome for kids," Geryk said.

Former Superintendent Alberto Rodriguez, who left his job unexpectedly Monday, said that "comparisons are very dangerous." He added that spending comparisons have to consider different graduation rates, MCAS scores and SATs.

"I'm sure we compare very favorably to other districts," he said. "You get what you pay for."

An examination of the results of 17 MCAS tests taken in the spring of 2009 by children in grades 3 through 10 seem to confirm what Rodriguez said. In Amherst, 71 percent had scores in the "advanced" or "proficient" categories, whereas in Northampton 58 percent did.

School Committee member Irv Rhodes said the state's per-pupil spending numbers are often not reliable as a basis for comparisons.

"If you say we take one number and use that and say we're overspending on education and it was the only thing you're basing your case on, that would be an error," he said.

There is more "hard-core poverty" in Amherst and children who enter the system not speaking English than in Northampton, requiring greater expenses, said Churchill. But he said Amherst Regional High School sends 92 percent of its graduates to college, a number that compares favorably to towns like Brookline, which spends more per pupil.

But School Committee member Steve Rivkin doesn't buy that.

"Personally, I found Andy's focus on what fancy private schools our students attend offensive, as we cannot separate school from family effects, and it ignores how well we succeed with students who fall below the top of the academic achievement and wealth distributions," he said.

Stan Gawle, a leader of the group urging a "no" vote on the March 23 override, said Amherst has "a platinum school system." He cites as examples the number of languages available, spending $10,000 to hold high school graduation in the Mullins Center, and keeping small classes for Russian.

"Are comparisons relevant? Absolutely," he said. "People make comparisons when they go to the grocery store to shop, and when you see such disparity, it's incumbent on the schools to explain why."

Gawle said that the Amherst schools have too many staff members, especially highly paid special education administrators.

"How much can a town afford to spend without going bankrupt?" he said. "There are a lot of similarities between the U.S. government and the town of Amherst. Both have spent beyond their means. The difference is the federal government can print money, but the town has to come to taxpayers."

Report urges middle school improvement

Hampshire Gazette
By NICK GRABBE
Friday, March 12, 2010

AMHERST - The Regional Middle School does not exhibit many of the characteristics of highly effective schools, according to a consultant who did an on-site evaluation from October to January.

"It needs consistent leadership," Barry Beers told the Regional School Committee Tuesday. "A lot of what I saw is the result of a lack of it. When you don't have that, you regress to the norm, the old teacher-directed way."

The long-awaited report came as applications for a new middle school principal are being screened, and amid the turmoil caused by Monday's sudden departure of Superintendent Alberto Rodriguez.

Despite its pointed comments, the report got a positive response from School Committee members and the middle school's parent-teacher group, the Family School Partnership.

Highly effective schools have data-driven improvement plans, teachers who develop daily lesson plans, and administrators who visit classrooms frequently and later have conversations to promote professional growth, Beers said. They have departments with common assessments, and the characteristics of effective instruction are clearly defined and communicated in writing, he said.

Beers - a national expert who was a middle and high school administrator for 21 years - reviewed data, met with teachers, parents and curriculum leaders, and briefly observed 37 classrooms on Nov. 6 and Jan. 11 and 12, he said.

"The teachers are competent and dedicated professionals who care about students," he said. "But instruction is teacher-driven, not learner-driven."

He noted that the School Council is working on a data-driven improvement plan and classroom observations by administrators have increased. He recommended written policies for grading and homework, establishment of clear expectations for "delivery of instruction and checking for understanding," and the provision of ongoing feedback to teachers.

"The right people are on the bus, assuming an instructional leader is hired as principal," he said. "It is now time for everyone to get on the same bus even though their seats are different."

Beers also suggested that Amherst consider having three grades in the middle school instead of two, which he said is a more typical configuration because of greater rigor and communication among teachers. Rodriguez had recommended moving the sixth grades of all six elementary schools in the region to the middle school.

He also questioned why the most common course selection of pre-algebra in the seventh grade wasn't offered.

Change won't come to the middle school overnight, Beers said. "If the faculty are defensive, you won't see progress," he said, adding that the school needs a "transformational leader."

The consultant said he saw a lot of watching and copying in his classroom visits, and not enough stopping to talk or differentiated instruction.

The school improvement plan must not sit on a shelf but should drive change, he said.

Mark Jackson, the principal of the high and middle schools, said the review has been taken seriously and by the end of the year there will be a detailed update on what concrete steps are being taken. "The commitment is there," he said.

The Regional School Committee was "energized" by the report, said Chairman Farshid Hajir.

"It was a good conversation about the next steps for the middle school, and it was particularly important that it was a discussion about education, because so much of our attention has been focused on the budget," he said.

It's also been focused on the departure of Rodriguez this week, which Hajir called "trying times." The educators have held the district together even though the leader has left, he said.

"There's some level of impatience to harness energy into a collaborative effort to work together to improve the schools," Hajir said. "We'll come out of this turbulence into calmer waters, heading in a good direction."

Bad rap

The middle school has gotten a bad rap, in part because there hasn't been a consistent leader to counter complaints, said Cathy Cullen, a middle school parent and chairwoman of the Family School Partnership. She supported Beers' evaluation and said she hopes the district will be able to continue working with him. He has been working with the partnership on the new school improvement plan, which is due out in May, she said.

"I don't think he meant to be inflammatory, though some of his comments were pointed," she said. "He was upbeat in his presentation. It wasn't all doom and gloom."

She called Jackson and Senior Assistant Principal Michael Hayes "receptive and cooperative."

"My kids have experienced many excellent student-driven lessons," Cullen said. "Is it happening every moment of every day? Of course not."

Math teacher Nina Koch was impressed with the presentation.

"Dr. Beers pointed out that we may have different ideas of what it means for students to be engaged learners, and different definitions of rigor and challenge," she said. "I found myself nodding in agreement when he asserted that the most important element of rigor is the kind of thinking that students are asked to do. The name of the course is not so important."

When Beers spoke on his report at Tuesday's Regional School Committee meeting, there was an overflow crowd waiting anxiously for a discussion of Rodriguez's departure and whether the committee would undertake an immediate search for his replacement.

He brightened the atmosphere by starting with a tongue-in-cheek remark that elicited some laughter: "I appreciate everyone coming out tonight to hear me."

Middle School Report

The Comprehensive Needs Assessment Report on the middle school has now been posted on the ARPS website (http://www.arps.org/node/1235). I'd encourage everyone to read through it in depth, and to watch the ACTV broadcast of the summary of this report by Dr. Beers. I'd like to again note that we have this evaluation of the middle school thanks to a set of goals adopted unanimously by the Regional School Committee last fall, and to the leadership of Dr. Rodriguez in finding Dr. Beers (and to me points out the real value of a set of outside eyes looking at our schools). I've also pasted the summary of this report below.

By all indications, Amherst Middle School is a good school that could be very good or even great. The teachers are competent, hard working, and caring. The administrators are respected by the staff for their dedication and support. With few exceptions, students are well behaved and come to school each day for the purpose of learning. The setting at Amherst Regional Middle School is more than suitable for academic excellence to occur.

However, many characteristics of highly effective schools are not observable at Amherst Regional Middle School. Highly effective schools have data-driven school improvement plans that are developed annually. Teachers are required to develop daily lesson plan which contain the elements that are developed by the instructional leaders with input from teachers. Classroom observations are frequent and followed by conversations designed to promote professional growth. Most, if not all, departments have common assessments which guide instruction. In highly effective schools, the characteristics of effective instruction are clearly defined and communicated in writing to stakeholders. Although teachers make daily instructional decisions based on the needs of their students, consistency is the norm. Parents receive frequent updates regarding student achievement data. Policies and procedures are known by all and applied on a consistent basis.

The curriculum leaders and administrators have recently been receptive to the challenge of increasing expectations in an effort to improve student achievement. 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 capacity of the faculty to implement the changes.

To paraphrase Jim Collins in “Good to Great,” the right people are on the bus (assuming an instructional leader is hired as principal). It is now time for everyone to get on the same bus even though their seats are different.

The Process of Change

I've had a lot of questions -- on this blog, in person, via private email/phone -- over the last few days about the events of the last week, and I want to take this opportunity to clarify a few points (to the best of my ability, within the confines of the law) about where we are, how we got there, and where I think we should be going.

1. Last Wednesday (March 3rd), all School Committee members received a set of evaluations completed by senior staff who worked with Dr. Rodriguez (principals, assistant principals, senior central office staff).

2. On Friday (March 5th), I was called in the early afternoon and told that an emergency executive session had been scheduled for that evening at 6 pm.

3. On Monday (March 8th), we attended an executive session, and a statement was released (as you've seen by now) stating that Dr. Rodriguez and the School Committee had reached an agreement that he would no longer work in the district.

4. On Tuesday (March 9th), we attended a School Committee meeting in which we expected to determine a plan for leadership in the district.

So, this means that less than a week passed from receiving the evaluations to making the decision to appoint Maria Geryk as interim superintendent for 16 months.

I have several concerns about the process - and since one of the main goals I have in doing this blog, and one of the principles I ran for SC on, is communication, I'd like to share those.

First, I believe that the SC should have taken the time to get comments from the public PRIOR to appointing an interim for a 16 month period. If we had only made a 4-month appointment, that would seem different, but a 16-month position is a very long time, and I believe that we owed it to the community to allow some comments. We could have easily postponed this decision for one week to allow time for parents, teachers, staff, and/or community members to share their thoughts about how best to proceed. That at least would have allowed for greater communication and transparency in the process of selecting a new superintendent (even a temporary superintendent), and frankly transparency seems really important at this time.

Second, I believe that appointing an interim superintendent for 16 months really deserves more thought and attention than a single hour or two discussion on one evening -- by people who were already 2 hours into the meeting before it began AND by people who were in the third long (3+ hour) meeting in 5 days. This is not a recipe for good decision-making. I don't think we did the community, or Maria Geryk, a service by making such a rush decision.

Third, the SC ultimately chooses the superintendent -- not the staff. And it was striking to me that virtually all SC members initially spoke in favor of at least trying to mount a search (me, Steve, Irv, Kathleen, Kathy, Debbie, and Haley - the student representative). Yet the staff (principals and central office staff) then clearly spoke against conducting a search, and ultimately, their views led a majority of SC members to change their minds. At a minimum, I think we could have contacted a few search firms to ask questions regarding the feasibility of conducting a search at this time -- and although I understand that finding a good superintendent takes time, I think it is also possible that were could have attracted a strong superintendent at this time (remembering that Jere Hochman was not selected by Bedford until late May). And although staff spoke about how time consuming such a search would be, that work is obviously going to have to occur - the only question is whether it occurs this spring or this fall!

Fourth, we could easily have appointed Maria as interim superintendent for four months, WHILE we conducted a search for a one-year (or permanent) interim. Maria then could have applied for this position, and if she emerged as the best candidate, obviously she would have been given that job. So I guess I don't understand why 6 members of the committee (all five non-Amherst members, plus Andy) voted against conducting a search for an interim superintendent when it was quite clear that Maria could have been a candidate for this search, and thus clearly would have been selected IF she emerged as the best candidate. That could ultimately have led to the exact same situation we are in, but in a way that would have allowed the community to see that we diligently considered multiple candidates and that we appointed the best person.

Finally, I think it is understandable that the staff would prefer to have Maria Geryk appointed - she is a known, she is familiar, and she thus provides stability. I certainly was in favor of having her serve as interim this time last year (after Helen/Al departed). But as I expressed at the meeting last night, I see our district as very, very insular, and I don't think that is a real strength -- and hiring Maria continues that insularity. I see the most significant contribution Dr. Rodriguez made to our district as bringing in experts (Dr. Hamer last summer, Dr. Beers this fall/winter) to examine what we do from the perspective of an outsider. I believe we learned a ton from these reports, and they point out some real areas in which we need to improve. I just don't know if I see an internal candidate as the best person to facilitate such change (again, had we conducted a real search, we could have asked Maria, and other candidates, for their strategies for accomplishing such change, etc.).

Nonetheless, the School Committee has voted, and has made the decision to appoint Maria Geryk to serve for 16 months as the interim superintendent, and as a School Committee member, I am committed to trying to work effectively with her (just as I was committed to working with Dr. Rodriguez, although I had opposed his hiring last March). And I will hope that she is indeed able to move our district forward in the goals that we have set so that we don't lose yet more time -- because we don't get those years back for the kids currently in our schools. And as Dr. Beers said last night (with respect to the middle school) -- it is a good school. But it could be a very good or even great school. I believe that statement holds equally well for our district -- it is a good district, but it could (and really should) be a great district.