Vote: Superintendent End of Cycle Evaluation

Transcript (~4 min @ 1:31:28)

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▶ 1:31:11 Speaker 1: Okay. So we have concluded our subcommittee work. We're now going to move into announcements to the chair. There'll be four votes tonight, plus just the report that we have the rolling agenda That may need to change as a basis due to one of the votes that we'll have tonight. And then before we conclude, we'll go into outreach. Okay, so first up is we have the public evaluation of the superintendent. So everybody in the packet, you all were able to get me your evaluations, and then I was able to put in a composite. Before I go into any of the highlights in the composite, is there anything anybody would like to say or concerns about the process? And then I'll go through the composite, and if people want to make any individual comments about our superintendent, we can go that direction. So process-wise, people good with how we did the composite? Okay. All right. So let's talk about some of the highlights. So, some of the things that were highlighted as core strengths of our superintendent is her leadership's been defined by stabilization, operational transparency, deep institutional knowledge. She's been with us for 25 years, and that has really helped her bring great organizational skills to our district. Strategic stability, financial stewardship. I think it goes without saying that she and the deputy superintendent faced a challenging budget, have been able to implement it, as well as taking on money from the override and getting us back on track. People feel that she's got collaborative communication skills. She's got an open-door policy, works well with school committee staff in the broader community. She has a strong instructional vision, which I believe we all just saw tonight through some of the discussions. Some of the key performance indicators that came out of everyone's evaluations is that she has successfully moved from being an interim to a permanent superintendent and really has a strong understanding of our district. Something that popped out from many people, but I would specifically call out the mayor just sort of really brought up how well Superintendent Berman works with the other departments. And I think that's really critical because we really do rely on city finance help, facilities, DPW, our IT department, and our public safety. So I think that that's been helpful and always is something that I think with that positive relationship is beneficial to our staff and our students. Many people brought up that she handled a crisis that we had at the Winthrop School exceptionally well, with a lot of compassion and communicated well with impacted folks. And then contracts, she was instrumental in our settlement of contracts, which I think we can all be very proud of, that they were settled before they expired, which not all school districts or Melrose could have had in the past. So I think all of us who were part of that, it was very clear that she has the strong respect of our educators, and I think that was very helpful for us. All that in, based on everybody's rankings as proficient, exemplary, or developing, she has achieved an overall rating of proficient. And if you combine proficient and exemplary, her total is 93%. Is there anything anybody would like to-- Well, actually, any comments, questions, concerns? Anybody like to make any comments themselves, just generally? And then we can decide if anybody wants to vote to approve this. Mr. Harvin?

▶ 1:35:01 Speaker 7: Just briefly, I think the summary was just extremely well-stated and still just expressing gratitude for the superintendent coming into an unexpected position and really responding to the role so well. I want to highlight that those first few weeks when you really took the reins of the position you were in and figured out what the right administrative team was, I think that was a really key element of showing your leadership very early on. And I think that's recognized in the evaluation here. The work you've done over this year has just been tremendous, and I'm very grateful for where we've come as a district as a result of that.

▶ 1:35:37 Speaker 1: Anyone else? Anybody like to make a motion? Mayor? Motion to approve. Is that what we- We have a motion by the mayor to approve. Is there a second? Seconded by Ms. Driscoll. All in favor? Any opposed? And that passes unanimously, so congratulations. Thank you, Superintendent. Okay. Now we are going to move on to