001I'd like to call this special meeting of the school committee. Would you please rise to salute the flag? >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Uh, next on the agenda, as always, is public comment. Uh, something I would like to let folks know, uh, the people that are here that for public comment this evening, uh, we'll have regular public comment. Uh, and that will be the end of the time that there is participation by the public because once the interviewing starts and the deliberation, the public does not take part in that. So, uh, anyone wish to give public comment? >> All right. Well, then excuse me while
002I go get our first candidate. I do. >> How are y'all again? Good. >> Hi, I'm Leah. Nice to meet you. >> Okay. So, Eric, welcome. Like, where'd that come from? >> I'm very loud. Uh, and you were here a little bit earlier, so you've met everyone. and we uh will get started. The way that we're going to uh have the interview this evening is that we all have questions. Um we've allotted an hour and so what uh we're going to try to do so that we are respectful of the other candidates that are going to be behind you is try to keep it to six minutes per question. So at some point I might gently um say um >> wrap it up. wrap it up and we're going to move on to the next.
003And it also is instructive of you that um to be uh really focused on the question at hand of the information that you're giving us uh so that you're able to give the most important information that you want to provide to us given the questions that are asked to you. >> Does that make sense? >> That makes perfect sense. >> Great. And there will be questions and then we also uh there will be some follow-up question. >> Okay, >> sounds good. >> Leah, I believe you are going to start us. I mean first question is I believe you are going to start us >> and Mr. Chopy thank you for being here. >> Um the first question is why Mabaro and why now? How do your leadership values align with our district and what concrete
004actions would you take early on to make a meaningful impact as our interim superintendent? So, I've been following Milboro for the past year or so, just kind of keeping an eye to see what direction you guys are going to go. Um, I'm close by uh in Plymouth. I've been in education for now 32 years. Um, primarily as high school. I started off as teacher, assistant principal, and then got into the uh high school ranks down in South Florida and in North Georgia. And then about six years ago, I was able to interview for the superintendent job in Plymouth and I was a finalist. And 2020, as you recall, was a challenging year. Um the district uh the other finalist was the uh assistant superintendent there and they made the right decision uh to elevate him
005and then they he then hired me on as the assistant superintendent as an interimm. So, a big jump coming from Florida, Georgia area up to Massachusetts. Uh, we moved back here because this is where our our family and our roots are. Um, it took it was good because I I had an opportunity to really understand and learn about Massachusetts. It's it's different uh in different we have same curriculum and frameworks, but how things are delivered and expectations are varied. Uh so it gave me an opportunity to really learn um about the school systems up here. One thing that was very new for me was we were not unionized in Georgia. Uh so that was very different to to get to learn and to get to meet and work with the union leadership and is in
006my role in human resources. That's a huge part of my my job. Uh so transitioning there doing contracts that was new. Um, I was able to do two collective bargaining rounds um, in very tough times. Uh, you guys are dealing with it now. I know you closed your teachers contract, but I believe your u pair educators are coming up. We're going to start working towards that one. Um, it's a tough time with the budgets and for me um, I was just ready for that next step uh, to become a to work on becoming a superintendent. Um, and I I felt like with Middlebar, I know there's there's challenges in every system and right now I have watched a couple of the committee meetings and you can sense just from the conversations that people are having
007that um there's a little um morale concern that they feel like, you know, we have to come together, we have to work with one another, support one another, and we have to get back to uh having a a a strong leadership team that can support the schools and the students and the families. Um so I feel like my background has lent itself in that. Uh both my high school experiences were to go into systems that needed some guidance and some um strong leadership for change and we were able to do that. Now I will say you're only as good as those that are around you. So it's it's finding those right pieces um to help support the process and the journey um so that we can find success in the school system. So, um, why
008now it's open? You know, obviously you guys had a difficult part in the beginning in May was to go for an interimm or a full-time. Um, I think you guys took the right approach because of the timing of when it was being announced. uh for a candidate like myself, it's a great opportunity to to sit in front of you and hopefully get an opportunity as an intern and then have the next five months to kind of see where things are going and hopefully if the opportunity present itself to continue on in a full-time role. So, I came in as an interimm as an assistant superintendent and then that turned into a multi-year contract. So, um I'm familiar with that process and it doesn't worry me. I'm excited about it and I'm excited to see what
009we can do together. >> I have a followup. >> Okay. All right. I have the next question. Communication, transparency, and relationship building is very important to the members of our community. So, first, how would you build rapport with our administrators, teaching staff and support staff? So, essentially your in district community. And second, how would you ascertain the public's perception of the school system and what steps would you take to improve or sustain that perception? >> So building relationships is is key obviously, but how you go about that, it takes time. You know, you have to put yourself out there. Um you can't show up for work and just stay in your office for 8 hours. You have to be visible. You have to be present. um you have to go into the schools, but that's
010only part of the job. You also have to be very connected to what's going on in the community. Um all of the stakeholder groups. Uh one of the uh cabinets that uh I've been on with Plymouth is the town managers department team. And that's where you're working closely with the police chief, the fire chief, DPW, because when something was to an event would present itself, you have to have relationships with the people you're going to be relying on. Uh so you have that side then you have the parent groups you know working with CPAC um working with the PTAs at the different schools being visible is key um and they get to know you and then they get to trust you and trust can take a little bit of time uh just because you you're
011not it's not consistent um with individuals but the ones you work closer with you're building leadership uh you have to be a support in the central office uh so that they can do their job so that they and support their teachers. Um, one of the groups that I I run in our school system is the teacher advisory council and it's just a monthly check-in with teachers represented from each building so that they can come in and share their concerns. We might not be able to solve all of them immediately, but we're building that rapport with one another that they can bring an issue. Could be a curriculum issue or it could be the leaking faucet that's driving the teachers crazy in the teacher room, you know, and how can we get to get that, you
012know, addressed. Uh, so there's a lot of different avenues that you have to be able to do. You have to be available. Um, you can communicate out, but just because I push out a newsletter or we do a podcast doesn't mean people are listening. Uh, and sometimes it it takes, you know, a setting where people will come forward and you have to listen to what their concerns are. Um, but it's it's certainly just um listening and and and providing guidance. You don't have to make a decision right away. Uh sometimes there needs to be a lot of conversation uh so that you can um get to the get to solve the problem. Um you know we want to look at what is the future for Middleboro. We have students going through the system. We have
013students that are coming into the system. We have students graduating on June 6th. So what does the future look like? Um my first evaluation would be to look at and review the strategic plan and to kind of see where we're at. Kind of do a temperature check. um what is working, what's not working, what do we need to tweak, what have we not addressed. And I know that's built on a five-year plan. Um I think you guys are somewhere in the mid midtime middle of it. Um and kind of really have that that self assessment of where you're at. And that's using your key people that are in place, your school committee, your district leaders, your building leaders, uh your lead teachers, your parents, um students. You know, that was one thing that um I
014always had when I was a high school principal was a student council that I met with uh because they have good perspectives and they want to share. They're in the they're they're doing the work as well. Uh so you want to make sure that you're being exposed to every um angle within the school system. Uh as a high school principal, it was my day job was the operation of the school. My evening job was all the activities. Um, kids need to see you. Um, staff need to see you. Uh, you have to be part of a community. Um, I have five children from 26 to nine. Um, so my little ones, they're going with me to different events. Um, we play ball when we we travel. We come out to Middlebar. Um, so they would
015be a part of that as well because I'm a parent as well and you know, I'm not going to sacrifice that. >> Thank you. M >> any followup? >> If I missed I know some of the questions seem a little long. If I miss anything, please ask. >> Oh, sure. Absolutely. >> First of all, thank you for uh being here tonight. Um my question is a little bit more the financial side. So given the financial limitations at hand, can you please describe how you assure the most efficient use of the district's resources, what types of creative ideas might you suggest to meet the educational needs of students not being met within the regular budget and program? >> So the budget was approved Monday, 42.8 million I saw, and there was reductions in that. So you
016guys had some very difficult decisions and conversations. Um that's not unique to Middleboro school systems around are having that same conversation. Uh we had this two years ago where I had to meet with 29 u 29 vacancies that we had to eliminate. So some were vacancies, some were through attrition, some we were able to transfer individuals into other positions. Um but we did have three that we just did not have a position for. So, we did our best to to negate that. Um, being creative is looking at um different funding sources that you can use. Uh, one thing we we did to save about $300,000 uh dollars was we have our custodians that were working in the cafeteria. This part of their routine uh job job, but it was never in the job description. So
017we added that in the job description and they got permission by the state to pay for our custodians for half their day out of the revolving account of food service as the money was coming in because they were providing that service. They were always doing it, but we never realized we could think to use that funding source to help pay their salaries. By doing that, that saved us about $300,000. Um and it it helped us in having those those reduction conversations. So you do have to get creative. You have to try and figure out ways um to handle it because we what we do know is our for us you have your budget drivers. Um typically salaries is one of the biggest drivers. Usually about 78 79% of your overall budget. And we had to
018in our last contract cycle we had to make a salary correction. our our Plymouth teachers were not getting paid nearly um what they should have been. Um there's been years and years and years of just 1% colas, 0% couple years, 2% and we were gradually falling behind some of our surrounding systems that we were losing staff to. So we had to make that correction. Well, when you make that correction, you have to adjust for it in your salary. Um we've already cut back on supplies. I'm sure you guys have done the same thing. We keep dropping supplies. We get our uh state aid. We get our grants. Those are they're reducing a little bit, but if middle borrows similar to what we were, some of those were were filled with staff and you know for
019staffing salaries going up, but the grants staying relatively the same. So we're still losing on that end. So you have to start transferring people into the operating budget. Um, Esser was one of the things that we had used besides getting the PPE and, you know, doing all the the building safety things. The money was was plentiful. We started using it for staff for like adjustment counselors to make sure we were meeting all the needs of students, the mental health of our students. Well, when those Astro funds went away, those positions were so valuable, we had to absorb them into operating budget, which is not what we had before. So, you start adding four or five positions at 80 90,000. Now, all of a sudden, you're at a half a million dollars. You have to then
020be accounted for. So, we have to look at other areas. So trying to be creative looking at all aspects, what grants are available, how to offset um using, you know, you try to eliminate the front-facing um staff that are with our students. Um we don't want to move students up to 30 in a class, 32 in a class. You want to keep it manageable. Um but we have to be mindful of a budget. So we have to look at all of them. The first thing I start looking at is every it's a little easier at the uh early levels. If I have 70 70 students in third grade, I know I'm going to have around 22 23 kids in a class. In high school, it can get a little tricky because you're trying to offer
021course offerings and AP courses and electives that might have eight or nine students in a class, but then we might have 28 students in algebra class. So you want to offer things for the students, but you have to be able to cover all the students going through a schedule. So it it gets a little tricky. So you have to really dig deep um and look at the cost centers, see what's needed, what can use, you you know, we always had the uh your first round like what I what I can live without, what I really don't want to live without. Um and you just kind of work through those those lists. Um, and I think I saw at one point there was maybe 23 or 24 staffing positions that were being adjusted uh in the
022upcoming budget. Now, obviously you would have some retirements and resignations, so you might not lose individuals, but you're losing positions. >> Um, >> we we brought that down uh I believe to >> good >> or 18 or 19. um >> not good but >> doing many of the similar things that you're speaking of. >> Yeah. So it's um it's a tough time. It's and the hard part is especially in my role in human resources the the pool of applicants is getting smaller. You know I I ran a study I was looking 10 years back. We would have 400 applicants for an elementary job. We'd have 90 applicants for a high school position. 60 applicants for leadership positions. Now, we're hopeful if we have in some cases 40 applicants, which seems like a lot, but when
023you're comparing that prior or in high school, now I'm having eight applicants for a science position, but maybe four of them aren't even certified. And then you're reducing it even lower. So, your your talent pool is declining. So, we're trying to find ways to to homegrown, you know, putting pair of educators through um Bridgewwater State. They have a program that helps offset the tuition. Uh so, we can try and build our staff up from within um in bringing people in. You know, when someone retires, we think of that as a cost savings because if somebody's going out on top set on the top pay scale, and now I'm able to bring somebody in on year one or two, it's a $60,000 savings. That's that's a huge win. >> Um, so we have to look at
024all those angles. Sorry. >> Thank you. >> Yes. All right. Back to me. Um, special education can be a particularly challenging area because of the complexity of the laws and regulations, service needs, student parent concerns, and funding sources when you assess the effectiveness of your special education programs. What are some criteria that you use? >> So, we're we're always looking to use the the least restrictive environment. That's when we're going in and establishing where a student belongs because we want all students to have the same trajectory, the same path. They might need different supports along the way. And as you're going through um the levels, grade spans, if we're finding out that the student might need additional supports, we're hoping we can provide those here in our our own subsparate programs. But unfortunately it gets
025to the point where maybe we can't provide the services for a student after we've worked with the administration, the teachers, the parent, the families and we have to maybe put a student in an out of district program and that was one of the cost huge cost increases I saw here in the last three years. Um it's almost doubled and that's a requirement that we have for all our students. We're going to give them the best possible education. So the the cost is another driver. Special education, transportation, out of district services. Um providing the that support for the families, you know, should have a strong relationship with the CPAC. Uh so you're hearing what's going on and listening. Um working with the teachers and then hopefully that we're providing the students success. Um one of the
026stats that I I noticed was the graduation rate. It was 89% for your students in 2025. It was at 79% for your students with disabilities. That 10% gap for me was too much. We got to figure out how we can close that. Um it was about 6 and 12% uh dropout rate uh for all students. So we want to find out what what's that reason? Why why is that occurring? Um, when we look now at our students with special needs, um, you guys are sitting around 19 and a half 20% with an IEP. That's almost one in five students. That does not include the number of students that are on a 504, you know, that are receiving support services. And teachers do a great job, you know, they do their their three tier and TSS
027support system. Um, but kids are needing that extra support. We didn't have 20 25% of our students on plans 15 years ago, 20 years ago. We have to find ways to help make sure those supports are being met. Staffing, you know, the programs, curriculum, um what programs we have here in the district. I'm I'm not familiar with what you have here. We have several subsparate programs in Plymouth because it was getting so expensive to send students out of district that we started training staff and actually having programs that could handle um behaviors or handle um the academic support that some of our challenged our students that were were challenged with. So um that's always a that's another way to look at uh a cost savings if if it makes sense to do that. Uh and
028then transportation obviously >> I have a followup on that one. Um so the director of special ed and uh pupil personnel is one of the positions is vacant. >> Um and we will be launching a search uh for that position. What experience have you had in participating in uh finding a director and um on boarding someone that would be coming in and and uh leading that area? >> Yeah. So, just my time in Plymouth, we've hired three special ed directors. So, we've gone through that process. Again, that goes back to the the talent pool. It's a hard position. >> Yeah. I guess what I'm asking is what your who I don't know who the Wii is. Were you involved in that? Oh yeah. So, uh, sorry. As the, um, assistant superintendent for human resources, I
029run all of our searches. >> Okay. >> All, uh, district level searches, whether it's principal, building principal, uh, whe special ed director, technology director, that always ran through my office. >> Um, I would meet the candidates, take them through very similar what you're doing here with this position. Um, then do the onboarding. >> Who does the onboarding? >> My office. Uh we do the onboarding, get them set up in Aspen, um the new teach, you know, new teacher training, workshops, orientation, all of those things that we do. My office finalizes all hires, uh whether it's a teacher at the middle school or elementary school. Um and then we just walk them through the process and help transition them in. So, um we've unfortunately had to do it more than once in special ed. And the
030candidate pool is small. It's a it's like that's what I was saying. it was it's a hard >> position. >> Um and then with that there's just not as many >> folks interested. So the sooner you start the process the better opportunity you'll have to find someone. >> Thank you. Uh so I'd be interested in hearing how what you describe would be the ideal relationship between an interim superintendent as yourself >> uh and the school committee. What does that relationship look like? Uh how can we work with you as an interim? >> Uh to serve our students the best that we can uh during this period of time. >> So for me the the word interim is is is part of the title >> but it doesn't change the relationship. you know, my my job
031or anybody's job coming in would be um to support the day-to-day operations of the schools and the school district and worked uh collaboratively with the school committee. >> What does that look like to work? For example, a good example is uh Governor Hilly just sent out some guidance in the and Desi sent out guidance to have policies or in place for immigration and working with your school committee whether you have a you have a policy committee or I'm assuming you would have a couple members we'd start working on making sure that the policy was in place in the event uh we needed to refer to it and that just came out this past week. So that doesn't change, you know, that relationship. You you worked together on policies. Um recently you just went through um
032a vote in middle of May for curriculum and had members on a on a committee staff to decide if you wanted save us or uh HMH. and you guys went with the HMH providing the um the grant comes through is the way I was interpreting it. That doesn't change. We don't we don't stop. You can't just be like, "Well, I'm just going to plug along and and be available." You're putting your your feet to the ground. You know, you're still building those relationships, doing everything as if you're in that role because the goal is you're trying to make the future for Middle the best it possibly can be. So, you have to be willing to do the work and um building a leadership team if those opportunities present itself. It's bringing in people that you
033feel would be a good fit and would be able to help move the system continue to move the system forward. Uh so I I think the relationship is the same. It's just you have a designation there for right reasons. You know, the the obviously the advantage school committee has is we hire somebody as an interimm if we feel like it's going well. They could be a strong consideration for the future position. If they if the committee feels like, you know what, it didn't work, but hey, thank you for helping try to support us and we're going in a different direction. You know, those that's the that's what we're involved in right now. Um, so my hope is we have that relationship that we are working together to make needed change, be fiscally responsible, trying to
034find creative solutions. Um, the teacher is going to come back in August and they have to see there's some stability. They have to see that there are people in place that are going to be there and be present and and help support what it is that they need. >> Thank you. >> Because the kids are coming back in August. We we all know that parents are ready to send them back once that summer is over. >> Thank you. >> So I have the next question. Um this is more around your leadership style. Um, as we know, you have direct reports and direct reports students, parents, >> um, this committee. Um, so we just want to learn a little bit more about your style. Um, you know, and just some of the some of the experiences
035you've had over your career. Um, and just where you think your style kind of fits in with this district and how you could be a successful superintendent here. um in really just trying to understand a lot more about your style, I guess. >> So, one of my favorite statements to my students was do what you're supposed to do when you're supposed to do it, whether you feel like it or not. And if you can do that, you're going to find a way to be successful. You've gota you got to get up and go. My experiences as high school have both very different schools. 2 2400 kids in a in more of an urban setting and 900 kids in a rural setting. Very different, but the needs were the were the same. They were underperforming schools.
036And I was in one in a large school, I was the fourth principal in four years, and in uh North Georgia, I was the third principal in four years. So there was a lot of turnover, a lot of change, a lot of lack of stability. The first thing I had to do was assess who was a who was my the leaders so that we can do it together. And sometimes people are in strong leaders, they might be in the right the wrong spot. And one thing that I've been able to do over my career is find the the best spot for someone to help support the district. Um, and as you build that leadership team, so you're always looking towards the future. You know, you have to have a vision what you're trying to accomplish.
037I don't need another me. I need somebody who is gonna balance me, that is going to provide maybe an area that I'm not as strong in because that that's what makes it work a little bit better. I have worked on curriculum development. I have done the work in the high schools. I have haven't had as much exposure in Massachusetts. I've done learning walks and we've been um part of working with professional development and those types of things, but I I don't have a a long history of 15 years working in curriculum development at a district office. That to me is is a is a key piece. Um for me, um finding a strong special education director is is is critical. um because again that's not an area. I have worked with families, I've worked with
038students, I've worked with staff, but I have not been in that type of role. So that's definitely something that um needs to be um addressed. Um you have a strong business administrator. I I tried hiring him 5 years ago. You know, we we missed out. U so when I saw his name was here, I was like, okay, we have that covered. um he has um obviously balanced two roles for the past year and uh from all accounts admiral well done but we need to be over here full-time as well too. So it's finding that balance I think. So you know what's my leadership style. Um I have come in and in my experiences have been to take um schools and used the existing staff and tried to move things forward. Um the school I went
039to in Florida, we were a D school when I was assigned part of the state report card system, grading system. After four years, we had moved from a D school to a B school. And the year after I left, because we had moved to North Georgia, they were an A school. So, a lot of work went in in just a short period of time. Uh, in North Georgia, uh, we it was a a great community. It was a one high school town, North Georgia mountains, about 2 hours north of Atlanta. Uh, I was the first high school principal ever hired outside the community. He is, you were from that community, you stayed in the community. hard to come in. Um about five six years in I think I was accepted but it took a lot
040of work and we got to being ranked the number six high school in the state. Uh so made a lot of progress um by implementing programs and finding out what the the needs were. Um so I think you have to rely on others. You have to build a team of trust, uh, open communication, uh, transparent, you know, being able to have these conversations, um, and and being out there and listening. You know, as an interim or as a superintendent, the first thing you have to do is find out what are you walking into. I can look at Desi stats. I can look at the website. I can get a picture, but until you sit down and you hear, that's when you really find out what what you're up, you know, what you're up against, what
041you're trying to do, where we're trying to move. >> Just to follow up, Sue had mentioned um that in our central office, we're probably going to be hiring somebody soon enough. >> What are those types of those characteristics? You're looking for those people who are going to work in your central office that are going to help you make yourself successful in this district. Well, depending on what those positions are. And like I said, somebody that can bring something to the table that that I can. I I did the same when I was coaching baseball. I don't need someone to have the exact same mentality as I do because I need to bounce ideas off and get different perspectives. Um finding somebody that has experience in um for me, I was a secondary schools. I've worked
042with the elementary principles. I've worked with middle school principles. But my my core was 9 through 12. That's where I taught assistant uh principal principal. Having someone that has that experience at the elementary level adds another a huge value to a team as you're working with this K12 system. Um, if your assistant, if your superintendent was elementary minded, I would hope that they're thinking I would need somebody more with secondary mind because it it's all got to blend together. >> Thank you. >> Mhm. You're welcome. >> Okay. How responsible should the school be to the community pressure on items such as curriculum, instructional practices, and other teaching and learning areas of the school day? So when you are looking at curriculum or any changes, anything that is going to cause a change, we were um
043we went through a little a situation earlier this year where we had to uh we were going intending to implement a sexed curriculum. in hindsight, we would have rolled it out a little sooner and had more parent involvement because it it kind of hit a wall. Um, and there was some concerns even though there was opt out options for families. When you're changing curriculum, you want to get as many people's opinions as possible. So, you know, you can use a you can use a survey and gather input. You can create forums, get, you know, information in. You have to you have to listen to it. Even though you know I guess another good example and I think there were more staff um a couple weeks ago when you were having that debate about Savis or
044HMH, there were staff that were coming forward. They had an opportunity to share their thoughts and you listen to them. That's all you can do. Uh that's wonderful. And what I know about staff is even if they had an opposing opinion, they're going to come in and get ready to get to work once the school year starts. Uh so I feel like um making yourself available and listening to all of those stakeholder groups to hear why they feel, you know, some, you know, one one area versus another um I think is is is critical, right? You have to you have to have these conversations. Um you're not going to make everybody happy. You know, that's part of leadership. Uh if everybody's happy with your decisions, then probably not going well. Um you have to listen,
045you have to absorb, you have to take your time, you have to research, and then you have to roll out. Um you have to have the buy in. Buyin's, you know, is key anytime you're implementing something. Um I think the way I was hearing things it sounds like doing it the right way uh during the 26 27th school year kind of doing the PD professional development on the curriculum changes for full implementation in 27 uh 26 to 27 or 2728 school year. So I think that's the approach um that you would do it. >> Sort of similar question. Okay. Um, superintendents often face issues that generate strong and differing opinions among students, families, staff, and community members. Describe your approach to leading through a controversial issue while maintaining trust and focusing on student outcomes. >>
046So, we used to have a a saying, keep the main thing the main thing, which is the student. >> I'm sorry, I missed the saying. >> Keep the main thing the main thing. I was a superintendent in South Florida. Used to say it all the time and it's just stayed in my head. Um, which is student achievement and student success. So, when you're dealing with a controversial issue, you have to keep in mind all students and how's it what's the impact? Um, and it's the listening piece. It's the understanding of what the issue at hand might be. getting different perspectives, but at the end of the day, we work as a as a as a team to make the best decisions. I make a recommendation and then you guys have, you know, the vote if
047it's if it's a policy change or whatever it might be. Um but I think it's definitely critical again as you said it was kind of similar is is to have those stakehold you know the parent group if it's a special education issue and I don't attend a CPAC meeting how am I really truly going to hear from those that are are are cons potentially concerned um if it's you know I always tell the the principles my phone can go off as early as 6:00 a.m. because there's a water issue at one of the schools or it could go off late 10:30 at night because let me know cuz as is in HR I usually deal with you know the stuff that comes in that needs to be dealt with like through facilities or food service
048is um being available and I want to know the possible concerns and it might not be you know I might not hear from a family or or what it might be that has got somebody ups you know upset and wants to talk but give me a heads up of what potentially could come. That way we're we're on the same page and then we can start collecting information so we can make an informed decision. Again, keeping the main thing the main thing. >> How might you handle a situation like at a school committee meeting if there's upset parents and an issue that may have happened, you know, that >> kind of got everybody's feathers ruffled. Have you ever experienced something like that in Plymouth or >> I've had upset parents before and I've always tried to
049diffuse a situation that's happening in the moment because we're not you if someone is is upset and emotional it's hard to get anything resolved. So, taking a step back and a break. I've heard what you're saying. Let's let's get together tomorrow morning. Let's sit down where we can have, you know, a conversation. When when people are upset and angry, they're going to be upset and angry. You know, I've I've had parents walk in a door at school and they're laying into a staff member and when you find out they had an accident earlier before they got there, there's might be some other things going on that has triggered an emotion. So, it's it's finding out let's take a let's take a moment. Let's step back and then try and work through it. Um, nothing usually
050works out. You know, we used to have a rule coaching, you know, no can't talk to the head coach until 24 hours after just because you don't want the emotion in the way of trying to solve a situation. >> Thank you. Um you've alluded to it a couple times that we are going to be embarking on implementing a new ELA curriculum. >> Um what you might not know is one of the positions that has been eliminated is the director of um of curriculum. >> So uh we currently have a a coordinator okay >> uh two coordinators uh one uh for ELA and the other for science and math. So within that context, um a person coming in serving in the role of interim uh is going to need to help lead that implementation. And so
051my question for you is how it is that you would work uh with the coordinators and the principles um to roll that out. >> You you have two curriculum coordinator like a humanities and a STEM, >> right? >> Okay. Um and then you had a director of curriculum instruction. that position is one of the ones that is to be filled. >> No, it's not being eliminated. >> Okay, it's being eliminated. Thank you. Um >> well, obviously it's the principles are the instructional leaders within their building. Um I'm assuming we have interventionists or coaches that are helping the two coordinators. >> Yes, >> potentially. Okay. Um, so it's getting to to know over the summer the work that is being laid out, what the professional development look like. Um, see where we're at with the grant.
052I know the grant I think was due a bit ago, so I don't know if we've heard yet um if you've received it, but making sure that what is needed for the PD, where the principles are at in the process, what their comfort level is. Um and then if there's an opportunity for I don't know if the PD includes staff coming in over the summer or if it's just something that's going to be worked in through like a common planning during the year. So it answering a lot of those questions can help determine what kind of level of support is needed. Um obviously the the two academic coordinators are the um individual doing the humanity side will probably be a bigger focus on that but there's reading in the science curriculum and so forth reading
053and math you know it's spread out. Um, so I think seeing what their comfort level is, where they're at, where the interventionists are in the building principles, um, to see what it is that they what they need. You know, it's it's going to be new, right? We get we get, uh, we don't always know what new is going to bring. You know, the thing I've always kind of been mindful of when something new is being added, it takes time. You know, sometimes in education we abandon things quickly because we're not getting a result that we want. So then we switch it up and then teachers are frustrated because, you know, it's the next year's new thing. And so you want to you want to commit and find out where we're at in the process. Um,
054so I guess to answer that question, I have to really work with those individuals, those leaders to find out where they're at in the process to find out how I can support them. What do what do you think the most important factors are for success >> in implementing a new curriculum? >> Staff training. The staff training. Um making sure that they have available the resources so that they can go in and implement. Um what's unique with here is is finding that vertical alignment. Um we found ourselves in the high school getting very um horizontal like biology teachers planning together, algebra teachers planning together. When we started opening up vertical alignment with our eighth grade teachers that were sending kids into 9th grade, we saw some drastic improvements >> because our teachers were able to share
055what the students were lacking before they came there. So finding that vertical piece, it was hard in South Florida when I was there because I was one high school, 2400 students, and I had 14 feter middle schools. So it was so hard to try and get that alignment. When you have one middle school feeding into one high school, you can you can try to find time which to make that happen. Um, and same at the elementary level. You know, it's great to have the third grade teachers getting together, but when the second and third or the third and fourth are starting to meet and they can see how that progression looks, I think that's when you start seeing a lot of the success. >> Thank you. >> Anyone have a followup? >> Okay. Um, now
056that ending catchall, um, is there anything that you would like to add that we haven't asked about, >> uh, that you think would, uh, help us understand, >> um, who you would be >> as an interim in our our um, system and and in addition, are there questions that you have of us that would uh, help you understand what we're looking for? >> Very good. Um, so we didn't talk a lot about safety. um that is always my number one priority because I feel like if students and staff don't feel safe at school, they're not going to learn. And so for me, assessing what safety protocols are in place, if there's Alice is our training platform, you know, protocol platform. Uh is there a communication tree? What does that look like? Do you use, you
057know, raptor? You know, how are people communicating out information? Um, I always would would tell staff your your body can't go where your mind hasn't gone first. Uh, we don't like to think about the horrible things that can happen, but horrible things are happening in the world. Whether you're going to the cinema or to a restaurant, bad things can happen. And in a school system, we always are are on point for that. Um, when you have a thousand people in your building and you're responsible for them, you're always should be thinking about safety, >> uh, assessing it. Um, we used, um, after Ubaldi, um, tragic situation happened there and in, uh, Stone and Douglas down in Miami, Armored One is a company that came in and assessed those buildings. I don't want an assessment done
058if something bad happens. I want to know what the assessment is prior. Mhm. >> Uh so we can we can plan for it. >> You know, I I say that, you know, there hasn't been in a public school anybody um critically injured in a fire. Yet, we do fire drills routinely, but how often are we doing active, you know, threats trainings in our schools, and it looks different. I get that from first and second grade to our 11th and 12th graders. But as a staff member, you have to be prepared for something and you have to know what your reunification plan is. You have to know what you're going to do in each of these emergency situations. So that's one of my biggest cores is to make sure that the school system feel like they
059are safe. Parents, I want parents to feel safe to drop students off. We get nervous when we hear about bad things in other communities and it ramps up and people want to know. Um, so I think it's it's important. Um, >> so you know, I was I was driving over here and I was also thinking about like in my truck that I drive here, I always have three things. I have my my little um first aid kit, my my stop the bleed kits, I have my my ratchet straps because you always never know when you're going to need to secure something. And I have duct tape. I have duct tape. We just recently went on a summer trip. Uh, and I don't know if you've ever done this. We did the Cruise America. And we're
060two hours into the trip. You know, every pothole you go over, you feel refrigerator pops open. My wife's solution is, "Let's bring it back and get a new one. It's 2 hours away." I said, "What do we need that for?" We got duct tape. We can use it. It's a temporary fix. That's what we need. I got that was probably the first I use serious comments on the trip, but we duct taped it. We got through 10 days. Cruise America's going to fix the fridge. Duct tape is great for a temporary fix, but you have to have a plan um so that you're not having to have temporary fixes. I am not promising we're going to buy 50 radios, okay? But you have to have a plan. There's grants, there's safety grants, there's opportunities to
061um put things on a recycling plan. Um so people feel like they have the tools to be successful. >> Duct tape is good for temporary problem, not a permanent solution. So I was thinking about that on the way over here. I was like, "Ah, there we go." Um, I think you'll find and if you've had an opportunity to reach out to any of the the references that I provided, um, I work early in the morning to late at night. Um, I want the system, the high school I was at or the system I work for to be in a better place than it was before I got there and just keep moving things forward. Um my my introduction in in Massachusetts was challenging with CO. Um we're past that, but we're still seeing some of
062the after effects um with with our students and we're still providing that continued support uh for our families and um I'm excited about the next step in my in my journey. Um, and I I was excited to see that this position was was available. And I I know it's a long night for you guys. Um, I appreciate you guys taking the time and getting your surveys and your feedback and getting people involved u so that you guys make the best decision for Middle Bar as well. So, thank you for that. >> Thank you very much. This uh has been informative. Thank you. >> Yeah. No, I appreciate you guys. I don't have any particular questions for you guys. I think um >> Okay, >> sounds good. >> I'm good. >> All right. Okay. Well, thank
063you. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> It's really hard to hear from back here. >> Okay. >> But we can hear you fine. >> It's just a matter with Everyone has to bring the mic closer. Like >> they have to just pull the mic closer. >> Sue too. She's so hard to hear. Goes in and out. But this is very hard to hear. >> Okay. >> Yeah. And we'll tell them to pull it closer. >> Yeah. >> It's just You can't hear them. >> No. So that's why earlier >> Thank you. I was my I apologize. I picked up this afternoon, but I wasn't told. I didn't look at I thought it was still 6:30. I didn't know. So I started on the 12th floor >> and
064then there was an accident. I got diverged to try to go through 18. >> I got stuck behind his bus and it really work and then I ended up like >> 37 or 53. Just >> I literally went through the whole >> like real part of Massachusetts. >> This is the hot seat I'm assuming right here in front. >> All right. >> Okay. Water table over. I'll be all good. That's good. >> And they're just asking just keep the mic close because it's hard for people to hear >> if you don't speak right into it. >> There we go. >> So, David, I'm going to have my colleagues introduce themselves. We can start with Kristen. >> Hi, Mr. Thompson. My name is Kristen Phillips. Thank you for being here today. >> Nice to meet you.
065>> I'm Leam Mashado. Nice to meet you. >> Nice to meet you. >> Sean Moler. Very nice to meet you. >> Nice to meet you. >> Chris Benson. Nice to meet you. >> Nice to meet you. >> Hi, Kim Redlon. Nice to meet you. >> Nice to meet you. >> And we met outside. >> You made it made sure I got here without uh any incident. So that's good. >> And uh as the last candidate spoke, you you passed the first test by following the map to get to where you needed to be. So that was great. >> Yeah, I can I can follow directions and I often do. Yes, >> that's great. >> Um so thank you for being with us tonight. Uh just to give you a sense of the format. Uh we
066all have questions for you. Um, you know, we have an hour aotted >> and so we're going to try to keep each question to around six minutes. I I'm not going to, you know, chop it off, but uh if it seems like it's going longer on one question, I might try to get us to move along a little bit so that we get all in and that we're respectful of the other candidates that they're not waiting beyond their time. >> Okay, sounds good. >> Sounds good. >> Wonderful. Kristen, you want to begin? >> Sure. Um, and also they um those here asked to pull the mic forward. They have trouble hearing just on your end. Okay. >> How's that? Does that sound good to you guys? >> Okay. >> All right. Good. >> Good. Okay.
067>> Accused of being uh softspoken, but that's okay. >> All right. So, the first question is why Middlear and why now? How do your leadership values align with our district and what concrete actions would you take early on to make a meaningful impact as our interim superintendent? Yeah. Um so this actually is a position that I've kind of been watching since August of of last year um of this past yeah this past summer. Um, Middleboro has, you know, aligns with, um, you know, my values, you know, core values, um, of excellence, you know, working towards student improvement, making sure that every student every day has exactly what they need. Those things really resonate, um, with me. Um, you know, and, um, you know, it is, you know, I think at this point, I think it's
068important to know that I did not, I'm interim in Wilmington right now. I did not pursue that uh simply because I'm traveling over three hours a day. Um and unfortunately that's impacting my ability to be present um and to really do the work the way I like to do uh the work. This would give me the opportunity to do that. The uh values line up. Your portrait of the graduate is well done. Uh your strategic plan is is well done. Probably needs to be looked at again as we get closer to year four and year five of that. But um this is a place where I think where I can come in with my experience. I know that there is a significant financial issues going on here. I think about 2 million $2.2 million structural
069deficit. That is experience that I have had before. Um between that implementing curriculum uh being the kind of leader that is a positive leader and raises all boats. Um I think those are the things that you were looking for and the things that I would bring to Middleboro. I have a followup. You're an interesting candidate in that you've had experience both as a superintendent and as an interim superintendent. >> Um could you speak to whether there were differences in that in those roles? >> Yeah. So I Yeah. So there is um you know and you know when you come in as an interim superintendent it kind of depends on what the um what what the you know the priorities are. Um you know as a superintendent you're coming in you know I I came into
070um Norwood there was a structural deficit. Uh we had to a major um override of 8.6 operational override of $ 8.6 million. uh curriculum needed work uh because of the deficit of of and money to spend on curriculum and professional development and stuff. So all of that was work they had to do. Um after 7 years um it was kind of time for a change and new challenges um and you know started figured I'd take a year and do an interim um in MASHBY that has turned into two interims. Uh the difference tends to be depending on how they're setting it up. Um you're coming in, you're doing two or three things that they want to get done. Um in MASHB, um there was um some issues, you know, leadership issues in how things were
071working and and collaboration not happening. So I was brought in to kind of repair relationships um hire some people in approp in you know key situations, mentor um basically a principal in his second year and a principal brand new high school principal uh ensure that they got on their feet and moving forward. Um from there um went to Wilmington and their job one was to get um $178 million uh school project passed. Um, so that was that was job one as well as navigate a difficult budget situation because they had just finished negotiating with their four major unions all at once. >> So, um, so with that being said, those are a little different and that you you know, so right now it's difficult for me because I get to that point where I've built
072relationships and I'm I'm ingrained in the community and now I'm working on transitioning it to somebody else. It's not really in my modus operandi. I'm starting to think strategically about what the next steps are and how we're going to get things done and what how we're going to put all those pieces pieces together and having those conversations um you know with folks and and how to do that and how best to do that constructive positive conversations um and that really isn't going to be my call. So, I'm setting the table for um Matt, who's going to come in uh July 1, and you know, the you know, teacher is just asked to take three personal days next year in in February to go visit her daughter who's uh going to be doing a semester abroad.
073And I'm like, well, that's I mean, I would say yes, but that really is going to be Matt's decision. He'll be at the helm at that point in time. So, I am looking for that long-term place where I can really dig in. I think that this is the spot mainly because of the alignment, mainly because of the skills that I bring to the table. Uh, and what I have done elsewhere. Um, but I've got about 10 years before I'm going to retire. Um, and I would like to dig in and do another long-term seven or so years, you know, in in one place and do that. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. I I also do want to point out that I was a principal, assistant principal and a teacher in the classroom for for
074many years as well. So I have, you know, an assistant superintendent in charge of curriculum, technology, e, title one, all the stuff. Um, so that I bring that experience at every level up through that and have been able to use that to help people do their jobs better. >> Thank you. >> Welcome. All right, I have the next question. Okay. Uh, communication, transparency, and relationship building is very important to the members of our community. First, how would you build rapport with our administrators, teaching staff and support staff, so your in district community? And then second, how would you ascertain the public's perception of our school district? And what steps would you take to either improve or sustain that perception? >> Yeah. So um well and this this is kind of two parts of of a
075similar answer but um first and foremost I I would come in and do a full entry process. I have done that in every district that I've come in. I've done that in Middbor. I did that in MASH and report out. Um the the other piece as far as building building rapport with the professionals in the in the Middleboro public schools, you need to be present, you need to be seen, you need to be available, and you need to listen. Um, what I do is I come in I normally come in I would like to come in before school gets out just to see the district in in operation. It really doesn't make sense to come in July 1 when everybody's gone. Um, but really get to get a chance to see the schools in action,
076meet people. Um, that also takes a little bit of the nervousness down a peg or two, realize that I don't have big fangs and I'm not going to be, you know, doing, you know, horrible things when they come back in September. But just start building those relationships. From there, I set up meetings. My goal is 90 meet 90 meetings in the first 90 days. Um to to meet with key stakeholders. That would be each of the school committee. um the town manager, fire chief, police chief, member of the select board, members of the finance committee um invite teachers, teacher leaders, principles, all those folks in come in and just have a conversation about, you know, what is going on with the middle school uh the middle public schools, what are the uh the strengths, what
077are the things we need to worry about, what are the what are the road bumps and speed bumps uh coming up that we should be aware of. And from that when you talk to different groups and that includes parent groups, boosters, CPAC, etc. Um, uh, PTO's and then in the fall what I do is I do kind of a listening tour where I will actually go in residence in each of the buildings and just, you know, work from the teacher's room or whatever closet they put me into. Um, and just so people can stop by and and just and just talk to me. Um, the other thing is that I really enjoy being in classrooms and being in schools. Um, that's a bit of a challenge in Wilmington because there's eight of them. There only
078be only be four here. That would be that would be uh wonderful. Um, but it gives me a chance to actually see where the action is really happening. I know I'm going to shock people when I say this, but the important stuff is not happening in the superintendent's office. It's happening in the classrooms. Um, and that's what I want to see. I want to get a sense for who's working with our kids. I want to get a sense for um you know what our kids are doing and get information from them. I also bring student voice to the table where I create a student advisory usually of a collection of high school kids. I try to meet with them once a month and I'll give them a topic and a few questions and just listen
079and build relationships. Um little side secret that's that's one of the things that that I miss from being in the classroom and being a principal is those long-term relationships. So I cheat and create my own groups to do that. um because kids are are are why I do the work. So um from that you know you you triangulate sometimes you you know you do um you know a deep depth analysis if there really is a systemic problem that's coming through. Um preliminarily we'll go through the results with you folks before I would publish anything to make sure that I'm not off base. I don't know the entire history of of Middleboro and we'll rely on people to uh inform me of that. from that create an action plan going forward which could mean adjustments to
080other important you know strategic plans and things like that depending on on on on what we find. >> Thank you. I I may have to move somewhere. >> That's okay. >> I'm blinded. >> Okay, Chris. >> All right, that brings me to my question. Uh given financial limitations at hand, please describe how you assure the most efficient use of the district's resources and what types of creative ideas you might suggest to meet the educational needs of students not being met within the regular budget and program. >> Yeah. So, one of one of the advantages of being uh of working in Blackstone Milville, Blackstone Milville was not um a financially secure district. So you always needed to find kind of creative ways to get things done. Um and ultimately you know to to you know to
081kind of generalize um what I have done is is basically use kind of a train the trainer model try to spend a good amount of money on a few people becoming expert experts and having them come back into the district to help do the work that needs to be done. Um, sometimes when it comes to curriculum, it's really getting a very solid curriculum revision timeline going where that's expected. Um, looking for creative ways partnering with neighbor districts to do things. Um, when I was in Blackstone Milville, we um, we we were working on um, inclusive practices and co-eing. We actually hosted um, a nationally known author and had other people tuition in to to do it in our district. uh that way our folks got the training but we were able to basically cut the
082cost by 45 50% in doing that. Um so I think when you look at and and again it's you know not not that I don't believe that I have every great idea out there. Um I think you need to have a team out there but if you have a vision and this is the first step what ideas do we have to get there? um and prioritizing them and you know basically being strategic about what is that first step and then what is the next step, what is the next step and how to do it in a cost-effective way and in a collaborative way. Um we actually got a lot of movement in a short amount of time by looking at looking at getting experts in Blackstone Milville and having them do the training and you
083know for short money had them run PD either during PD days andor after school. um you know basically took us one week to go from a school that didn't use Google at all to uh to be you know completely Google trained based on you know having about three people become Google educ educators and investing in that and then they stay in the district. You're not bringing in experts that are there only when they're there. They're they're there for 180 days and seven hours a day. Um so you can still rely on them to do that. And there are people in every school district who who want that responsibility and want that leadership and it's just tapping the resources that you have in house. >> Was there I might have did I miss the second part
084of that question? >> No, I think you hit it. >> Okay. All right. >> I don't know what I'm going to do here. >> It comes by fast. It does kind of away from me. >> Okay. I may have to bend over then. Okay, I have the next one. So, special education can be a particular challenge when it comes to um a lot of areas um because of its complexity with laws and regulations, service needs, parent student concerns, and funding sources. >> When you assess the effectiveness of special education programs in your district, what are some of the criteria that you use? >> Yeah. Um you know, obviously the, you know, there's all those compliance pieces and, you know, parent access pieces. I I just want to take a quick step back. So, um, you
085know, obviously was a classroom educator and I I I was the guy that was doing inclusion. Okay. Then um I um then as a building leader um at Raina Middle School um became a level one school um because of our work with our underserved populations especially as around special ed and I'll come back to that in a little bit but it became a level one school. I left for Blackstone Milville. The pieces we put in place allowed that school to remain a level one school 3 years after I left. Okay. So building capacity and building leadership around that is really important. And then lastly, I'm also the a parent of a special ed student, one that had to be placed out of district because they could not serve that child uh in district and it
086was a small district like this. Um so I bring, you know, the educator, the administrator, and the parent perspective to this. Ultimately, um, you know, what what I look at, um, you know, as far as success in special ed is, are we taking our kids, and I'm talking about all of them, to the point where they can be self-sufficient? Are we taking them to their maximum potential? Um, in order to do that, you know, first and foremost, you have to have them as close as possible to the core curriculum and their peers, which really involves a commitment to um inclusion, a commitment to co-eing, and a commitment to scaffolding and ensuring students have the support they need to succeed in the regular classroom. Now obviously there are kids that you know that isn't the best
087place for them or maybe they need some pull out but even then you do as much as you can in the classroom you push in those services and that's what we did uh at at Raina Middle um and then you know when you get to kids maybe need to be in a program how integrated are they and h how how how are you working them forward? My my my daughter was in a pullout program, you know, actually not too far from here. And um and you know, she was in six months because of the quality of the program in a regular classroom. She had never been in a regular classroom before. Okay. She graduated, passed the MCCAST, and went to college. This is a kid when she was in kindergarten. They they told me she
088would not graduate. She would not get a regular diploma. Okay. there there is about seven or eight kids that were in Rainham Middle School that had that same piece. We partnered with parents. We're going to push them, but trust us, we're going to move them forward. Um, six out of seven um graduated from college, one with a master's degree. The seventh is running his own business. Okay? So, it can be done. So when I talk about special, I talk about all kids and when they improve, we need to step back and let them stand on their own. Um, you know, and then along with that, the, you know, your subsearate programs have got to be high quality where you're doing that. And if you're doing that in district, you're not going to have kids leaving
089district. And, you know, obviously there are students there are students that will need to go out of district. The problem with going out of district is that they they don't have peers. They don't have normal peers to aspire to and they actually don't have friends in the community because all of their friends are from other communities. Um and you know that really is a shame. So if we can keep them in district and I'm not talking about a cost factor, I'm talking about a quality of life here. Um that um you know that's that's really important and we want to see them be successful. >> Thank you. I'm next. Um, could you describe for me what you would see as the ideal relationship between yourself and the school committee? >> Yeah, it's a it's a
090collaborative um, you know, it's a collaborative relationship. I I call this the governance team. Okay. Um, so you know, there's there's obviously certain roles and certain responsibilities, but there needs to be clear communication, consistent communication, and the ability and the willingness to collaborate and listen to each other. Um, once you kind of set up those parameters and stick to them, you don't usually have as much um conflict. And I think that if we're focused on students and what's best for students, then we we have much more um alignment than than we possibly would. But, you know, I am, you know, you know, basically available unless I'm asleep. Um, which isn't often. But, um, you know, I mean, I'm text back and forth with my chair, my vice chair. If there's something that's coming up, my
091rule is I don't want my school committee members being surprised in the soccer field, the grocery store, wherever else it might be. Um, and vice versa, because you are out in the community, and if there's something bubbling, you know, I heard this from soand so. um you know and constantly I'm on the phone explaining things to people and there there are always difficult situations and special situations that come up um but you know a heads up beforehand um and and ensuring that the school committee is informed um budget subcommittee knows where we are with the numbers very transparent with anything there's not a question that I do not answer I do not hedge um I suppose that's my boy scout eagle scout background you know honesty and and being upfront Um, but that's how I
092go about the work. Um, and you know what, sometimes we won't always agree, but you know, if we're focused on what we're going to do for the district and do for kids, then we're going to be in a good place. >> Are there mechanisms that you have put in place? I I I appreciate um what you say about texting and calling and all of that, but as far as uh keeping >> general information informed with the with the school committee, uh there general mechanisms you've put in place to make that happen. >> Yeah, it it well it depends on on what the what the established protocols are. When I was in Norwood, I I would basically give um a weekly update. >> Mhm. Um when I was in Blackstone Millville, it was a it was
093an off-week update. Um in um in in Wilmington, I'm checking in, you know, a couple times a week with the chair and the and the vice chair and and there's times when I'm looking for for advice from them because, you know, what what's going to play in Peoria, right? Um and and you know, but being open to that and having those conversations. So, you know, whatever the the preferred communication process is, you know, we we can do. Um, you know, normally if there's enough if there's but if there's something that's, you know, on the stove is starting to boil, you're going to hear about it. We're not going to wait till Friday. Um, but that's, you know, it depends on on what the norms is. But, you know, um, and it depends on the I
094mean, there are times when >> it's quiet and there's times when it's not. So, there there there have been weeks when I've sent three emails out. >> Um, you know, and sometimes it's just great news. You know, you know, the you know, the baseball team won today. Here we are jumping around home plate. You know, I'm not jumping around. They're jumping around, but I'm there. Um, you know, and and and that gets, you know, and that's still a connection because we're there for the kids. Um but yeah, whatever the whatever the pattern has been, then we should at least start with that. Um I don't have a I'm not so hard set that it has to be a certain way. Um I I generally meet with the chair and the vice chair after every single
095school committee to put the put the meeting together for and then we spend a good half an hour just just talking. Um you know, the vice chair is is in stopping by the office a couple times a week just checking in and that's fine, too. Um, so but it it's more texting and it's more conversations in Middbor, I'm sorry, in um in Wilmington and it was, you know, I would I would meet with the chair in Mashby every week and then um in in in um in Norwood it was it was a every week Friday update. >> So >> thank you. >> You're welcome. I have the next question. Um, so this is revolves around your leadership style. >> Um, so as the district leader, you're going to have different interactions with, you know, indirect,
096direct reports, parents, students, this committee. >> Um, can you just talk about your leadership style and give us some examples um that you've had as administrator and the outcomes that came from those and explain how they would help us see your potential as a successful uh candidate for the interimm superintendent? >> Yeah. Um so so I have a pretty extensive adaptive leadership style. Uh there's not one particular way. It depends on um on you know who I'm dealing with and what the situation is. You know I commonly will joke that my leadership skills started when I was uh 12 years old and became a patrol leader um and and and burnt the French toast on the first camping trip, but we can talk about that some other time. But seriously, I mean I have been
097in leadership positions since since early on. So because of that uh it is very adaptive. It adapts to the needs at the time and the needs of the individuals. Um so there are times when I'm out front leading the charge which is what the common definition of a leader is but there's also times when I'm a partner walking alongside someone in that. Um and I have done a lot of that with principles. Um and you know because of that experience I have mentored um the 2015 middle school principal of the year, the 2019 high school principal of the year in Norwood. Uh and then in 201 um 2021 uh an elementary principal who brought one of our schools to be a blue ribbon school. So that's a ch. So I do a lot of thought
098partnering and that walking the walk alongside them developing their skills as a building leader. Building leaders are really where the rubber meets the road. They're the people that going to help the implementation every single day, right? Um and then there's times when I'm in the back and I'm and I'm the cheerleader with the pompoms and um that is important as well. I don't have to be the center of attention at all times. Okay? I have a dog I go to go home to. She's perfectly happy that satisfies that need. Um the other thing is that I'm transparent. I am authentic. What you see is what you get. Um one of the comments I got um from we have a a principal leave in December, interim principal come in. Um and she goes, you know, nothing
099ever rattles you. I go, "No, I've pretty much at this point seen it all." Um and you know, we're going to get through it. and we're going to get through it with integrity, with transparency and transparency and being authentic and real and really caring about kids. Um, so those that kind of captures what that is. Um, when people ask me what am I most proud of, some of the things that I'm most proud of is my ability to mentor and affect the success of others. I think that if you're invested in a leader and the success of the people who work for you, then the entire organization succeeds. Um, and you know, those are my those are my big take. You know, I was the 2010 principal of the year in Massachusetts. So, I I
100have mentored two others and a blue ribbon school principal. Uh, I've got a great principal that candidate who just got hired as a full-time principal. She's going to be fantastic. Walked out of the classroom in December as a fifth grade teacher. She's rocking it. Um, and I have another one that has struggled previously before that who now is is firmly on her feet. Um, and those are things that I'm proud of because that person, you know, after I have left is going to be able to impact kids in a positive way. >> How responsible should the school be to community pressure on items such as curriculum, instructional practices, and other teaching and learning areas of the school day? Could >> Could you It kind of could you read that again because it kind of skipped
101out on me. I'm sorry. How responsible should the school be to community pressure on items such as curriculum, instructional practices, and other teaching and learning areas of the school day? >> Yeah. Well, I think that I I think they have to be responsive to that. Um, you know, we are lucky here in Massachusetts and that we have curriculum frameworks and standards that we have to attest to. Um we are lucky in that we have you know the curate piece where we have high quality instructional materials that have been you know assessed for their alignment to those frameworks. Um you know and those frameworks do do promote and have promoted since 1983 multiple perspectives in in the piece. So we are trying to trying to um you know educate people to become thinkers, critical thinkers and
102be able to assess and make their own decisions not necessarily um you know what what we want them to decide. And I think if you're approaching it that way and explaining it that way you you really shouldn't have um too much resistance. Um I think when we talk about curriculum we need to be transparent with that so parents can come and look at them. Uh when we implement a a curriculum it starts with doing an assessment of what is working and what isn't working and how we are doing against the frameworks and then from there getting kind of a hit list of what we're looking for to improve our curriculum. And there's and that isn't always buying something new. That could be creating something on our own depending what it is. Um, and then you
103know what are the topics? What are the uh what are the things that we're going to be doing? And you know based on the um mood decision you know that was one of the things that we did in Wilmington. You know all of the books that we're reading you know classroom books library books are all all posted there. And if parent want doesn't want their child to hear that book then you know that's fine. We'll give them another book and they they don't have to be there. So there is some leeway in there but ultimately we need to be you know approaching those frameworks. Um you know and um you know and in uh in Norwood you know we were um teaching culturally responsive practices and people were thinking that we were promoting one particular
104you know background over another which is not what that's about. And I sat with those two people that were on Facebook making these accusations without much information and informed them and showed them everything that we're doing. And it's not about teaching one particular way. It's about understanding different perspectives and how to ingrain that and put that into so that people can feel that they belong and can access the curriculum. Um, so sometimes I think having the conversation and sitting down and showing people what you're doing and then taking because there's this, you know, and we see more of it with with social media where something will start and grow and it's not necessarily true, you know, people going to Facebook asking what time things are happening in the schools instead of going to the website
105and looking at the calendar. But um, that's not a good news source. So come to the source, be transparent, be open, show what we're doing, and we're actually trying to to meet the frameworks in the state with the highest um outcomes in the country. >> Welcome. >> Great. So, superintendent often face issues that generate strong and differing opinions among students, families, staff, and community members. describe your approach to leading through a controversial issue while maintaining trust and focusing on student outcomes. >> Yeah. Um so it starts so I you know I I talk about the the what why and the how you know the what what needs to change the why it needs to change and then the how we're going to do it. So the first thing that I you know if there's some
106sort of topic or thing that needs to be um addressed you know we need to define what it is and and why it needs to change. Okay. So that's being authentic that's being transparent. That's being upfront. The how we're going to address it is and this this is a staff conversation community and the how we're going to address it is a community conversation and being transparent with that. um you know and what I generally what I find best in communication is is that you are strategic about it and you layer it. So you have one piece let people digest and understand that and then lay the next piece and then lay the next piece and then lay the next piece. If you do that you get an understanding. If you throw everything out at once
107with three pages of text people don't sit and read. They're going to go to other sources to get a synopsis of it or what have you. Um, so that that's generally how I um approach things. I'm trying to think of >> an example. >> Could you provide an example? >> Yeah. Well, yeah, I was trying I was trying to think of um well, I mean, we had I mean, we had the you know, the you know, the the Supreme Court decision on on materials um and you know, that came out and you know, and there was this conversation starting And it was like, well, wait, wait a minute. You know, we all of the things we are doing meet the frameworks and we said, this is what we're going to do. This is how we're
108going to do it. Okay, we will tell you what what we're going to be doing. If there's some book that you have an issue with, then you let us know. Um, and I have had, you know, it started we took a step back. This is this is this is where what the materials are. this is what the process will be and this is how we will do it and we will stick with it and I've had no no problems with that whatsoever. Um now >> what forum of pe what group of people are you doing that with? So the process that you're going through where you're saying whoa whoa whoa >> it was about it was about books >> right and and was it a group of parents that you that you right it was
109a group it was a group of parents um the previous year there was a big big to-do over um a um over the um youth risk survey that they were doing. Mhm. >> Same group of parents had started with this. They've been getting, you know, um information from from other groups, which is fine. Um and came in like gang busters and said, "Whoa, this is, you know, this is the law. This is how we're going to handle it. This is what we're going to do, and this is what you need to do." >> Through that process, was there um were any changes? Did you find that you didn't need to make some changes or adjustments of the how? >> Um, well, I needed to correct some things that were happening before where that wasn't necess
110people were surprised what their kids were coming home and reading, which was part of the problem. >> Okay. >> Right. >> Yeah. So, I mean, so it wasn't all just giving the parents information. You actually got some information that helped you resolve. >> Yeah. Yeah. So knowing so again that that entry process right knowing what what you know and spending that time over the summer in August basically created a new thing talked with the lawyers got things all set before you know things in place and then when when this started you know first day of school there's like five or six letters coming in you know and you know picking picking the phone up and having a conversation with people um and that is something if someone calls me, I I will get back to
111you in 24 hours. If I cannot get back to you in 24 hours, I will have my assistant call you and say, you know, he's he's sick, he's whatever it might be, he can't get back to you, but I'm on this day, you know, what time should he call you? And then go in when you have those difficult conversations, you go in with, you know, listening to try to understand where they're coming from, see if you can find some common ground, okay? And then try to move forward from there. Um, and be, you know, you know, you know, be nice, but be, you know, empathetic about, you know, what their challenge is. Um, and sometimes, you know, and sometimes not everyone's going to agree with the decision, something I have to have to live with,
112but at least they'll understand that I listen to them and I heard them and that, you know, um, you know, I, you know, and that I made the effort. Um, you know, there's there's there's some calls you have to call that, you know, it's not it's not all sunshine and and flowers every day. But >> thank you. Uh, one thing that you've spoken about is the implementation of curriculum and um I'm not sure if you were but we um will be implementing a new ELA in the elementary school >> um this coming fall >> uh within the con within the context of two things. One is that we haven't had an reading curriculum in the elementary school uh that people have been doing. So this is new. >> Um both the curriculum and having one
113standardized. Um the other is that one of the positions that's been eliminated um through the budget process is the director uh of curriculum. We have two curriculum coordinators um humanities and science and math. Mhm. >> Um, within all of that context, um, as you said, uh, coming in now and starting to do your assessment and and working with people getting ready to do that, >> could you speak to how you would work with the coordinators and the principles? >> What needs to happen for you to lead and support that a successful implementation? Yeah. Um, yeah. And this is work that, you know, I I have done many times over. Um, you know, as the curriculum assistant superintendent brought in a new ELA curriculum into into Blackstone Milville, I did not have any coordinators. It was
114me, me, and me uh, you know, and the teachers and the and the principles. But basically, and again, I don't want to go through the whole process of doing the self assessment and all that, but basically in that group of people, >> I'm going to guarantee there's at least one or two people that are really excited about finally having a curriculum. Um, and those people probably have the respect of their peers and finding ways to, you know, to to raise them up to help lead that. Uh, be that PD, be that um, stipens for time or or whatever it might need to be in order to have them do that. And again, that goes back to that whole train the trainer experts, you know, in the room sort of scenario. um meeting with them regularly,
115sitting in on the meetings that they're running with teachers to get feedback on things. So when you look at implementing, you know, the first year there there's a learning curve, right? Right. And there's usually a dip in scores, but if you didn't have a curriculum beforehand, there might not be a dip, but um you know, and then assessing that and what are the next steps in year two and what other supports do we need? and constantly hearing um one thing that you know especially if you haven't and this was this was Norwood. Norwood did not have an elementary ELA curriculum for 12 years. The frameworks had not changed had changed three times in that time frame. They were and then every school had piloted a different piece and linked on to a different curriculum. So,
116I used to joke that the uh the toughest or the best job, I was being sarcastic, the best job in the district was being a sixth grade ELA teacher at the middle school because you got five different kinds of ELA kids coming into your classroom. Okay. Um so, kind of been there, done that. Okay. Um and it really comes down to ensuring the principles were on the same page, ensuring those people that are helping lead in the buildings are on the same page. um making sure that the classroom teachers understand that yeah, this is new and we don't expect you to be perfect in year 1. And that's hard for teachers because you might have noticed that teachers tend to be a little perfectionists, right? They like the type A perfectionist and we need to
117get them to kind of like it's okay. It's okay. And time to collaborate and work together. One of my things with with PD is is that we learn it, we practice it, then we expect it. Okay? So in that first year, you you're learning it, you're figuring it out, you're you're practicing it with your peers, you're sharing what works, what doesn't work. And then we get into we're expecting this to happen at a high level. It's not like gotcha. And there have you in order to do that, you have to have trust and you have to believe in the people that are in the classroom. Um and I love teachers, love teaching. I think it's the most important job in the entire world. Um, and I think that anyone who has made the sacrifice that
118had has heard the calling to do that work should be treated with respect and be supported in that. Um, >> thank you. >> Welcome. Follow up anyone? Okay. Um, that catchall closing question. >> Okay, I'm ready. You're >> Ready. uh and that is anything that we haven't asked you about that you would like to share with us that you think would help us to understand you better and how you would serve us in this role? >> Yeah. Um, yeah. I guess, you know, I uh yeah, I I I don't I don't really think so, but I think I think it's important that um that that I'm I'm looking to develop programs and opportunities for kids so that they can walk out of our schools prepared. Um, I think it's important that we all realize that,
119you know, our high school and our college graduates today are not going to walk into one career and do that for the rest of their lives. They're going to need to be able to adapt. They're going to need able to think. They're going to need to able be able to continuously learn. Um, and we need to be setting up our expectations around a portrait of the graduate and and and our core values where we're teaching students the soft skills to keep doing that because they're going to have to reinvent themselves multiple times uh between, you know, when they leave college or high school and and and and when they retire. Um, that's just that's just what the world is becoming at this point in time. um you know and teaching kids how to use technology,
120teaching kids that you're never really done learning and those critical thinking skills and that perseverance, those other things that you have in your port are so important. Um and we need to be connecting our curriculum to those throughout their their their time in Middbor, not just as high school, but we should be starting it in grade school. We should definitely be revisiting it in in in the middle school and in the middle school and late elementary school. We should be talking about careers and what are some options out there and looking into what those would be and what interests you so you can make the most out of high school. Um and and it's a lot of responsibility. Um but I come to it with a sense of gratitude and appreciation for the work. Um
121one thing that I'm very proud of is that everywhere I have gone there has been improvement. Everywhere I've gone, when I go back, I still get smiling faces and hugs. Uh joke with my wife when I meet teachers that uh you know at concerts or out uh we were just um my wife's a big um Van Morrison fan. So I took her to Van Morrison and you know one of the one of the teachers from Wilmington was ran from the other side of the to say hello to me and brought his wife to introduce me and I'd only been there for four months. Um, relationships matter and people feeling that you represent them and that you are there to support them to do the important work they do is is paramount to this position. >>
122Thank you. >> Welcome. >> Any questions you have of us? Um well with that structural deficit I would I mean I did a little um digging around you know um would won't wouldn't be my first structural deficit but has there been any conversations between the school department the town the finance committee about I is it just the schools that are being affected at this point or Okay. So, have there been any conversations about about addressing that? >> Yes. >> Okay. But I won't I won't ask more. >> Yes. But um as it turns out, the town had a much bigger structural deficit. >> Uh and we actually were able to um bring ours significantly down. Mike did a a fabulous job. >> Great. Uh and uh I do not personal opinion I do not believe
123that the town is going to be in a position that they are going to be able to provide us um significantly more in the near future. >> Uh they are dealing with um some surprises that they found. >> Yeah. Uh so but I do believe one of the things that happened as a result of this is that I think that we are working more collaboratively >> with the town uh and uh seeing that we really need to partner >> uh rather than have us and them kind of situation. Uh so one of the things that's different I think in our town than others as far as um how our our financial situation is structured. We they pay um our health insurance. >> Yeah. Yeah. There's there's a lot of drivers that are not driving in
124the right direction. Yeah. >> Right. And so that's one that we have not been burdened with >> um on the school side that they were >> significantly burdened with. And I think it's something that when people compare Middle Brow to other um towns of what it is that the town provides to us in terms of dollars within their budget. sometimes we don't recognize that the additional dollars that they're providing through the um through the health insurance >> uh has really um has been a saver to to our budget. So long-winded answer saying we are having those conversations uh and I think that the the town is also searching uh in a search for a new town manager. >> Okay. Uh so um we'll see how that story >> contin that's kind of similar to I
125I started in July in Norwood and the new town new town manager started in January. Um but we started so I went through the first year we started basically in June you know doing projections and and coming up with you know a five-year projection for what our numbers would be to really kind of predict what kind of deficit are we looking at? Um and then conversations and strategy about how best to address it. Um ultimately at that point, you know, they they Norwood came down to asking for an override with um a plan for five and 10 years >> about how that how that would play out. Um it's obviously a much more difficult time to to have those conversations with the with the cost of living going going up and the cost of gas
126going up and a few other things. uh health insurance as as you mentioned perhaps reduce funding from the US Department of Ed and all the other >> we don't want to make it a rainy day but um but yeah but the the sooner that conversation starts the >> that's great the better uh and I think both Chris and I uh serving on the budget committee uh would agree that we want and and beginning those conversations with the town also >> at a much earlier time than than we did in the past. >> Yeah. And you know and again that that that transparency that openness that honesty uh that that be being authentic about what the what the needs really are and why they are what they are and having those and it's not it's not
127about numbers. It's about telling the story. What does it mean? What does it mean for kids? What does it mean for the junior? What does it mean for the senior? What does it mean for somebody in eighth grade? If this doesn't happen, if that doesn't happen. um you know so those are those are important things to start start thinking about. >> Anyone else? >> Well, thank you very much for your time. This has been very informative. >> Good. Thank you. No, I appreciate it. Thank you for the opportunity. >> Um yeah, I would I would love to work with you folks. So great. >> All right. Thank you so much. >> You have your you have your 10-minut break. Welcome Tracy. >> Thank you. >> Um, so I'm going to start with allowing my colleagues
128to introduce themselves. >> Hi Tracy, I'm Kristen Phillips. It's nice to meet you. Hi. >> Nice to meet you. >> I'm William Mashado. Nice to meet you. Hi Sean Moler. Nice to meet you. >> Chris Benson, nice to meet you. >> Hi Kim Redlon. Nice to meet you. >> Hi. Nice to meet you. >> And and we met. Uh so we have allotted an hour for our time with you. Uh and uh as far as the format is concerned, we all have questions to ask and we can have followup with that. I am going to keep a little bit of an eye on the time for each question. to make sure that we get through uh the different topics that we want to uh and still be respectful of the next candidate that so we
129don't go over in time and we get to start on time. >> And so I'm going to ask Kristen if she will bring in. >> Sure. And just to reiterate um sometimes they have difficulty hearing so they ask that you pull the mic close >> including me. You connect. Okay. Okay. Um, so why Middlebarro and why now? How do your leadership values align with our district and what concrete actions would you take early on to make a meaningful impact as our interim superintendent? >> Great. So, um, why middle bar? Why now? Um I think that what I've seen just in doing a little bit of research about the district is that there is a lot of um there are a lot of really positive things going on and there's a people are looking for stability
130people are looking for um just improved communication just some consistency and I know that's been a time of transition and I do believe that I have the kinds of skill set u that really could contribute ute to, you know, not just kind of holding down the fort, but also supporting things moving forward. And so I think when there's a like a skill set match with the need, that's um that that's pretty powerful. I think um I mean there are um certainly openings in other places and things like that. Um the middle bor piece really just spoke to me mostly because of um you know what I've seen in just doing some research watching some of the meetings and things like that. I think it's a good match for me personally. Um can you repeat a
131little bit of the rest? >> Yeah. Um just how your leadership values um align with our district and what concrete actions you would take early on. >> Sure. So I think in terms of I'll talk about concrete concrete actions and then kind of work my way backward. I think this idea of being um you know being visible and being active um and really this active listening piece. The one thing that's really stood out to me um in terms of um taking a look at some meeting notes and watching some of the meetings is that there really does seem to be um a want and a need um for people to to feel heard, right? And so I really want to be able to um do exactly that. I want to listen, you know, a listening
132tour, getting into schools, getting into the community, um talking with individuals, small groups, and kind of getting to the root of that because it's not um it's not easy when you're watching meetings to understand kind of what has led to that. But just being able to unpack that and then work collaboratively to establish some very specific next steps. But for me, I think that the primary thing would be getting into schools um in being visible but also visibly active. I think it'll be important for people right away to understand that I'm listening and doing. So being able to report back to people like this is what I'm hearing and this is what I think you know some concrete next steps could be um would be the way to approach that. And I said I was
133going to work backwards and now I forgot the other part of the oh my leadership philosophy and okay so for me super collaborative um at every stage of my career as a um a classroom teacher collaborative with my peers um when I became a um a department chair. It it was the same. My meetings have always been at every level um just just very collaborative, very um conversational with outcomes though. So I think that being very um agenda driven, keeping goals in mind and then collaborating with people, tapping into people's skill sets um has always been I think a strength of mine. I did uh my you know dissertation work around organizational learning and really landed in a place where I truly believe that a distributed approach to leadership is um absolutely the way to
134go. I think everybody has a role in an organization. So for me it's really a very collaborative and serviceoriented leadership style that I would bring. >> Any followup? >> Okay. I have the next question. So as you were saying, communication, transparency and relationship building is very important to the members of our community. So first, how would you build rapport with um our administrators, teaching staff and support staff? So the ind district community and second, how would you ascertain the public's perception of the school district? And then what steps would you take to either improve or sustain that perception? So I think first in terms of um school and district staff, it would be really important for me to get into schools just in these last few weeks. I know it might not be, you know,
135mid to the end of June might not be, you know, completely indicative of what it looks like all year, but I think it's important because I I'm certain that what happens over the summer is not what's happening in, you know, late August, September. So, I think it'll be really important to get into schools, um, being able to get into classrooms. I'm not obviously not opposed to holding meetings where people come in and meet with me, but I would love to see people working in their environments and collaborating in their environments, whether it's teacher planning time or um just school-based meetings, anything like that, any um administrative level meetings, just to go in and be a part of that um and give people an idea of how I can collaborate and I and I want to
136collaborate um within schools and throughout the district. And I think the same would be for kind of that outreach to families. People have I know that people have a lot to do and certainly I've seen in this community people do come out. People are at meetings, people are speaking at meetings. But wherever I can take opportunities um as the school year ends and into the summer to go out into places where people already are, where there might already be organizations meeting um whether they're, you know, town organizations, neighborhood organizations, things like that. any kind of parent groups to just be present where people already have made commitments to things so that they're not expected to do the extra. I can go out and do that. >> All right. Thank you. >> Hi. Uh given the
137financial limitations at hand, can you please describe how you assure the most efficient use of the district's resources and what types of creative ideas might you suggest to meet the educational needs of students not being met within the regular budget and programs? So I think first I would say that you know any of the um any decisions around how money is spent really has to be done obviously very thoughtfully. I know that MBA has done the work of um like a communityinformed strategic plan and there are priorities set. So, I think that any decisions that are made really have to be rooted in those priorities. And for me to have a really good understanding of kind of a why those priorities, why now for this district, when I read through them, I say, of course,
138these are the right things, but I know that there was um, you know, or I assume that there were surveys done and there was data collected and that's all very well informed. So, I' I'd really want to take a look at that piece that led to that particular strategic plan. Um, and then make sure that all of the decisions that are being made um budgetary, staffing wise, and things like that are truly aligned uh with with that strategic plan. And then can you repeat a little bit of the rest of the question? >> Uh, the most efficient use of the district resources. What types of creative ideas might you suggest to meet educational needs of students not being met in the regular budget? >> Okay. So, I think obviously it would take a little bit
139of time um to just go in to see how schools and programs are structured in the district and how staff is being used. Um it seems to me that things have gotten um lean and they're getting leaner um in this particular budget year. And so I I would want to start by asking what kinds of things have already been considered. I really do think that the worst thing that can happen is for someone to come in and say like, "Oh guys, have you you thought of this?" And like, "Yeah, obviously we have. You don't think we would have done that 5 years ago?" So, I'd really love to learn more about what what you've already looked at in the district, what's worked, what hasn't. Um, I know there was some recent um discussion around consolidation
140of positions. There was certainly a reason however many years ago to split positions into two and maybe now going back to one. Are there other opportunities to do that kind of thing? And then I think there's um this element of potentially being able to partner with some other districts. Um I think you know we've done a lot with that kind of on the south coast with diff with districts um larger districts smaller districts but be able to collaborate around things like you know some purchasing of materials certainly professional development um and then in terms of direct programs for students we've been able to do some of that as well. we've done some collaboration with um you know the career and teched schools and things like that so that we could do some afterchool programming and
141so I think through maybe some collaborative efforts we could offer some of that here and but again I'm not sure because these are all things you might already do or maybe have tried but um I just want to learn more and see what we could try. >> Thank you. that comes to me. Can you describe what you would say is Kim's next question? >> I'll take the next one. >> Okay, why don't you take the next one? >> All right, great. Um so special education can be a particular challenge um given the complexities of uh the laws and regulations, special uh service needs, student parent concerns and funding sources. So when you assess the effectiveness of your special education programs, what criteria would you use? So I think well first we would have to take
142a look at um compliance first and foremost what is what is required and then just like in every district I think the idea is to go beyond or it's required um to meet student needs. So, it's really about looking at student outcomes. Um, what are we seeing for students right now um as a result of the programs and and the practices in place. And then certainly a third element is, you know, talking to staff about what their needs are, whether they're resource needs, um, whether they're needs around professional development, whether they are, you know, staffing needs, specialized staffing needs and things like that. And then talking to parents, it's like what has your experience been? Do you feel like you're heard at the table when um you know when you're at a meeting? Do you
143feel that schools um are responsive when you are expressing your needs? So I think taking a look at those, you know, four things. There's the compliance issue, um or not, one would hope, but there are, you know, compliance things to consider. Then um taking a look at the the practices in place and what kind of student outcomes we have that student experience, staff experience, parent experience. >> Thank you. >> Now it's me. Could you describe for me what you would see as the ideal relationship between uh the interim superintendent and the school committee? >> Yeah. Um collaborative really. Um, I think that it it really is so important. I think it it really becomes the responsibility of a superintendent to make sure that a school committee is informed um and that they have all of
144the information that they need to make really important decisions. And I think that information, you know, most often comes through the superintendent, but it's really through the superintendent from so many different stakeholders. And I I don't want to make it sound like it would be in a way that would remove members of the school committee from direct communication with schools or parents. Um but I do think that there's a huge responsibility for the superintendent to be that conduit of information and to be able to tell the whole story. And then I think you know a responsibility potentially for the um school committee not that I'm going to tell you how to do your jobs um is just to be forthcoming you know with the questions with the concerns with the asks for information in a
145way that people are coming to meetings informed and not um you know I I don't want to put anybody here in a position where you're asking a question a really important one and I for some reason don't have the answer ready because it just puts off a decision or some kind of consideration or just meaningful dialogue among people. So I think just collaboration around preparedness for meetings um and keeping each other informed is is you know primarily what I what I would like to see and in your experience um are there systems that you see can be built how how do you keep us informed? Yeah. So, in the past, I've done it through a weekly memo and part of that is responsive to questions that come in over the course of the week. So,
146I'll just copy and paste the question and I will give the answer. In my previous district, there were a lot of questions and we had a lot of people responsible for all kinds of information. So, we would keep a a running log. um I would put it into a spreadsheet. I would check off who needed to gather some information and then by the end of the week I and my assistant would get that information out. And then also part of the weekly communication is just highlights of the week um from different schools, different activities. Um we generally didn't do the athletic piece. It was all of the um academic and social emotional pieces um highlights that were in that. And then we would I would give a preview of something coming. Always informing um if
147we had applied for any grants, um outcomes if we knew we were if we had gotten a grant but before it went to school committee for approval, those kinds of things. >> Thank you. Uh and are there other more informal channels that you use? >> Oh, sure. Yeah. Okay. So then um always the phone calls I would say like on the receiving end and and making phone calls because truthfully um there would be sometimes I would just need people's perspectives. Reach out to members of the committee. We're kind of mulling over this idea and likely going to bring it to subcommittee or to full committee. What are your thoughts? Where are some pitfalls? What are some information? So even if even if before it goes out and the questions come in, I could give people
148kind of a heads up of what was coming. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> And then I also in-person meetings I did I have enter, you know, entertained um some people more regularly than others, but um meeting with people in my office. And if I could expand that a little bit, um, how about town gown relationship between the superintendent and, uh, town officials? >> Oh, so um, in Fall River, our um, that's where I had most of my experience in central office. So, or all of my experience in central office. And so, our mayor is the chair of the school committee and we were in regular communication at all times. very different here. >> Yeah. So maybe a little bit different. And so that would happen in my office, that would happen in his office, it
149would be me and the CFO and the mayor and his CFO for the city, that kind of thing. Um, and then certainly for maybe like less important things, just meeting with um the mayor um or other members of the school committee to visit schools or to attend, you know, some events out in the community. >> Thank you. You're welcome. >> So, the next question has to do with um your leadership and your leadership style. Um, as you know, as a district leader, you're going to have direct reports, indirect reports. You're talking with students, parents, uh, committee members here. Um, and you have to interact with each group differently. Um, could you just talk a little bit about your leadership style and just give us some examples that you've had as an administrator and outcomes that
150came from them and explain how you would uh, help us see your potential as a successful uh, superintendent. >> Sure. So I did have um lots of opportunities and took lots of opportunities to meet with many different stakeholders um in Fall River. So I'll talk a little bit about each group. So a lot of the student interaction happened up at our high school. I had I had not established um any kind of we had student representatives on the school committee but I did not establish um anything formal for me and students to meet regularly. But what I did was attend existing meetings up at the high school. Um, and sometimes coming out of those meetings, uh, even if I, you know, I wasn't there, I'd go, you know, I went to some, I didn't go
151to all. Students would request individual meetings with me. So I could have individual meetings with with students up at the high school. Um, regular meetings with principles. Our um meetings for many years have always been very um like focused on professional development for principles and that principal network and using that time um each month to bring data to the table, bring best practice to the table. And so we had kind of an arc of learning over the course of the year. Um and it's an interesting thing too because there is that responsibility just like every supervisor you're evaluating people you're supporting people as part of that evaluation process. So that professional development um was always directly related to district goals, individual principles goals and things like that. um in terms of my leadership team and
152I know it's you know it's different here but we had a pretty large leadership team in Fall River and so I met regularly with eight to nine people um senior staff where we could you know we'd have three assistant superintendent the CFO the CIO the COO you know so everybody's at the table um weekly and again these are people who are coming together around common district goals everybody has a piece in them and I'm their supervisor. So, working very collaboratively um but also being able to supervised because the work that we do together is so focused on district, you know, district priorities that we are holding each other accountable along the way. So, just really a mix of collaboration, support, and then also making sure that people are held accountable um to our collective goals.
153>> Great. Thank you. >> But I feel like I didn't I missed the parent thing, so I just want to circle back to that one. Right. Um so, for me, I do think that the parent communication piece is something that I don't want to say didn't escape me in a larger district. Um but it was more difficult to do. So we did have um we did have a subcommittee called parent and community engagement and that was an opportunity for people to come. Um they were formal meetings, televised meetings for people to come ask questions, offer input and things like that. Um >> was that a subcommittee of your leadership team or a subcommittee >> Of the school committee. Okay. >> School committee. And it had different functions over time. Um, more recently under um my
154leadership, it was um it had been a conduit of of information sharing like here's what we're going to share with the community. Um here are some community events kind of thing. What it became in the last couple of years was more of an opportunity to bring issues to the table and be able to sit at a table with um parents, community members who wanted to offer their opinion before we took some issues to the larger committee, the full committee. And then outside of that, um, there were opportunities for me in schools, going to school events and things like that and interacting with families that way. Certainly emails and phone calls on a daily basis. >> Great. Thank you. How responsible should the school be to community pressure on items such as curric curriculum instructional practices
155in other teaching and learning areas of the school day. So, I think that um I I don't know. I value I value family and community input. And so, and I don't I've never been in a position where um because I am a parent and I've worked in schools, I don't ever really think that there's one opinion that's more important than the other. I think that the the work really comes comes about when we're having the dialogue around why potentially um different perspectives on things because I think that's inevitable, right? People don't there's never been a thing in the history of schools. I don't think where somebody brings something forward and every single person is in agreement. Um so I just I really value people's perspectives. I value being able to share mine with a rationale
156and hearing someone else's and a rationale. And I think when you're able to to facilitate that kind of discussion for others. So, you know, where school leadership, a teacher might be making some kind of decision that is at odds with a parent or a group of parents, being able to bring people together to discuss um and and come to a decision that isn't necessarily going to please everybody, but is at least going to leave people with a very solid understanding of why the decision is being made. >> This question kind of piggybacks on that one. Um, superintendent often face issues that generate strong and differing opinions among students, families, staff, and community members. Describe your approach to leading through a controversial issue while maintaining trust and focusing on student outcomes. So, I think it's that
157that focus on student outcomes piece that is first and foremost. So, there's a strategic plan in place. Um I think when you are making datainformed decisions when you're making um decisions that very often have you know it have come through a collaborative approach um the decisions are I don't want to say they're easy they're easy like in my mind because I say like it's what's best for kids right and then it's not easy because there is that work of listening because that other person or their other group of people truly believes that their um opinion is what's best for kids. And so I and I think you establish trust by being open to that conversation and when it's apparent that other people are I don't want to say right but when maybe the way you
158have been thinking about things wasn't exactly spot-on or the ways in which you thought it was best for kids maybe wasn't or you hadn't considered that other perspective. So, I think people being able to see that willingness to pivot a little bit. Not that I would ever, you know, throw away my values or really turn my back on what's best for kids because there's an angry parent or group of parents, but I think consistently being able to listen and when it is apparent it's the right thing to do, being able to shift and say, "You were right." I think that goes a long way. Have you ever had a situation where that's happened? You know where you've had to like >> Yeah. Yeah. I I have actually and I mean I could talk I don't
159know if you want to hear a little bit about it but >> um it was an interesting thing. We had a um policies and we didn't have a policy. We had practices around um how we would handle a headlice in schools and we did have um a parent who actually came to these parent and community engagement meetings. Um we talked through some things. There were we were actually on the same page I thought. um took it back to our um nursing director who brought it to nurses, came back. We worked very collaboratively. I I believed um I remember being home. Um I had a personal day for some appointments one day, but I I had a Google meet with her and our nurse. I mean, we left the meeting. I you know, these virtual high
160fives, me and the nursing director saying, "My gosh, we we've done this." Um and then we got to a larger school committee meeting and there was definitely some kind of misunderstanding. We were not on the same page. Um and it is one of those things I mean it's not this like happy ending because I don't know that we ever got on the same page but we were able to um better understand each other's perspectives. we were better. It put us in a position where we needed to be ready to better um communicate why um we sought outside advice from physicians and things like that. And I think we landed in a better place than we were where be honest like the district kind of gave a little because of the other perspective. Um and the
161the particular parent and then it ends up being a group of parents. Um they I don't know. I do think that they saw us move a little. It just didn't land exactly where they wanted it, but I thought it was a good outcome. Thank you. Um in the fall, um we're going to be implementing a new common ELA program in the elementary school. Mhm. >> Um and to give you a a little broader context, um it will be uh the first common curriculum that we've had in I think over six years. >> Uh one of the positions that has been eliminated in our uh in the budget process is the director of uh curriculum. We do have two coordinators uh one for humanities and one for science and math. within that context. >> Sure. >>
162Um could you speak to how you would lead and support the implementation of the curriculum? How is it that you would work with the coordinators and the principles um for going forward with a new curriculum? >> Sure. So we actually just did um something similar in Fall River in the last few years. because we'd had a a common curriculum, but then we had it for so long things went astray. Everybody was maybe I don't want to say doing their own thing, but everybody had supplemented the curriculum in a way that it ended up looking very different from school to school. And so we did a um a full implementation. Actually, we did we rolled it out, I believe, during um like COVID like hybrid school. was like a crazy time but the professional development had
163already started um and then we rolled it out. So anyway, we I think the the superintendent's role in that is really you know what you talked about it's about supporting the coordinators and the principles. I think supporting principles as instructional leaders in their buildings is very important. um that is like I don't know it's like primary purpose of schools is around that academic success and supporting principles to be those instructional leaders is I think a a primary role for me and so I think what I'd want to do is um learn a little bit I have been watching some of the school committee meetings so I know that there's professional development involved um and I know that there have been a lot of questions around maybe I'm like is it slow roll. Are we just
164trying it? Are we, you know, um I I think the important thing to do while the professional development is readily available to people, while other professionals are in the district and providing that support, direct support to teachers, and then my understanding is um also through coaches and things like that. They're training up coaches and some um um additional professional development. it is really important to lean into that resource while it's in the district. So there I I yeah I so I just I' I'd want to be able to support that and I in in my mind I think it means doing some work in the meantime to help people be ready for that because I you know I I got the impression maybe from watching some of the meetings that not everybody is feeling ready
165or even maybe everybody feels like it's the right thing to do but this district is making such a significant um financial um investment in this we you like you can't afford to let the opportunity pass and so I just really would want to support the people who are working directly with those teachers um to make sure that we could have as solid an implementation as possible. I think the important thing is just really clear expectations, right? To say and and we did some of this in fall over in our roll out. It wasn't about that in the first year to getting through every single unit. We were very specific about what the expectation would be in that first year. And things do take a little longer to unpack during those professional learning communities and um
166and through the PD. And so I think just having a very clear plan to say here's what we're going to support you to do this year is how I would approach things. >> Thank you. It does make me think of a follow-up question that is a little bit related to that and some of the others you've spoken of and that is the difference um the transition from a larger urban um school system to u middle which is neither of those. um wondering what your thoughts are about that transition. >> Um I'm I'm excited for it. So I worked in two small suburban smaller um districts in Situ Mass and Swamcott. That's where I started my career >> and I do remember um at the time I mean I I loved it but it was something
167unlike my own experience, right? I grew up in Fall River and so to be in these smaller towns um in these smaller schools I felt like it was a bit of a culture shock to be honest with you. Um having raised my own children in in Kingston and being part of kind of a smaller community, I have a um a renewed appreciation for it. And I I really do think I will say in Fall River, we do a bangup job of making our larger schools feel like small, very welcoming communities. It's there's really wonderful work going on there. Um and so for me, a place like Middlebore is like that's what we're always trying to recreate in a larger urban district. um and to have the opportunity to be able to come in here and
168um you know support in any way. I mean I I love the idea. >> Great. Thank you. >> Um now for the catchall closing question. Um, are there other things that we have not asked you about that you would like to share that would help us understand who you are uh as a leader and superintendent and why um this opportunity would be a good match for you? >> Sure. Um, I'll tell you a little bit about myself. So, I mentioned that I grew up in Fall River. I am um one of four children. My parents wonderful, loving, just beautiful people. Um and they neither one of them graduated from high school. And so I grew up um we moved quite a bit when I was younger in and around Fall River. I think maybe like
169it was like eight different places by the time I graduated high school. I went to three different elementary schools. Um I was completely a kid who had like a lot of trouble making friends because it was like every couple years kind of thing. Um loved the adults in my schools. I helped out the women who served breakfast in the morning. If they let me, I would have helped out at lunch. Um, but school was just a very safe and consistent place for me. So, it's like I always think that between um the consistency of school and having dinner with my family every night, like that's what did it for me, right? But the consistently high expectations in schools um that I experienced, you know, and that I felt like were there for all students, including
170me. Um that's that was such a great motivator for me, right? And I think that I got into education thinking like, I want to be able to do that for all kids. And I will admit that when I um first started working in some, you know, in two suburban places, I did have a moment where I was like, "These people don't need me." Like, they have such good families and there are so many great teachers here. Like, I could be doing work somewhere else. And when I had the opportunity to go back to Fall River, I thought like, I'm going back, right? Because I'm going to do for people um for kids what people did for me. Um, but I will say that kind of lingering this whole time is um having students of my
171own, children of my own. One is graduating this year, one is um still in high school. I've also had the experience of being in, you know, a town where I want to make sure that people have their eye on my kids, right? I don't want people to assume that my children have such a great home life that they don't need the consistent support of um people in their schools. And so um like I just don't want I don't want educators anywhere to just take for granted what kids bring with them potentially because you don't always know. And so even though I've, you know, I've spent the bulk of my career at this point in Fall River and Middle Borough is, you know, I think a little bit of a different place. I think that all
172kids deserve that consistent high expectations, adults they can count on, and I think I can do that work here. So that's what brings me here. The other thing that I probably should mention because um I I know I have Google and I'm sure all of you do um and so I know that there are certainly questions about um my experience in Fall River. Um what that would look like, what I would look like here. And um I think the one thing I want to say is for me my experience in Fall River was incredibly positive until it wasn't right. It was um more than 15 years of just really good work and that good work is continuing through my peers. It is it is really good. Um, and in the end, I can only term
173it as irreconcilable differences. And I truly thought, um, for myself, for my team, that it was it was time. Um, and I felt very confident that the work would go on um, when I left and by all accounts, it is. And I'm here. So, yeah, just want to be able to say that. >> That's very helpful. Thank you. Okay. Do you have any questions for us? >> Um, yeah, I think maybe I do. >> Okay. >> So, one thing I wondered about was kind of what would mark success really um in in a one-year interim like you get to the end of the year and like I guess I'm wondering exactly what people are looking for. Again, I've seen the meetings and I know that there's this, you know, kind of getting things to be
174stable, improving some communication channels and all of those things, but it's like I I'm just I'm wondering about like the markers at the end of the day, what people would be looking for to be like, yeah, that worked because we've got this to show. So I wasn't sure if anybody had >> I can start with a stab and then uh you can piggy back on. >> Sure. >> Okay. Uh as I have spoken with people um as you have gleaned from watching meetings and the first is is category is stability. Mhm. >> Um I think that um what that is going to look like is uh first of all we have some very important searches that we need to have successful searches in. Uh we need a new uh director of special ed and pupil
175personnel. Um and the second uh I would say important priority is uh what we asked about and that is the implementation of the curriculum. >> Sure. >> Okay. Uh and that it happened in a way that as you were starting to describe um that um not necessarily that and therefore the reading scores went >> right >> but more that there is a thoughtful um agreed upon plan by the people leading the effort in connection uh with the schools and the you know that the principles and the coordinators um with your leadership and support um that uh people understand what this roll out is, who's responsible for what. >> Mhm. >> Um and that the supports are in the place for not for it to be perfect, but that it's it's begun and people are feeling
176good about it. We've not had this conversation, so you're now hearing my opinions. Um, so I think that that's a a second real big priority. And obviously the third is um is the work on the on the budget that we've we've spoken to. Uh and and that is you know I think as Chris asked um not you know looking at how we are both effectively using our resources how are we um partnering with the town? um what are maybe some resources that we've not thought about >> um that we'll be able to use that will um improve our our uh budget stance. Uh and then the last would be uh around communication. Uh um that people do feel like that they have uh that there is clear communication coming out both from the leadership of
177the district and then we have work to do ourselves. Sure. about what's coming out out from the school committee, but also that people are feeling um heard. Um someone said to me today, which I agree with him, almost a customer service um that the way that people get back to people, the way questions are answered, it's a a direct, you know, all of those things that uh they talk about the broken shoings that finally is like, okay, I'm done. Um, those would be four that would be in in my mind, but I I'll let my colleagues uh contra point out where I might be mistaken. >> I agree. I think you I think she coveted. >> Yeah. And I don't think it's necessarily going to be checkboxes at the end of the year. Um, >>
178I think it's going to be a little bit more nuanced in feelings. >> No, that makes sense. I mean I think the I always think perception data is just so valuable especially you know we we did some work um it continues in fall river um with um conditions for learning surveys where you're getting you're asking primarily the same kind of question to students to parents to teachers and being able to see how people are experiencing the very same thing differently and I think communication ation is something that can um kind of close those gaps a little bit. >> So, yeah, that makes sense. >> Yeah. And I know, you know, Sue gave the four communication was the last one she said, but I think that's really just the overarching with all of them encompassed within.
179I think that's the biggest >> um piece that people are feeling right now. And I think that's if nothing else everything can gets started next year, but the communication piece people feel more settled with. I think that would be um in my opinion a huge win for for next year. >> Okay, great. >> Yeah, I know for me um the teachers in this district have had some tough times over the past few years. So I mean that support from leadership, not that I don't think that their principles and administrators aren't doing a fantastic job, but really that top person driving the strategy and making them feel engaged um and want to come to work every day and be successful like every teacher wants to be and for all intents and purposes they are. Um I
180know the transparency with the community that's been kind of a difficult thing. Um I know that's a lot of the people in this committee are trying to work towards that and really make that happen. Um it's that kind of moving forward too and not trying to take a step back and not or not falling back I should say. So having that strategic plan to really kind of drive things that success and like anything as you take those steps more success more success and I think people then kind of buy into that. Um so it's really just kind of pushing the district forward. Um and and then the finances are obviously I don't think we're out of the woods yet unfortunately. >> Um it's not going to happen overnight. So that's that's definitely a very very
181big piece that obviously over this next year um is going to be critical. >> I do think that the strategic plan uh could be a mechanism for a lot of this and the first is to make sure it's real. >> Yeah. So yeah, I was I was actually going to ask about that. So, I think what I've been able to see publicly doesn't have um like the meat to it in terms of how getting there, how how do you measure progress and things like that. So, I wasn't sure if it hadn't been developed or if it just wasn't >> and how it whether or not it truly connects to its auxiliary pieces that are supposed to be driving it. >> Okay. >> Um that there is real connection there. >> Got it. Got it. Okay.
182All set everyone. Yeah, >> this has been very informative and I really appreciate your time and um and your openness. >> All right. Well, thank you very much all of you. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. uh 10 and 12. >> Yeah. Subject >> um for 12 uh law and 10th grade history. >> Nice. I'm also the principal of the night school program. >> Well, it's gonna be interesting. There's now it's now almost 100 kids. So, there are real growers. >> It's good to want to give their education to continue. It is an option for them. >> Yeah. What's that? >> I started recording. My wife brought me home. >> We first street 2016 almost by April 19th. Quincy could open and touch. Mhm. Let's do it. >> Keep rolling. >> Hi everyone. >> Hi. >>
183Sorry. It's okay. >> You made it. It's almost over. Just going to snap it. I appreciate the last three days. >> Doesn't last long. >> Two days longer than last. >> Yeah. >> Two days longer than I make it. Thank you. >> Good evening. >> All right. >> So, hello again, David. Um, I we'll start with allowing my colleagues to introduce themselves. >> Hi, Mr. Cutler. My name is Kristen Phillips. It's nice to meet you. >> Nice to meet you. >> Emily Mashado. Nice to meet you at 8:30. >> Sean Moler. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. >> Chris Benson, nice to meet you. >> Nice to meet you. >> Hi, Kim Rathon. Nice to meet you. >> Nice to meet you. >> And we've met. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Uh so for
184the next 60 maybe up to 60 minutes, um what the format will be is that we uh each have questions that we have for you. Um I'm going to keep a little bit of an eye on the time with followup potential follow-up questions. I'll keep an eye on the time and if we're getting too long on one so that we're not going to get through them all, I I might give a little nudge for us to move on. Uh so I'll try to do it as unobtrusively as possible. Okay. And so Christine, if you'd start. >> Okay. And then for um whoever's here, they ask that you speak close to the microphone so that they can I think they had trouble hearing earlier. Okay. >> All right. So the first question is why Middlearro and
185why now? How do your leadership values align with our district and what concrete actions would you take early on to make a meaningful impact as our interim superintendent? >> So I think that what I really draws me to Middleboro is uh similar to where I'm at now in Bellingham. Geographically it's a bigger area but has that small town uh environment and feel. So knowing what you're looking for in stability, um not looking to make substantial changes, um really just build a culture, climate, focus on um stabilization, making sure that things stay um foundationally at the core, but focusing on the um excuse Sorry. Focusing on the fact that everything here is really working in the right direction. We just need a lot of silver. The the district needs some stability to enhance what's already going
186on. So I feel like my strengths are building relationships, building culture and climate and the things that you're really looking for. So, what I took pride in in Bellingham is that building relationships is something that I've taken pride on over the last 12 years. Uh, having community, being present, being visible. So, uh, making sure that I'm at events, making sure that I'm at community events, uh, dances, games, uh, things outside in the community that are outside of the school. So, it's something that's very important to me to be infused into the community and that's something that I feel like is at the core of what you're looking for. So, >> could you for me describe your position a little bit more? >> Yes. So, um if it was in corporate America, it would be like
187the chief operating officer. So, I work for the superintendent and I write policies, cover the school district's uh ver uh school district's area of human resources. Um really the proxy and and direct link for the central administration office and all things that involve the community uh fire department, the police department. uh often work with other community organizations. I sit on the boards for um the senior center, any the Bellingham Business Association, anything that involves the connections between the Bellingham public schools and the school district. Um obviously representing the superintendent, um making sure that I'm pushing forward the message of the district improvement plan and the strategic plan. um always with students at the front um and as their our north star always um really anything that I can do to support the district as a
188whole. So, uh, again, a lot of policies right now. I just finished writing the policy for the cell phone, um, that we're working on for that is up in legislation area. Um, and, uh, transportation, uh, I'm a certified uh, uh, MCPO, so any of the bid process, any of that stuff. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> All right. Communication, transparency, and relationship building is very important to our community. So, first, how would you build rapport with the administrators, teachers, and the support staff in our uh district? And then second, how would you ascertain the public's perception of the school district? And what steps would you take to either improve it or sustain that perception? Yeah. So, having been a longtime principal, uh, an assistant principal, a dean, I think that communication and transparency are
189key. And one of the things I've also pride myself on is making sure that communication is timely uh, and transparent. So, if we don't control the narrative, the narrative will control us. So, making sure that everybody understands that we need to uh always communicate with our community, right? And I think that when things fall apart, it's because we haven't been transparent enough. And one of the things that I feel is one of my strengths is making sure that everybody knows that we have their students and their children and that's scary. So if there's a bunch of police cars in front of a building, it's imperative that we let people know why we have those police cars there and is in almost real time as possible. Is it because we're doing a lockdown drill? Is it
190because they're there having coffee? Is it because there's an incident? And getting those messages out, whether it be through uh Blackboard Connect, uh social media, all of those outlets is imperative. So people don't come up with their own narrative and then it becomes chaos. Um, additional to that, I think that one of the major aspects of community trust and building that rapport is that they know that if they have a question, they can always call the office and ask that question and not feel like they're going to be brushed off or made to feel like they're less than or that they're there's not an open door policy. So building that rapport where somebody knows um that they can call the superintendent and say, "Hey, I'm not feeling really great about this. Do you mind just
191answering my question?" And as a principal, I feel, and I don't think anybody would disagree with this, that people had access to me 24/7. Um probably too much, but it it worked. So I think that the more people feel that they have the trust in the school district where their children spend the majority of their life for 180 days a year, the more they have faith in what's happening. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> All right. Uh so this one kind of is a little different. um kind of shifting into the financial realm. So given the financial limitations at hand, can you please describe how you assure the most efficient use of resources and what types of creative ideas you might suggest to meet the educational needs of students not being met within the
192regular budget? >> Yes. So I understand you were um much like everybody else struggling with deficits. So this is not uh a middle burrow issue. This is inherent to public education and the chapter 70 conundrum. So, um, looking at alternative methods for revenue streams. And one of the things that I feel very, um, excited about is that over my time in Bellingham, I had the opportunity to be not only an educator, but also dive into the business realm. So, my first experience in Bellingham was taking over as the principal of a 766 therapeutic day school, which was unfortunately very embattled and at a $56,000 deficit. I was told instantly, "Fix it or close the doors." And ultimately, we ended up making a million74,000 in revenue a year. So, how do we do that? We look
193for alternative means of revenue resources and we have communities uh and efforts and how do we do that? Well, in our case, we establish a business plan and that business plan was the 60/40 split. So, how could we keep our students and make them feel part of our community, not send which we're looking at now, right? How how why is there such a deficit? Well, special education uh costs skyrocket, transportation costs skyrocket. So, if we could keep our students in district, keep them with their cohorts and their peers and then bring tuition students in from other towns at the 60, then there you go. We have 1.1,74,000 in revenue. the program self-sufficient with an additional uh one point one one million74,000 in revenue. So the long- winded point of that is where where are we
194getting in rental? Where are we getting in um uh rental revenue? What are we doing for other enterprise type funds? You know, those types of alternative revenue streams that maybe aren't being looked at yet because we didn't necessarily have to charge people for certain things in the past and now we're there. So, >> how many um uh students with special needs are you still exporting? Um currently, uh Bellingham Public Schools is sending out 32 students out of district and that is at the tune of uh approximately $1.5 million uh in tuition and another $500 to 600,000 in transportation. And the total population of Bellingham >> um the the >> students >> um just under uh 2 or 2,000. Yeah, 2,000. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Okay, so we're going to stick in the
195realm of special education with this question. Yes, ma'am. >> Um so you were talking about um the funding sources and things like that. So special education can be particularly challenging um given the complexities of laws and regulations, student needs um student parent concerns and funding sources when you assess the effectiveness of your indist programs. What are some of the criteria that you use? >> Well, beyond the legal requirements, making sure that are our students getting what they need um in in all programs, right? like that's the that's the bottom line. Are our students getting what they need and what um what are we doing to make sure that they're thriving? Right? So when I say that there's there's many opportunities and having run that school for so long, students are capable of doing anything and
196it's just this distress tolerance, right? and and any student and social emotional health is vital to a Mensah Mensah individual and a student that is low cognitive ability. So how do we make sure that we are challenging everybody to a point where through uh the productive struggle where we're not pushing them too hard but we're still making sure that we're not making it too easy. So supporting our educators to make sure that they have the appropriate tools uh special ed or not to equip their classrooms and their toolboxes so that way they can give each student what they need and in this case special education students so that way they're not feeling like it's a one-sizefits-all. So, you know, a lot of that is again working with the community through transitional services. Um, what are
197we doing for uh internships, externships? Uh what are we doing for bringing um different organizations in? What are we doing for um volunteering? uh depending on their level of need. Uh getting um one of the things that we did at my old school was I worked with the YMCA and set up a little business plan with them that our students disdained physical education, disdained it. Um so worked a plan with them that for them to build part of the community. we were able to wrap in um a membership for every single one of the students to the YMCA which many of those students unfortunately had pretty strained relationships with their families. So the benefit was by going to that school they also got a country club membership to the YMCA. So it built some relationships
198with the families as well. So we saw some benefits with the family build and then we were able to also use that on the back end to have the families support the students for their social emotional health. So, it became a fully encompassing hug, handshake, if you will, um to make sure that parents were supporting their kids because the kids were like, "Mom, dad, whomever, why don't we go to the gym together?" Which was covered. And they were doing this. They were not vaping, doing things they shouldn't be doing, playing video games all day. It made them healthy. And then we were I was able to negotiate a deal to get their vans that they were going to get rid of. I was able to get them to donate them to us. So then we
199had our teachers drive them to the YMCA. So it ended up being a really neat model and a really neat program. And again, the the juice, as you you'll hear me say, the juice is worth the squeeze. So, um, really looking outside of the box to do things to make sure that we're supporting our educators to support and make sure our students are being as successful as possible. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Switching gears again. Uh could you describe to me what would you see as the ideal relationship between yourself as the interim superintendent and the school committee? >> Yes. So we need to be partners and in fairly constant communication. So, the uh worst thing ever is if you find out information that does not come from me. Um the uh how
200can I say this? One of my personal pet peeves and and if you ask my my current uh mentor slash uh superintendent, I I feel I want to preface this. I I feel like very blessed that I've had the best uh mentors over the last 12 years. Very very very lucky. and I have learned some incredible things and had the benefit of working in literally every role in every grade level in every school. So if I've learned anything again beyond um controlling that narrative is the last thing I ever want is my boss to get caught not knowing something from the wrong way. whether it be Facebook or a parent phone call or anything else. So that includes currently the school committee. So we're only as strong as we are a team and when people
201don't know things um we can't control that. So the relationship would be that my responsibility is to control the operations of the school district but with the understanding that the school committee's responsibility is to you know understand manage and you know help guide me and manage the policies and budget and help guide the voice of the community. So the only way that works is if we're all on, you know, pretty constant speaking terms because the community is going to come to you and then we would have to be in constant contact. So >> uh and those um informal channels are great. Uh h have you seen and appreciated uh have you seen other more formal ways that uh you would keep this that you would keep the school committee informed? uh uh weekly updated emails
202um and uh I mean a weekly updated email um it's not something that is a com is a practice that we do but it it's uh it's something that we do weekly newsletters anyway I have come from a place before actually when I was in the military where uh as part of our standing our operating procedure we were very clear that we would send our uh our higher up a weekly update of kind of the state of the the team. Um which I always liked. Uh I thrive in structure. So it was nice to kind of send a a little this is what's going on around the district and if you have any questions, please let me know. And that would be something that personally I would benefit from because then if there's any questions
203of hey, can you tell me what's going on at the elementary school? I have a question. Plus, it keeps everybody informed of we have this middle school dance happening and we have the awards ceremony happening at uh the high school and all these things. So, then everybody's on the same page. >> Great. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> So, I have the next question. Um this is going to revolve around leadership and your leadership style. >> Yes. Um, as a district leader, you're going to have direct, indirect reports, students, parents, this committee, um, they're going to have to interact with differently. Um, can you just talk about your leadership style and give some experiences uh, that you have had as an administrator and outcomes that have come from that? Explain how they would help us
204see your potential as a successful superintendent. >> So, I believe that I'm a servant leader. Um, I want to see the people that work with me thrive. Um, I think that I I I know that this becomes overly part of my life. So um in doing that, right, wrong or indifferent, it becomes part of my identity and I'm okay with that, but it it when we talked about being visible and being part of the community, I feel like that's the only way it works. Um, you know, I live in the town that I work in for that reason because you become a family with these people and you end up having to understand everything about them and you have some skin in the game. So as a leader and that's part of it. I think
205that it's imperative and and again I talk about my mentors. There is never a time that I didn't feel like my superintendent wasn't teaching me how to take over for him and wasn't teaching me the things that he might have zigged when he should have zagged. And he wanted the best for me. So, I learned from the best and I feel like I want to carry that on. And I also know what it's like to be a principal and I know what it's like and and I've said it to him a hundred times this year when I was sitting on this side of the desk as a principal or an assistant principal and I thought a because we were doing budgets and we needed to cut these things and he came down to the office
206and said, "Hey Dave, I need you to cut another $50,000 out of your operating budget. And I was like, I don't know how we're going to do this. And then now that I'm in the big office, it's like, oh, now I understand. So, I understand all aspects of it. And I feel like because of that it's a humbling experience and it's an experience that I am happy to share in a comfortable and confident way that is mentoring and not uh makavellian. So >> how do you hold people accountable? Uh, I have uh I have no problem no problem uh making sure that everybody is pulling their weight. I do believe that I'm firm but very very fair. Um, we work for the community and we work for students, right? We're not putting out widgets. So
207at the end of the day, my baseline is, would you want me to be your students superintendent, principal or teacher? And if the question is, then we need to re-evaluate. And that's how I live my life. And that's how I would want every single person from A to Z in a district that I work in to think every single day when they wake up. Would you want your child to have you as whatever role you carry in a school district? And if you have to wse or think for a second, then you need to re-evaluate how things were that day. >> And how many reports people report to you now? right now? None. Uh, in the past I've had uh over 150. >> When you were principal? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you. >> You're
208welcome. >> How responsible should the school be to the community pressure on items such as curriculum, instructional practices, and other teaching and learning areas of the school day. >> Responsive as in to the I'm sorry. Can you >> Yeah, I can repeat it. I know it's a tricky one. How responsible should the school be to the community pressure on items such as curriculum, instructional practices, and other teaching and learning areas of this school day? >> Are the I'm sorry for asking this question, but are the are the community pressures are they part of a um curriculum committee? >> Not necessarily. So, um, uh, >> I'm sorry to ask that, but >> No, no, no. It's okay. Not at all. It's fine. Uh, in Middleboro, we have, uh, for school committee meetings particularly, um, often we'll
209have people coming up and expressing either their thoughts about what we're doing with the curriculum or, uh, they have, you know, very specific um, feelings about what might be done differently. Yeah. >> Uh and uh they may be part of a committee but they they're often they are not. >> So okay so not knowing the specifics if if somebody came up and brought it to uh my attention and they were not happy with something let's say a book. if they were not happy with a book that was being read in one of the schools and they wanted to address it and they did it at community uh the the threeminut discussion uh it would be we take it um and obviously I couldn't respond at that moment but I would most certainly uh do some
210research and figure out what was the book and find out what was going on with it and why are we teaching it? What is it? What is the framework behind it and where in the state standards does this hit and what alternatives if there are any to this book and what was the purpose of picking this one versus that one? And really I don't want anybody ever feel like we're uh dismissing them. Um, so it's something that as a principle I've had to uh or not had to, but uh as a principle I've dealt with before and made sure that why did we pick this book or why was this book one that was chosen versus this one? You know, a protagonist and antagonist and um sometimes there's a question that's a very valid question
211and we need to address it. So I hope that answers your question. >> Yeah, it does. Then you would follow up probably with that parent or whoever was absolutely concerned. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. Within like within a few days. >> So this is this is kind of an extension of that question. I'm sorry. They're very similar. >> Um so superintendent often face issues that generate strong and differing opinions among students, families, staff, and community members. So describe your approach to leading through a controversial issue while maintaining trust and focusing on student outcomes. >> So first and foremost, what is best for our students, right? First and foremost, what's best for our students and what is behind the controversy. So obviously it depends on what the controversy is, but what is best for
212our students. So let's just take a field trip for example. um if we cancelled a longstanding field trip that was going to Disneyland. Okay. And um why are we cancelling it? And is it because students are not able in 2026 to afford it anymore? And that field trip is too expensive and the only students that can go on it are of means and it's really um it's really isolating the ones and marginalizing the ones that can't. Well, then we need to have a discussion about that and is there alternative means? Can we have some scholarships for the ones that can't? What can we do? So that would be very controversial because look, we've done this since 1988. But is there a safe, you know, it really depends on the individual situation. Obviously, if it's a
213safety risk, there's a lot different than if we're going to Orlando and going to see Mickey. Um, but it depends on what it is. You know, again, the non-negotiables are students and safety at all times. So um those are the apex penultimate non-negotiables in every decision that we make the every day is the safety of our uh staff and faculty staff and students is uh the non-negotiable and our student outcomes. So we also have to be very strong in our convictions. So once that decision is made, there's no wavering. Um, and that's on me. >> So how would you maybe like quell a heated situation at a school committee meeting if something came up and there were a lot of parents there and it was a big hot topic at the time? >> Um, I'd
214like to do you have a like is it a safety issue? It could be anything, you know, that parents are up in arms about, you know, with differing views and you're kind of sitting there. >> I'd probably ask that we have a I would I would set a meeting for them to have a community discussion outside of that school committee meeting. And I would ask that they had unless it was something that we've already we've already ruled on and already had a uh you know if it was a policy that we've already established or something that we've already discussed and it's already been finalized. If it was something that they needed to have their agreements as aired, I would probably set a separate auditorium um forum like a town hall style meeting and say, "All
215right, why don't we set on Thursday night and we're going to get together and anybody that would like to have an open meeting and we'll meet in the auditorium of the high school or wherever and then we can talk about what what is going on and this is why we've chosen this and please have a discussion with me us uh why you feel this is not right and then those dialogues and this is going to sound very minimal but I never allowed hats or hoods or cell phones as a middle school principal but the high school did and I had a lot of people that were not happy about that and when I explained you know people want to know why that when a camera is above you and you can't see through the brim
216that god forbid there is a uh intruder and I want to know that our students are safe and you can't see from that vantage point uh their face it's just not a good idea and but by explaining it people understood just by saying no hats hoods or cell phones that's not an answer once I explained it parents said to their students no hats or hoods. So, people deserve an answer and by explaining it that sometimes or often times usually gives them the okay, that makes sense. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Uh again, jumping categories. Um so when you started you spoke of stability and a person coming in as an interim that uh it's not that we're you doing all new things but of uh making sure that the core functions are working
217and and that is true in many ways um for the upcoming year. But there are some things that we will be embarking on uh in this fall. And one of the really important ones is that we will be implementing a new uh ELA curriculum for the uh elementary school. >> Uh I think provide a little bit of context. Um the elementary schools I think for the past six years or beyond uh have been using their own teachers have been using their own curriculums and so this is the first time that we're really having a unified curriculum. Uh also um with the um budget cuts uh the director curriculum has position has been eliminated. we do have uh two curriculum coordinators, one for humanities and one for science and math. So within that context, um the
218superintendent is going to be playing a strong role in helping to lead and support uh the implementation of the curriculum. So could you speak a bit about how it is that you would both lead and support the principles and the coordinators involved? Yes. So, I want to be very transparent that although I was never a teacher, um I taught two elective courses when I was in a charter school and they were on being a stock broker and they were a law course. Um so I have taken a lot of time because of that to focus um and again back to those mentors um a lot of time to work on focusing on understanding what's going on in those classrooms being in the classrooms making sure to see how I can support those teachers in the
219implementation of the curriculum and watching how they're implementing and what I can do to support them to support our students and get the best outcomes possible and asking questions and being part of that and working with our assistant superintendent of curriculum instruction who has been amazing and our curriculum director who is phenomenal and our curriculum coaches and the knowledge that they've imparted in me has been just second to none. So, I'm confident that and and I also was in the school when we implemented a brand new ELA curriculum and math curriculum. So, um I know the the push that feels and I know the stress that that is for teachers. Um I don't know if you're piloting multiple ones at the same time or you've just picked one, but >> we've chosen there's one that
220is been chosen that we will be implementing in the fall. >> Excellent. So um I know what it's like for them to do multiple and then pick one, but this is something that I've been around. Um supporting them is something that I like to do and I'm excited to do. Um it's it's good work. The most important thing is again the support and being present and not being in an office and being around and being visible and being in those classrooms and letting them know that I'm there as it's never a aha gotcha. It's a what can I do to dig in and be part of this community and part of your classroom and maybe teach a lesson or two with them. So, >> and through that mentorship, have you um if you were to
221name a couple factors that are important for a successful launch, what would they be? >> Um making sure that the teachers have the time to work together, common planning time. They need um they need the time to be able to work together to unpack this stuff as a team. Um they need to be able to they're they're experts in their craft. This is not new to them, but they need to be able to unpack the package and see how it is see how they're going to deliver it to our students. So if I have if I learned anything from a phenomenal group of fourth grade teachers that are experts in how they in their craft, it's that they just needed some time to work together and look at each other and say when we deliver
222this in order to hit our essential questions and in order to hit our, you know, the the the um make sure that we're hitting the learning targets. this is what we need to do to make sure together that everything's in sync. So when my classroom and your classroom are on week two or unit two, we're getting the same we're getting the same experience. Um and the only way that works is if we're giving them the the common planning time, but that's not just that easy. So making sure that the principles are supported and everybody's supported. So that way it's not just you need to make sure you're giving them this. It's that everybody is getting what they need to make sure that the the students are getting what they need. >> Thank you. >> You're
223welcome. >> Um for the final question, it's that covers it all question. Uh, is there anything that you would like to share with us that we haven't asked you about that you think would help us better understand uh why you would be a a good choice as our interim superintendent? >> I know that this is an interim position. Um, but this is a community that I feel that I would like to be a part of and you know I have a long time until I retire. So, I'm looking for my next chapter and, you know, not the cart before the horse, but you know, it's something that I would like to be able to uh plant some chalks and, you know, and have some longevity. So, >> thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Are there
224any questions you have of us? >> No, I am. >> All set. All right. Well, thank you very much for your time. >> Thank you all very much. >> Thank you. >> We're going to take a little break. >> Okay. All right. Are we ready for the next >> Agenda item. And now we deliberate. So I was um trying to think about how we uh go through the deliberation uh in a way that um is focused given where we are uh and gets us to where we want to be and I think that there's probably two ways that we can do it. Um, one is, uh, we just open it up and folks give their thoughts, uh, about candidates, all of them, or we could go through and see if there's one or two that
225we want to focus on, um, and and start to rrestle through that. Um, so I leave it to your pleasure. I like the idea of um seeing if we all maybe similarly think alike first. I think that makes the most sense. >> Anyone not like that approach? >> Great. >> Sure. Yeah. >> All right. So uh if we want to go through and if there's whatever the number is uh people that you think we should put our focus on it can be one or I guess four but uh that would defeat the purpose but uh whatever number that you think we should you want to start Kim >> or number or just say like a person >> the the people that you think that we should focus our discussions on. Oh. Um, I have two
226with one standing pretty high up. >> I can say who it is if you >> Oh, okay. >> I was like, am I just giving a number? Um, I Thompson and Cutler, but Thompson is pretty high up for me. >> We just going down the line. >> Sure. >> All right. So, I thought they were all impressive. Um, but, uh, to me, I think the candidates named David stand out as the the two top ones. So, >> um, I kind of agree that those would should be our two areas of focus. >> Thompson and Cutler. >> Yeah. >> Okay. The two Daves was throwing me. Sorry. >> Trying to add some levity. I know this might be getting it might be going over my head. >> Sean, >> uh for me it was uh David
227Thompson and um and Tracy Curley. Uh just based on their experience and kind of how they their examples they gave were basically been there, done that. For me, >> um for me, um David Thompson and David Cutler. David Thompson stands out to me because he just I mean he oozes experience. Um I love his personality. David Cutler I really like I but yeah it's the experience >> confused me a little bit. So >> just those two >> and say them again. >> Thompson and Cutler. >> Okay. >> The Davids. Okay. >> It is the Davids for me also. Okay. Uh, and for me it was uh Thompson and Tracy. So knowing that um it if I did my check marks correctly, I believe the the highest totals were the two were the two Davids. Uh
228which I'm I'm fine with going with that, Sean. >> Yeah, absolutely. Uh, so I then open it up to for the to David. Now that we're going this way, I got to make sure I've got the right people. Anyone want to start? >> Um, I'll start um for I'll start with David Thompson. Um, I really like the fact that he has both interim and um long-term superintendent. Not that I'm looking more than this year ahead, but I do like that he knows what it entails to be an interim. I mean, I am looking at we're looking for an interim, so he has the experience of that one-year position. He knows how to come in and out of it. um if he was to so choose to apply for the longer you know the position in
229the fall then great. Um obviously he has experience for that as well but just looking at the interim which is what we are hiring for right now. Um he has the most experience for that one job. Um but I do I did like a lot of his answers. I felt like out of all of them, he gave the most thorough answers to all the questions with examples. Um, and so that was kind of what stood him ahead for me. >> Any thoughts on color? >> Yes. Got to refer back to my copious notes. Um I again I do like that he comes with some of those H you know comes with the HR experience that we do um need. Um I do like some of the kind of key phrases he used especially with the
230um question about special education when you know that it was kind of those you know key words that I was looking for in that question. um talking about thriving and students. Um was one servant leader coming alongside of people. Um just that little distinction was is it too much alongside or is he going to be able to kind of step above when he needs to? That's just a little bit where I am um kind of teetering with that part. But I do think he also comes with some good creative ideas when Chris asked about the budget question too. So those are some things that stood out to me. >> Chris, I thought they both have a lot of strong suits. I like um Mr. or Dr. Cutler's um creativity that he brought in. I do
231think as a a where we are as a district if someone's going to come in and and really make their first mark like we're kind of building almost from the ground up at this point uh between the budget and being able to fill positions to really um kind of move forward. Um, I I think the HR piece is big. Um, in terms of the fit for Middleboro and a lot of the answers to the questions, um, David Thompson, it it's hard to put into words, but had the feel of he would fit this community. Um, I don't think either option is a bad one. I I think both have some strong suits um going forward. So I think we as a committee have a lot to think about. >> Sean, >> so probably like all
232of us um we did our research for all these candidates. Um it's easy to jump to conclusions. You think this person they going to be this that and the other thing? Um which I think is just human nature. and uh and but then you got to kind of stop yourself and and kind of look at this and say, "Well, we should probably go with an open mind and just talk to them. Let them talk to us." We put together some great questions. I think that kind of covered a lot of things. Um someone just kind of let it happen and I I think that was the process which was great to see. Um, that being said, uh, when I looked at David Thompson, one of the negatives just looking at his resume was like, okay,
233he was a he was a superintendent for x amount of years. No, fantastic. But then I was like, in term, interm. So now you start kind of running your mind south saying, so what's really going on with that? So really his kind of opening statement kind of put that to rest, right? You know, he said, no, you know, not done. I think he said he had like 10 more good years in him, maybe more probably. Um, so that was good to hear. So that that kind of helped kind of kickstart that conversation because I I was a little concerned about that honestly. So, um, that was great. And then I think I think I probably have the most notes on him. Uh, but you know, he came across as honest. Um, I think his um
234experience came through. I I think he answered the questions very truthfully um with a lot of detail. Like again, been there, done that, and he kind of referenced the different districts he's worked in. and the real examples of what he'd done differently in each one of those districts and had, you know, interm experience like you pointed out, which I I didn't even think of that. So, thank you for that. Um because they do act a little bit differently, right? Um another thing that stood out with me was the special education piece between being a parent, an educator, an administrator, which I was kind of blown away by that, you know, I I did not expect that at all. Um, so that was one of those things that just, you know, not knowing a lot about
235special education, I think I probably talked to you guys about this a million times. It's just as you keep digging further and further and how important that is for the district and somebody who really kind of gets it. Um, and so I feel really comfortable with that. I think that's speaks volumes to him. Um, he kind of said the what, the why, and the how, which kind of resonates with me. It's it's you're really thinking through the process. It's not just like, "Hey, we're going to go do this and move that over here and we're good." Like, he's really putting the thought process in it. Like, again, like he's been there and done that. Um, and then the leadership piece, um, I think he's the only one who kind of really answered my question in
236kind of in great detail where he actually said, you know, um, I don't have to be out in front as as a, you know, district leader I am. And he has no problem with that. He likes being beside the people, but he also is very supportive from behind. And the last thing I'll end with him is that um what I can picture is he seems like he's an extension of this committee, very collaborative. Um you know, obviously we're two different people. We have different roles, but I think it's that relationship that just what we've been building for the past couple months, you can see that kind of going forward. and and when you have that and you have that type of collaboration, um you get a lot more accomplished and I think at the end
237of the day that's really going to help this district kind of keep moving forward and not taking a step back. Um as far as David Cutler, um you know, I think he did a fantastic job. Um I looking at his resume, I I I thought he would anyway. Um I think there was some stumbles here and there, but it was probably more nerves than anything. Um, I don't know if he's applied for other interm or superintendent jobs. Um, I think at at some point in time he'll do a fantastic job. You can kind of tell as he answered the questions. Um, but again for me it was that I I'll say lack of superintendent experience. Um, I did like the creative part that answered Chris's question, just like you had said, Kim, was, you know,
238the financial piece and and just really looking at all these things and and not just like, well, this is what we got, you know, just keeping making cuts, making cuts. Um, he's really putting some thought into that and sounds like he's had some really great mentors along the way, too, which if you if you're so lucky to get that, you know, it will definitely propel your career. So, I I think he's definitely on the way up. um you know there not like I said it was more um just not uh you know having the experience and so when his answers and you know uh Eric uh the same situation where he hadn't been a superintendent I don't want to say it was more theory but it was like being around the central office in these
239uh in their mentors versus yes this is what I did and this is was my experience and this is kind why we did what we did. So for me, yeah, it was diff definitely David Thompson was a stronger candidate. >> Thank you, Le. >> Yeah, I mean I I pretty much agree with everything you just said. I mean, David Cutler, I I really um if I feel like if we were in a different situation in our district right now, I would say hands down him all day long. Uh I loved a lot of things that he said, but you can feel the inexperience. Um, and I just feel like for me, uh, and I hate to say that cuz I really liked him. Um, that's the drawback for me and just knowing like what the
240principles are looking for, um, and what the district kind of needs and wants right now, especially since we are doing an interim. I kind of feel like we need somebody with more experience. Um, David Thompson, I mean, he to me was the all-star of the night. Every question had substance to his answer. He just knew exactly I mean what we needed to hear really what we need in this community. Um I loved his response with special education. >> Me too. Done. >> Yeah. I mean that was so there's not too much more to add to what's already been said, but I think for me David Thompson is my number one choice. Um, it was it was nice to hear everybody's um, you know, perspectives and experiences and opinions. Um, I found David Thompson. I found
241him to be a little funny, a little personable, which I did like. Um, you know, the experience is definitely there. Um, I did like that he said he'd want to come in before everybody kind of leaves. that stuck with me because that shows that he's he's ready um to come in. Um and then I really liked David Cutler. I liked everything about him also. Um I did like how he said um if you don't control the narrative, the narrative will control you. Um and I feel especially in this town um there are a lot of narratives out there and it seems like he's willing to do the work to kind of put that at rest. Um and um he's very creative uh with with his resources and and programs and things he wants to implement.
242Um it does make me a little uh I don't want to say sad or nervous like you know if we don't scoop them up now the opportunity might not be there in the future. So I'm a little torn in that aspect. But you know I I do understand like what we need now in this moment. Um what the what the ask and what the need was. Um, and I honestly think all the candidates were were great. I did like, you know, just to speak back like Eric Chofy, I know we decided on our two. We're not going off, but I did like that he wore the school colors. I like that he really did his research. There was like certain things, you know, Tracy came in, she was very forthcoming. So, there was just so
243many things that I think that everybody brought to the table. It was just really nice to hear. I think we chose a great pool of candidates. And I think now we just really need to make our decision. I think that the only thing I would add this the um the two areas of focus of special ed that was both heart systems and understanding the landscape uh for me with David Thompson was I thought that that was impressive. I also thought he gave very good answers around the implementation of the curriculum which is going to as far as getting us off on a stable start. Uh I think that that's going to be incredibly important. Um and I'll agree with what you all said in in terms of his personality u which is endearing. Uh what's
244endearing about David Cutler is his sincerity. um he just exudes sincerity and there's no doubt in my mind that he would come and become a part of the community and work tirelessly. Um, for me it has a little bit of a a flip side that um not being as much of a systems approach to some of these. You can get pretty burnt out thinking you're the you're the one that's going to go into all the classrooms and you're going to be the one that's going to do all of these things of not understanding the systems that can support you in doing that and not having had the experience of having direct reports at the senior level. um it would be another concern would be another concern for me but agreed with that these were four
245great uh interviews. Uh I think that we came to a for where we are. Um I think that we came to a good place and so >> I thought it was interesting that David Thomas said he's been following that district since August too. >> Yes. So he knew. >> Yeah. You know >> we could ask him about that. Um uh okay, anything else anyone wants to share? >> Uh just two things. What I don't write a ton down mostly I just listen and remember. But uh one of the quotes he said relationships matter which I think is extremely important where we are. And then one thing if we do vote for um David Thompson uh he I'm going to hold him to it. He said that either him or someone from his office would respond
246to every email within 24 hours. Y >> and I think that's incredibly important to make uh all the stakeholders in the community feel heard. >> Agreed. >> Okay. I would entertain a motion for a candidate um pending uh successful negotiation and check of reference uh as a selection for our next or our interim superintendent. >> Madame Chair, before you accept that motion, could I just let you know first of all that wording is exactly what it should be. I just want you to know Yes. No. Very well done. You scared me. Actually, it might be the right moment for me to heap praise upon you um for leading a a great process here with your committee, especially where you're a new chair and you have a very new, with the exception of Chris, a very
247new committee. So, I want to give you credit where credit is due. Very well done. You should be very proud. um your whole committee should be very proud because you all did um a very nice job with what can be a very difficult process. Um Kristen, I want to give you kudos for um pointing out the positives of all four of the candidates that you interviewed. I think you hit the nail on the head. You had a really great pool of candidates. Um so well done to all of you. I think it's a credit to Middbor uh that and I hope your community recognizes that that you were able to attract some really solid candidates. Um and that you clearly work well as a team in finding who will be the next member of your
248team. Um so well done. As soon as you vote, I have to go call the candidate that you choose. And after that, I have to do the not so fun part of calling the candidates you don't choose. So, as soon as you're done with your vote, I am getting up from this chair to make that phone call. So, if there's any other questions on the process or anything like that, please let me know now so I can go do that and do my job. >> Is there anything we should be asking you? >> No. >> Oh, good. >> But I can't make up your minds for you with that. So, but I sincerely very very well done to to all six of you plus Shannon at home and also if it's appropriate, please let me
249say to Jess chart if she's watching for starting this process, very well done to her as well. Everybody involved and whoever assisted in your office and um all of this stuff and in getting all of the information out really just top to bottom really great teamwork. >> Thank you, Sean. And thank you for your support. >> My pleasure. and being on the other end of the telephone call when I would >> I always like talking to you Sue. >> Okay. So, I will entertain a motion for uh the choice of our interim superintendent pending successful negotiation and successful reference check. Anyone want to make a motion? >> I make a motion that we offer Dr. David Thompson. The position of interim superintendent pending successful negotiation and successful reference check. So moved. >> So that would
250be a second. >> Oh, I second. >> Yes. >> Oh god, >> I can't get this process. You're doing good. >> All those in favor? I >> oppose. We have a unanimous decision. And I want to add my thanks to Sean. You guys have been great. The research that you did, uh, the way that you came to the table with an open mind, um, conversations. Uh, I I really appreciate, um, the way that we're doing this work together. So, um, thank you very much. I will now accept a motion to close this meeting. >> Second. Anything. She she >> so moved. >> Okay. Um all in favor. >> Another unanimous decision. Thank you very much.