BERNARDSTON — As Pioneer Valley Regional School District Superintendent Ruth Miller’s second end-of-cycle evaluation approaches, the School Committee has mixed opinions about opening up the evaluation to community input.
School Committee member Sue O’Reilly-McRae proposed expanding the evaluation process, one that is traditionally done solely by School Committee members, to include input from principals, Selectboard and Finance Committee members, parents and other community members.
O’Reilly-McRae said during an April 27 School Committee meeting that she originally pitched the idea to Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, and received positive feedback.
“We would be innovating because the Department of Education is going to give guidelines as to how to improve superintendent evaluations and they haven’t done that yet,” O’Reilly-McRae said.
O’Reilly-McRae said she had already drafted specific forms for community input, and proposed having the forms available to download on the district website or having hard copies available in the four Town Halls. The respondents would be asked to write respectfully and cite evidence to back up their evaluations, O’Reilly-McRae said.
Community members in the audience echoed their support of the idea.
“You need to be working very, very hard to find out what the truth is,” said Barbara Killeen, health and wellness teacher at Pioneer. “And you need to be talking not just around the table amongst yourselves, but to every stakeholder in the district.”
However, there were School Committee members who had reservations.
School Committee member Debra Gilbert said she considered it inappropriate “to go out to the public arena, who hears pieces and parts.”
“I’m uncomfortable about the personal, not-fact-based opinion,” School Committee member Martha Morse agreed.
Still other members backed O’Reilly-McRae’s proposal.
“I think casting a wide net, it makes you more informed,” School Committee member William Wahlstrom argued.
Many of the committee members felt the new process was being rushed, with Gilbert making a motion to push the vote on expanding the evaluations to next year. The majority of the committee voted in favor of Gilbert’s motion, with only three opposed.
Through last year’s evaluation process, 11 committee members rated Miller on a scale that ranged from “unsatisfactory” to “exemplary.” Five, the majority, deemed her performance “proficient.” Two said her performance was “unsatisfactory,” two said it “needs improvement” and another two said it was “exemplary,” resulting in a range of differing opinions.
The School Committee is set to review Miller’s second end-of-cycle evaluation during the May 25 meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Leyden Town Hall.
You can reach Shelby Ashline at: sashline@recorder.com 413-772-0261, ext. 257