Evaluation for Superintendent Melinda Boone
June 21, 2012
If you ignore the politics and the noise that impacts every school district and evaluate the strategic direction and the progress made by the Worcester Public Schools over this past year, it is very clear that this has been a very successful year for Superintendent Melinda Boone and the staff and faculty in the district.
I look at the following areas for gauging progress for the district: curriculum and academic rigor; operations and facilities; budget; partnerships and outreach; and personnel.
Starting with personnel, Dr. Boone has assembled an exceptional administrative staff and made very successful selections for principals in our schools. Ultimately, the success of the superintendent is tied to her leadership and the personnel decisions that are made. One of the most important criteria that I use in evaluating a superintendent is the team they have assembled. Dr. Boone has done a great job in bringing top level professionals to her team.
Dr. Boone has not been afraid to make changes and push the district. She and her staff have worked hard over the past three years to properly align the strategic direction of the district and build consensus with instructional and building leadership. I want to particularly highlight the great work of Dr. Mulqueen as he has quietly, but steadfastly, led the Level 4 work, the development and implementation of Innovation Schools, curriculum reviews, and patiently worked through the agenda for the Teaching, Learning, and Student Support subcommittee.
Brian Allen has led the Finance and Operations division exceptionally well through the FY14 budget development, the management of the loss of federal funding support, the new environmental challenges in our buildings, the improved operations for cleaning and maintaining our buildings, and the great work putting together the plans for new building construction and renovations to MSBA. This new budget document is a model for any industry to replicate as it clearly articulates the operations and the strategic direction of the Worcester Public Schools.
I also want to acknowledge the strong work of Marco Rodrigues in special education and Sergio Paez with our English language learners and student support. Both of these areas face the challenge of growing demand and limited resources. Dr. Rodrigues has managed his department very well and provided professional, caring, and supportive communication with parents. I feel confident that our work with large numbers of ELL students is moving forward with a strategic plan and more community support and partners.
I feel that the Worcester Public Schools is taking great strides to align our curriculum to the new state standards, provide added emphasis upon technology and STEM courses that will prepare our students better for college and careers, and increase the rigor of the coursework with more Advanced Placement courses and higher expectations for all students. This is the “behind the scenes” work that is so important for pushing the district and our students forward and we are making great progress in this area. As we look at a possible exam school and/or additional increased rigor and opportunities for our best students, the district will need to be even more ambitious and creative in our approach.
There continues to be strong improvements in the operations of the district and the management of the facilities, even in the face of reductions in staff support over the past few years. As a school committee, we need to also understand that we are educating, transporting, feeding, and supporting more than 24,000 students daily and that these operations have run very well over the past year. Our finances are very well managed by a professional team that I would compare favorably with any finance office in the Commonwealth. Food services is one of the toughest jobs in any school district, but I want to acknowledge Donna Lombardi and her team for their exceptional work at bringing significant, healthy changes to our food services. I also need to recognize the great work done by our Director of Transportation John Hennessey as he and his team deal with the challenges of transporting our students across the district and the state. These operations represent the daily tasks that are so critical to our success and so important for students and families and they are conducted very well.
Worcester has taken positive steps this past year to look at both the immediate facility needs and longer term plans. Jim Bedard has initiated systems that bring more cohesion and accountability to the maintenance and the cleanliness of our buildings and this is greatly appreciated by principals! With the support of City Council, we have been able to escalate our building repairs and address several long standing issues in the schools. Dr. Boone has led the way with a strategic direction for major renovations and replacements for our school buildings through the Massachusetts School Building Authority. It was great to be at Nelson Place this week to actually discuss a plan for replacing that decaying structure.
One of the greatest accomplishments this past year has been the elevation of the discussion regarding funding for education in Worcester to a point where we are now working with the city manager and city council to examine the long term funding needs of the schools. We also received additional funding from the city for education. Dr. Boone was firm in her insistence that the budget developed was a fair representation of the needs of the district and that WPS was still woefully underfunded for reaching compliance, never mind a proper level of educational effectiveness. The collective effort by Dr. Boone, the parents, the community, and elected officials has put education funding forward as a new priority for the city of Worcester and enables us to look at future budget years more optimistically.
One of the strongest areas of success for Dr. Boone and the Worcester Public Schools has been in the area of partnership and outreach. Dr. Boone has worked diligently to engage the community, the parents, businesses, and institutions in the success of our students. This has been especially true with parents and in communities that have typically not had a voice in their schools. It is these partnerships that present the most positive steps forward for the schools as we know that the education of our young people is a community-wide responsibility. Dr. Boone has done a tremendous job building these bridges across the district and creating a positive momentum for our schools.
Dr. Boone has brought a new sense of openness and transparency to the district. She has opened the door to the schools and embraced partnerships that will help our students. She and her staff have been very willing to meet with parents and explain policy and process to parents in a manner that makes parents feel respected and part of the solution. Dr. Boone and her staff have been very willing to meet with school committee members at any time to review policy, questions, or issues that may arise. This new budget documents sets the standard for transparency as it contains almost any information you may wish to know about the Worcester Public Schools, and if it does not, just ask Mr. Allen and he will put it in next year’s edition.
As I reviewed the many successes of the past year, I was also struck by the recognition that much of this work was accomplished under the cloud of a very contentious contract renewal process in November. It is testament to the dedication and commitment of Dr. Boone that she did not let this issue distract her from her strong vision for the Worcester Public Schools.
Dr. Boone has not been afraid of change and has not shied away from any of the challenges that face urban school districts. The bold moves at Claremont Academy reflect that determination. I believe that there were lessons learned on all sides with this step taken, but the bottom line for all of us is that we are all accountable for the success of every student and that local districts must take a stand to support student achievement rather than waiting for the state to impose their sanctions upon us. I applaud Dr. Boone for her action.
This next year will present additional challenges to Dr. Boone and the district. We will need to replace the great work of Dr. Mulqueen. The successful implementation of the MassCore curriculum will be very important. As a district, we need to keep our focus on early childhood literacy and make sure that our students enter Kindergarten read to learn and achieve grade level literacy by grade three. We already know that we will once again face budgetary issues in the FY14 budget.
I thank Dr. Boone and her staff for a very productive and successful academic year. Dr. Boone has the deeply held conviction and personal commitment to see that every student in the Worcester Public Schools has the opportunity and the expectation to be successful. I look forward to working together in the year ahead.
Jack Foley
Worcester School Committee
June 21, 2012