001Okay. Uh, good evening, Hollist, and welcome to a special meeting of the Hollist School Committee. It's January 28th, and we are interviewing um for the Superintendent of Schools for Hollist. Um, we are going to get started. All of us will ask questions. Um, we'll give about five minutes per for response. Um, I think to get started, we'll all introduce ourselves. So, I'll let Tracy start at the end. >> Sure. >> Hi, I'm Tracy Plucker. I am the newest member of the school committee. I've been on that committee since last May. And I have five children in the school district, one at each level. >> Uh, Frank Agora uh was elected 2024, so a year before Tracy. Um, I have no kids in the school district, but I have a three-year-old and a one-month-old, so soon
002to be. >> Welcome, Don Norski. Um, I have uh five children, four of which have graduated from the district, and I'm on my third term as a school committee member. Welcome. >> I'm Sarah Fitzgerald. I've been on since um well, this will be my third year. Um and I'm chair and I have three kids. Two um two are currently in the the Hollison schools. I'm an eighth grader and a senior and then my son graduated last year. >> Hi, Tim. Dan Alfred. I'm in my third year on the the school committee. Prior to that, I was uh on the finance committee for 11 years. >> Um I have two children in the school system, a seventh grader and a ninth grader and um really looking forward to our conversation tonight. >> Welcome, Tim. I'm Hillilary
003Brean. I've been on the school committee for two years and I also have a seventh grader and a ninth grader. >> I'm Joe Peru. I live in town and have a 5-year-old son. I was elected the same year as both Hillary and Frank. Um I'm the chairman of the superintendent evaluation subcommittee. So should you get the position, uh we may be talking quite a bit. Um so I look forward to our discussion tonight. So to get started, why don't um you give us an overview of why you went into education and how your philosophy and approach as an educator has changed over time and then why Hollist? >> Yeah. No, first off, thank you for having me tonight. Uh today was a fantastic day. Um I get to see some of you earlier today in
004some different capacities, but it was a a great day to meet with staff, teachers, support staff, principles. Um you know, I really want to thank Dr. Jordan for kind of being my tour guide today uh throughout the district. He did a fantastic job and it was really helpful kind of navigating the four buildings. So, a tremendous day and I think the one thing that was validating for me is that you know I already had a very good sense of of what Holl is all about. Um I think that you are striving and attaining academic excellence. But I think I I heard that loud and clear from the staff and from the students how they feel connected with their teachers. um the high school students in particular who I spoke with the most today really have
005have really a sense of belonging here at the high school and that's that's not always the case and it's really good to hear that um about this potential opportunity. I think as an educator I've been in education now for 26 years. I made my career uh working with young people and I think that the one thing that I've really throughout my my 26 years as a teacher, athletic director, a building principal, and now superintendent, it's all been about creating opportunities for student success and achievement. Um, I think that that's what it's it's always boiled down to is making sure that we build opportunities, we bring in opportunities through curriculum instruction, through co and extracurriculars, that we give students opportunities to be successful not only in high school, which is where I spend most of my
006time as as a building principal, but uh now as superintendent, it's grades K through 12, but after high school, what are we preparing these students for after high school? Is it success at the college level? Is it success in their in the workforce? and obviously both. But I think that that is one thing that I've I've been able to accomplish and work with high functioning teams throughout my my career to build those opportunities for kids. And and like I said today to to pretty much everybody I spoke with, Hall is intriguing because of the excellence that's already being captured. And I think that there's a lot of room for growth potential here. I think that the one thing I heard from teachers from from district and building leaders from even leaders in the community is
007they're looking for more collaboration and I think we can build a strong sense of team here. We can we can row the boat in the same direction so to speak and I look forward to that challenge. Uh I think my leadership style is one that I'm very visible. I'm approachable. I'm very hands-on but I don't micromanage. I want to empower our building and district leaders to be successful leaders, to do their job, but to use my to use me and our team as a way to to to work through problems together collaboratively, to be a thought partner, to bring forward those problems of practice as a team. Um because I've said this throughout this process that the answer is always in the room and I think we need to work as a team uh to
008figure out the best next steps for Hollist and I'm excited about that opportunity. Thank you. >> Yep. >> So, [clears throat] we often receive feedback that the district needs to improve in the areas of communication and transparency. >> How would you ensure effective communication and transparency with the district, educators in the Hollist community as a whole, and what strategies have you employed in your career to build trust and open lines of communications with key stakeholders? >> That's a good question. I I think it starts with how do families receive the communication right so I would need to figure out do families want to receive emails messages through let's say some more which is a software that I think members of the of the community use um one call uh social media or all the above
009and and I think that that's where the starting point would be is is how do students and families and teachers receive their information what's the best venue to do that um once we kind of have that establish lished. I think it's my method of of of communication is is is often is transparent and I welcome that feedback through through my communication. Um I'm very frequently currently I send out some which like I said I think building principles in this district currently use that uh as a very quick way to get out communication with families and students and staff about what's happening in the district whether it's a new a new initiative. Uh I know that you know all of our building principles currently use it to to message what's going on on a weekly basis
010within the school community and I think that's very important. Um you know what we talked about today and I talked about this again with with all the stakeholder groups is that we need to celebrate the successes here in Holl. We also need to be very transparent about the obstacles that we're facing. So whether that's a financial obstacle, whether that's an obstacle with personnel, whether that's an obstacle with with what we're seeing as as part of a a strate strategic plan initiative that's not going our way, we need to message that appropriately to our all of our stakeholders. So I've used all the methods methods that I've mentioned uh already to to kind of articulate um the vision and mission of of my current district. I would continue to use that here in Hollston. But I
011think it starts with finding out what is the prefer the preferred method of communication. Just like we want to know how our students learn, their learning modalities, this is kind of the same kind of idea. We want to we want to understand how parents receive information the best. And I think as far as communication with the school committee, um I I think it can be done in several different ways. I think there's always an opportunity to have, you know, weekly or or bi-weekly one-to-one meetings with any member of the school committee. And I welcome that. I would like to, you know, have a cup of coffee and discuss what's going on, but I think the work should be done between meetings. And what I mean by that is is there shouldn't be any surprises on
012either side. That we should have ongoing conversations about what's going on in the district within the buildings. Um, that it shouldn't just happen here in these public forums. That we should have those conversations ongoing. Um, so that you guys are fully in the know and if there's an issue that you're hearing, I can I can help resolve that and get an answer back to you in a timely fashion. Okay. How do you intentionally build and sustain a safe, positive, and inclusive district culture for all students, staff, and families, particularly those from marginalized groups, immigrant communities, or who may experience prejudice or bullying? Can you share specific examples of policies, practices, or initiatives that you've implemented in the past and explain how you evaluate whether those efforts are having a meaningful and measurable impact on the
013school climate and student well-being? >> Yeah, great question. I think if I if I have any followup questions, I'll ask there's like three parts to that, but no, it's it's no, it's a great question. I just I think I have it all. >> Let me know. >> Um, you know, I said this earlier today and I want to share this with the full committee. I I think one of the greatest parts about today is when I walked into the middle school lobby, I saw all the the flags that were proudly displayed for anybody to come in and see as they walked into the foyer. I I saw um hello or welcome in probably about 20 different languages in the media center. Um and those small things which maybe they seem small to us, I think
014go a long way in showing the students and the families of this community how we welcome everybody. Um, you don't see that in every school and I I will fully admit we don't see that in current in my current district. We do a lot of that work and I'll explain that in a second. But to that level, I I I don't we I can't I can't match that. So, that was very impressive that and I saw that through nearly every classroom I went into at all levels. I saw something that supports all students whether it was a sign of the door, it was a sticker, a flag, or two flags. Um but that was impressive to see that it was a very warm and welcoming inviting inviting environment for all students, their families and our
015staff. Um regarding the work that I've done and that we've done um in various districts and most currently in North Brookfield, um I I we've teamed up with what's called Mass and Karen Thompson and her group and we've done a lot of work with both our faculty and staff uh and also now our students. And what this group has done is this is very thoughtful and strategic planning around teaching teachers a common vocabulary around being anti-racist and and talking about biases and the isms and also how to support each other when these difficult conversations may arise. We've now kind of begun phase two of that of that work where we're training a group of seven or eight high school students to then facilitate these difficult conversations with the middle school students. And I think we
016we did this purposely. You know, one we wanted to build capacity with our staff, develop that common language across the district, but now intentionally adding the students into that phase. We want students to be the strong voice in kind of stamping out and being anti-racist when they see these these these situations and how they can support each other uh through maybe some challenging conversations as a 15, 16, 17 year old student. Um so I'm I'm very proud of that work. Um, we we also in addition to we we wrote a grant a few years ago and we sent another group of students to the Suffach playbook initiative which was you may have heard of it. It was a dayong training kind of similar to what we're doing right now with our students but it's a
017dayong training with students from across the state where they were given scenarios to to act out and then again empower students and student voice to be anti-racist in the school setting. and and so that work has really uh been very powerful in our district. Um and we've kind of stayed the course even when there's been some some maybe um not so positive fanfare. I I think we we've grown as a district because of this. And I think our students will tell you that the district and the school is a place where they feel safe and supported. And how do we know this? Well, we talked to them about this. But we also have sent out culture and climate surveys to our students and and the resounding response is that that they feel safe in the
018district. they feel safe in their school. Um, are we perfect? No. Do we have do we still have issues? Yes. But I think we're we're empowering our kids with skills they can use in real time to combat these these issues and to empower and support our staff when these difficult situations may arise. So, I I I think similar work can continue. Um, I'd be curious to know kind of what Holl's been doing and and I think I think a lot of that work continue in Holl. I think the similar situations and opportunities in Hollston for students and for staff >> just as a can I do a followup? >> Yes. >> Talked a lot students and staff. Any examples where families were included? That's where you're bringing the community from my perspective. So um yeah
019provide a little context there. >> Um so we didn't have any official training for families. Uh what I will tell you is that um um I have worked with what's called the Rural Justice Network. They um last spring they interviewed me around equity and inclusion and we've they've given some money to the school district and we've used that money to support these trainings. Uh and I've messaged that to the families. I I think that would be probably tier three if you will. I think my my my my first thought was to get our staff and our students up to into a place where they felt confident in having these conversations. Um I think there's an opportunity um in a community like Hollston where I think we can have a strong sense of family engagement with
020these conversations and these trainings. >> Thank you. >> Welcome. >> Um okay. How do you balance supporting struggling students while also challenging advanced learners to ensure a rigorous education for all? Um do you have any concrete examples of th of that? Um and along those lines, um how do you ensure that student voice is meaningful meaningfully informs district decisions and that students feel heard and valued? How does those >> I'll start on the second part. I think student voice is is very important to to the decisions we make. I mean, we are here to to to work with students. Um, this is a this profession, whether you're a teacher, a principal, superintendent, it's the people profession, right? And we're working with kids. This is not a business. This is where the we're looking at the
021bottom line. I mean, is there a big part of our of my job? Is it around financial um oversight? Yes. But I come to work every day because I want to work with kids. I still do after 26 years. So, um I think we never can forget that. So, when I when I think about what I do with students, I think about what I've done over the last couple years as superintendent and we've we've founded a superintendent advisory committee and and what we've been working on. And we we were supposed to meet this week, but the the snow days kind of uh derailed us a little bit. But it's it's in two two parts. Um, I I start off with some leadership training for these students. And and to be honest, a lot of these
022students already have some of these skills. They're members of student council. They're captains on their athletic teams. But I have a a really, I think, great system of of teaching kids some real tangible leadership skills at the high school level, which we go through over the course of two or three meetings. Then what we do is we look at what can you we do this year? What do you want to do this year for your school, for the district? Um, and I I basically tell them if we can or cannot do that, but I leave it to them to make that decision. I want them to do something for their school and for the district that they see real results now. I don't want to just talk in hypotheticals. I want to turn theory into
023action. I think students, they like that. You know, we can only talk so much about what we want to do. We actually want to do it. We they want to see results. So, that's kind of phase two of that of that process. But I think anytime you're talking about really changing policies that that maybe directly affect or adversely affect students, you want to elicit student feedback. Um, I know that there's a lot of changes recently. There's there's changes around or there will be changes around the cell phone policies state and districtwide. I mean, there's changes that are constantly happening. I think to have students whether it's through a member of the school committee or or or through a student council conversation I think we should always empower students to be a strong voice and advocate
024for what they think is best for their school and their district. Um the first part of the question was around >> um supporting struggling students while also challenging um advanced learners. So kind of >> well I think I think for any student you want to to remove obstacles for their learning right so what what obstacles are impeding their progress in their learning um and I think that there's a lot of different ways that you can do that but I think coming up or having a robust and healthy MTSS system that you know those tier one tier 2 and potentially tier three supports for all students making sure that teachers are aware how that system works and how students may not always be in tier one they may at some points in their educational career be
025in tier So, how do they shift throughout that that that pyramid, if you will? Um, how are we supporting students, you know, meeting students where they're at? And I think that a lot of our students come to school with some sort of trauma that may be visible or hidden. And how do we connect with with students to make sure that they are feeling safe and seen at school? Um, and and lastly, we have students who are high achieving. And how do we make sure that while we're we're meeting the needs of all students, how do we challenge those students with the rigorous coursework that they deserve to make sure that they're ready for whether it's an AP class, college readiness, or career readiness. What are we doing programmatically through our rigorous courses, but also those
026pathways that we can build out to support those kids. So I I think it's a lot of different factors, but you you know you're having conversations with your regular your gened student teachers, your special education teachers. Those building leaders need to be part of that conversation. But how are we aligning our curriculum that make sure we can meet the need and remove the obstacles for all students? Managing controversy and navigating conflict among stakeholders including school committee, administrators, staff, families, and the broader community is a core responsibility of the superintendent. First, please describe a situation in which you addressed an issue involving strongly differing viewpoints. Second, how did you balance ethical leadership, transparency, and respect for diverse perspectives while working toward a positive resolution? And then finally, what strategies did you use to build trust and
027secure consensus? >> Um, trying to think of a of a of a situation I could share. Um, you know, I think to start I think it it it does go back to being being transparent and timely with communication, right? I think if if there's controversy or if there's something that is festering on social media that could or could not be a rumor and you know I'm not saying you address through social media but if there's something that needs to be stated on behalf of the school district the superintendent should should you know be able to do that in a timely and and transparent way. um maybe simultaneously informing the school committee of what's going on, right? That that's obviously that's the other layer to this. Um you know, I I I'm thinking back to a
028situation a couple years ago, we had we had a a situation where a student allegedly brought a a weapon to school. Um so obviously this is not something that just happens in one district. This happens in districts all over the country. Um unfortunately, but when when you become aware of that kind of threat, you have to act accordingly. So you have to notify the police. Um in this particular situation, school was let out. So there's no there were no students in the building. There were but there was an allegation that something was left in the building. Notified the police. Um when once police the police were on site, um what I did was I I talked with with the police chief who was on site at the time and I immediately messaged the the the
029families about what was going on. Um, I also then messaged the families again within the hour after they arrived to inform them that that nothing was found. Uh, that this was not a viable threat. Um, so we released in a sense a joint statement for myself and the police chief um, letting the families know that there was no viable threat. Um, I think situations like that um, you know, hopefully don't happen often, but when they do, you need to to to give timely and transparent communication. Obviously, you have to be be kind of think about the confidentiality that's involved with situations like that, but it's it's also good to collaborate, too. And I think in this situation, the joint statement um went went a long way with our families to know that it wasn't just
030the superintendent saying, it was also the superintendent and the police chief who was saying something about this incident and and everybody was safe and that was the most important piece. Um, so I I think that we've had other situations that have come up um that have been um tragic in some ways that we've had to to message those things very um appropriately. And I think we've done a very good job with that. Um this year we've had we've had some some tough days with the passing of a staff member and and we had to be very thoughtful about how we did that. But I think we we messaged that very appropriately um to our students, to our staff, and then to our families. And um we made sure that when we did that we had
031the supports in place for our students um as they were they were they're hearing that very sad news. Can you please share some specific examples of how you have addressed achievement gaps among various student groups whether it's looking at test scores to absenteeism data in your previous roles. What data has informed your decisions and how did you ensure equitable access to highquality instruction and supports and how would you apply those strategies to Holliston? >> Yeah. So accountab account accountability data is is a is a big puzzle right in a lot of ways. I mean it's it's there's a lot there. There's a lot to unpack and I think you need to really know what you're looking at. I think that when you're looking at it from a 35,000 foot view, um you can pretty much
032you can identify, you know, some of your initial strengths and weaknesses as far as as um your your stronger subjects per se or or maybe the subgroups that are struggling or lagging, but then you have to get much more granular. You have to look at the specific standards that students are really falling down on. And is that is that is a is that a a timing a scope and sequence issue or is that an issue that we're not addressing these standards because we don't have the curriculum to support our instruction. Um and I think over the last couple years when we've looked at this data in in North Brookfield for example um the biggest kind of glaring um or missing piece that we've noticed is that we really need to to to bring in some
033better high quality instruction for our students and and that's what we've been able to do. Um, and a lot of those decisions, a lot of those initial vetting processes and looking at what we can bring in for our students started by those big picture overlooks by the administration and then having our teachers kind of take a deeper dive um within their their small groups, their grade level cohorts, their their content level cohorts and looking at where their specific kids where the kids in their classes were doing uh and what those gaps were telling them. And I think that grain look, you know, really kind of shed it up for us in a lot of a lot of cases where we could say, you know what, we're really missing the mark on this on these standards
034in geometry. So, we need to do a better job of this part of of of our instruction. What we the best way to do that? Well, probably phasing in this particular curriculum. So, those are that's how we started those conversations. Um, and I think that's that's been to our advantage. And I think we've done a lot of work around um HCOIM kind of roll out um giving teachers the time and the space to attend the PD they need to to really build their capacity. Um because when you take on a new curriculum, it's not like you just you purchase it or you get it through a grand fund and you can just hey have at it. We want teachers to be creative with their facilitation, but we also need to let them have the time
035that they need to meet with other colleagues, people around the state who are going through the same process and learn the product. Um, and then, you know, when they come back, support them as they're rolling it out and they're going to have their face their struggles because it's a new product that they're they're using. But we need to give them the time and space and the support to make that happen. And then what we need to do as as building and district leaders is kind of check in. How's it going? What else do you need from us? What else can I do for you? And then then we start to shift that conversation, start to look at the results. How is this making an impact? And year one is sometimes it's not where you want
036it to be. Year one, you're still going through that growing pain process, but year two and three, if if it's being rolled out effectively, you should start to see those marked improvements. And we're starting to see some of those in our core subjects. And that's that's some of the work that our teachers are really doing right now. And I think that model, that system uh that that we've that I've been utilizing the last two or three years, I think is is is very tried and true and consistent. And I think is something that came up today in many conversations with teachers. How there's a need or there's a want for a a more strategic system of how we look at bringing in curriculum and how we look at adopting curriculum and how we support teachers
037as they roll this out. And I think that speaks to another area of growth potentially where we have a vision for our PD. How are we outlining the year of professional development for our teachers? How are we looking at supporting the four different buildings and th and those teachers who are rolling out that new curriculum? So, it there's a lot of layers to this, but I think um you starting with looking at student achievement, student accountability. I I think that really drives the conversation of where we go next with instructional materials. >> Can you please describe your philosophy regarding social emotional learning and its role in student success? What qualitative and quantitative data have you used to assess student well-being and school climate for both students and staff? How have you letter supported initiatives to
038strengthen SEAL and overall wellness at both the school and district level? >> Yeah, great question. I I think that it's again I I said this before today and I I'll say it again now. I think for for students to be high achieving academically, they need to feel safe and supported. So you think you think about educating a student, it's the whole child. It's the holistic approach to educating students and if their mental well-being is not where it could be or should be, let's say, um how are we supporting that student? Um there's a lot of pieces to this to this question and answer. I think that you know in the last couple years um very small example, we phased in something called handle with care. So, you know, I if if a student is coming
039to school from their home where there was some sort of police presence the night before, we typically or we have in the past received a text from the police officer informing us about what's going on at the home. Um that just gives us a chance to to meet that kid, that student where they're at and support them uh and not ask questions and pry, but to support them if they're coming to the school that's regulated. Um I think you we again through some grant funding through the state we were able to it was the the safe and support of school grant and there was another grant that we were awarded. In total around $90,000 we able to to really uh add some universal screeners um to to use for both our elementary and high school
040students to kind of really check their baseline. Um and from these these screening the screening data we were able to kind of identify next steps. We were able to phase in some u counseling supports from BHN. So, we brought some counselors in to work with the students on top of the adjustment in school counselors we already have. Uh, we are able to make this happen free of charge for the students. We also um we're bringing therapy dogs and we're in the process of training uh another therapy dog that's that's owned by a person on staff. So hopefully um maybe end of this year or next year at the very latest we'll have that dog on site almost every day. It'll be accessible to students. Now, we currently have therapy dogs that come in twice a
041month, uh, which we p we've paid for out of of out of a grant. Um, we've also used Second Step, uh, now K through 12, which is a anal curriculum that I'm sure you've heard of that, maybe it's used in your school, too, but it's something that I think in in conjunction with a lot of the evidence we're doing is a nice piece. But I will say more important than any of the things I just mentioned, it's it's building that safe and supportive environment for all students. It's being connected with students. Um, it's the little things. It's like meeting the student at the at the doorway. It's it's going to their soccer game after school. It it's asking the student how they're doing uh on a regular basis. Um, it's getting to know your students.
042I think that that's that's a huge piece to this. Um, and I think with all of the the pieces that we've put together, we've been able to kind of track. We've seen some increases in our chronic absenteeism because of it. Um, we have used Panorama to collect some more data around, you know, again that that culture and climate around how students are feeling and by and large and and we probably we will use these for high school students. They're feeling very good about where they're at at the school. They feel seen, they feel heard, they feel supported when they come to school and I think that that speaks to what we've been doing with our students. Um, you know, we've also had uh we have a strong connection with the DA's office who come in
043and speak to our students about bullying, harassment, mental health, um, and what they can do to support themselves. We have similar programs for parents on parent nights, so the parents are exposed to those same learnings from the DA's office. So, we give kids and their families options um, if they need additional supports outside the school setting. Um, we want to give them as much information as we can about what they can do outside of the school day. So, um, I think it's evolving. I think there's always things we can add to this, but that's those are some of the things that really stick out to me. I I will say that just because, you know, we have anal curriculum, that doesn't that's not the end of it. That's only one part of it. I I
044I what I dislike is when people say, well, we do during advisory. No, social emotional learning happens should happen all the time. And it starts with having a warm and welcoming environment for our kids, all kids. and you know breaking down those barriers, removing obstacles for kids is the best way you can do that. >> Can you uh speak at all to the staff sort of morale belonging um the programs or things that you've done uh in your district to make sure that your staff is feeling that same level of respect? And >> yeah, that's that's a great question. think that um I I've seen some great work recently at the at the elementary school level where the the principal has done a lot of fantastic work around uh it's a very PBIScentric school and
045they're recognizing students on a regular basis for their their star behavior is what we call it but he's also doing something similar with the staff and we're trying to recognize you know some of the great work the staff is doing uh we have he has come up with some silly contests there's been bake offs there's been different things that the staff have done to kind of recognize things outside of their teaching world, what they're doing during the school day with their students, um to kind of to have fun with each other. Um and and it's it's gone over very well. The kids love it because they see kind of another side to their teacher. Um uh but we we try to give shout outs and recognition as much as we can. I I really think
046we do a good job and I I think this is extremely important is to really empower teachers to be leader voices not just in their in their their school staff but within the district. Um we've had teachers speak at school committee about you know ideas around apply learning but we want to empower teachers to be a strong voice for the positive work we're doing and we try to really amplify that work that they're doing. >> All right. got a couple parts. So, >> sure, I'll take notes. >> Um, so needing meaningful change often requires challenging long-standing practices, especially if data no longer supports uh those past practices. Um, can you please describe a time when you encountered resistance to change from staff or other stakeholders and how you successfully led the organization further uh forward?
047Um, what strategies did you use to maintain trust, morale, momentum, collaborate, gain? Um, and and how would you work with union leadership to overcome any initial concerns or objections regarding your proposed changes and then I have a quick follow on after that. But >> okay, yeah, I'll start I'll start with that first the first five parts. >> Yeah, exactly. >> Um, I I think it starts with a clear vision, right? I think it it starts with with you know the the strategic plan of the district is so important, right? So what are our big bucket items that we value as as a district as a four school community and what does the community want to see in their in their schools? Um so I I think you need to be very thoughtful with that overarching
048plan for the entire district and once that plan is established and that's no small endeavor. I think it takes a lot of hard work by members of all stakeholder groups, students, staff, families, um, district and building leaders, members of the community, fire chief, police chief, town manager, you name it, where they have a stake in that conversation, I I think then you can start to have those conversations about what that looks like in each building. Um, but once that plan is in place, what I often see, and I and I talk about this with with teachers all the time, is is you have a set of, let's say, three or four overarching objectives for the district over the next 3 to 5 years. You can't then keep adding additional initiatives every year, right? I mean,
049I know things come up and you have to address things as they come, but you need to be consistent with that plan. You need to teachers need that consistency. that need that consistent support about achieving those initial and most important impactful goals that the team has decided on. So I think it's being consistent with not only the messaging but also that the the plan roll out. Um, my wife is a fourth grade teacher and you know, we try not to talk about school, but it comes up and and what she tells me and I value her opinion a great deal is that when a principal kind of reverses course after you've done two or three months on on an initiative and they just stop, you know, that that that shouldn't happen as much as it
050does. There are going to be obstacles and bumps in the road. You need to to work as a team. you to, you know, work as a collaborative team to overcome those obstacles. And sometimes that takes difficult conversations. Sometimes not everybody's going to buy it initially and you have to kind of stay the course. Sometimes it's difficult conversations with members of the union leadership. But if you're working within the the contract and and you're doing what's best for kids, I think you need to move forward with those initiatives. And I think that they should again they should be they should be laid out very clearly and succinctly in that overarching plan. Then then it's it's really, you know, you want your building principles and your district directors to then develop their own building improvement plans that
051are based on what the strategic plan says for the whole for the entire district. Um, so it it's being clear, it's being consistent, it's not changing course on a whim. It's it's making sure that, you know, there are going to be obstacles, but you need to to work as a team to overcome those obstacles. Um, and and I think that's that's greatly important. And and the other piece to this is how are you checking and marching success? You can't just develop a plan and put on the bookshelf. You need to make sure that you're checking on a regular basis and you're making sure that you are checking off, so to speak, what you're accomplishing. And if there's something that's been on that plan for a year and a half that hasn't been addressed, then maybe
052it wasn't really that important to begin with. Maybe it should be just taken off. Um, but I think those are the conversations that you have within your buildings, that you have with your leadership team, and that is shared with school committee as you're updating progress on on meeting those goals. Okay. And then um what do you believe is the most powerful word in the English language? If you know providing additional, you know, color on that. The most powerful word hope. Yeah. Yeah. I I think we can all be hopeful and I think we can all we can all strive for great things and hope to meet all of our dreams. Uh and I could go on and on about that, but that's one word that that I can I can think of right off the
053top of my head. Thank you. >> That's a good question. >> I also have a multi-part question. Um, advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging requires both courageous leadership and meaningful collaboration. Please describe what a genuine commitment to DEIB looks like in your leadership practice. Can you share some specific examples of how you have advanced DEIB in your current or prior role? And I I know you you've provided some on this already. Um including how you've supported staff learning, aligned systems and policies, and engaged stakeholders. How would you continue and deepen this work in our district, particularly during times of public tension, disagreement, or heightened community concern? >> Yeah, it's it's a great question. I I I've touched upon a few of these things and I'll I'll try to go a little bit deeper for you.
054Um, I think that uh I embrace this work and again like I saw today um as I've been researching the district, but more importantly what I saw today um tells me that the district overall um really embraces this work and embraces this culture for for all of its students and staff members. And that's that is um I think right near the top of of my list right now as far as what I saw today that was really inspiring for me. Um I I think this work can be challenging. You're you're going to get differing opinions and I tr you know I look at this work it's it's it's apolitical. We're trying to build a safe space for all and I think a safe space includes teaching students to have um constructive discourse around differences. Um
055but that does not mean that they can we're going to entertain a discourse around um racist activity or actions. Um, I think there's a couple different ways to look at how you you start this work. And I think that again, I think a lot of this work has been started here. Um, I've done some similar work in North Brookfield, albeit it kind of it looks a little bit different in some ways. Um, we made a very conscientious effort or conscious effort to to when we revised our mission and vision to add the word equity in both of those those mission and vision statements because that was something that was was very much missing from any of our conversations as a district. Um, you know, and I can't say that everybody buys into that just yet,
056but that is our our goal. Um, you know, you start with, if you, if you think about the the kind of the equity continuum. When you start with diversity, the endgame is is equity. Diversity is great. You want to acknowledge the diversity that we have in our district. We want to be inclusive. We want to foster a sense of belonging, but the endgame is to have a school district and schools that really embrace equity because equity talks about making policies that embrace or accept everybody, that allow everybody to be part of of of this process. Equity allows everybody to have equal access and that's what we want for all of our students, our families, our staff members. So, I I think again like anything else that that may be um challenging or difficult um you
057need to have a clear vision. you need have a clear kind of strategy how you know communicate this to to families and parents knowing that you may take some criticism, you may take some some toxicity. Um, but this is this is very important work. This is very important work. And again, I said this earlier tonight, you know, you we want students to be high achieving academically. They need to feel safe and supported. And if they don't feel safe and supported, we can't put those extra demands on them as as students. They need to feel safe in their own skin when they come to school here. And I think that's that's a very important piece to all this. Again, I'm very excited about what's already happening and happening here in in the district. Um, but I
058I would I would I would welcome more conversation around what our next steps are and how we can make this um, you know, even more a part of what we do on a day-to-day basis. So, this next question kind of relates to what Frank and Hillary actually had just asked, but as you're probably well aware, anti-semitism is on the rise nationwide, and Hollist has not been totally immune from its own incidents. As superintendent, what actions would you take to address and prevent anti-Semitic incidents and acts of hate more generally? Um, you first off to denounce them. Like you you can't you can't sit idly. I think you know when we talk about any anti-racist or anti-semitic rhetoric, if you will, you need to make sure that you name it and and you're going to make
059it very clear you're not going to allow that to happen in this school community. Um but like anything else we do around uh DEIB that that that conversation takes increased education for students potentially staff and families around what we're trying to do uh to our school community or with our school community. Um you know we can't expect a 15 16 12 year old student to have all the answers have all the the knowledge about what's going on in our world. you know, it's it's it's contingent on us to to kind of support their learning growth around what's going on across our country, but also across the world and and what we're seeing. We're seeing it. They're seeing it probably more than we are every day. They're they're on their screens. We're on our screens. We're
060seeing it on on on Twitter, on on on on social media, on the TV. Um, so we need to to, you know, to to have a place, a safe place for students to have those conversations, ask those questions in our classrooms, but also, you know, to empower teachers to kind of facilitate those questions. I think sometimes when teachers get caught off guard, they don't know how to respond and they sometimes don't they don't say anything. Um, and that can be that can be dangerous and we want to give teachers the support as these things are are they continue to be ongoing. Um, but the education for students is is paramount. We want to make sure that that students develop that common language around being anti-racist. Uh, they know what unconscious bias is. They know what
061um all the isms are. I said this before, all the isms that that we see on a daily basis and that they if they have questions, the school environment is a safe place to ask those questions because we want to give them a response they can take with them that they can use after they leave school. You know, we're again, this is how we set students up for success and we need to empower them with the right information in a safe place to ask those questions and feel supported as they learn these these things. All right, next question. Uh, recruiting, sorry, went down too far. Recruiting, hiring, and retaining high quality professional teaching and support staff is critical to the success of our schools and um our students. As superintendent, can you describe for us
062your approach to attracting and retaining new staff, including diverse staff and supporting the ongoing growth of all teachers and power professionals in our schools? What is your role in this process as superintendent? And what programs have you had success with um that you can bring to Hollist for our teachers and power professionals? >> Programs such as regarding what? I'm sorry. >> Retainment. >> Oh, retainment. Okay. Uh well I I think retainment is an issue that that a lot of districts are facing for various reasons. I think that you know couple years ago I I I went to a job fair with a building principal because we had never gone to one. Um it was kind of a miss because it wasn't really we we didn't see a lot of people looking for teaching or or
063admin assistant positions at this particular job fair. But we wanted to try it. I mean so but we we do a lot of of the typical posting if you will on on the the regular sites. But as far as retainment is concerned, I think that, you know, teachers and support staff are looking for a couple major things, right? They're looking for for fair and competitive wages, which I think is is number one. And and that's that's that's always going to be that way. And and I think, you know, when we look at contract negotiations for all of our bargaining units, we need to make sure what what are the the competitive comps in our area and make sure that we do our homework with that and that we know uh what someone is getting paid
064two towns away for doing the same exact job. Um because competitive wages I think will always be right up in the top if not number one. But number two or maybe one B or maybe one I don't know it depends on the person you ask but do they feel seen, supported and safe when they come to work? Do they feel valued? Did they did they like going to work? Um, you know, there was a couple questions today that I answered about about, you know, not feeling necessarily seen at times and which is it was it's sad for me because I want teachers to come to work and and most of the time, not every day, I get it, but most of the time they feel like their work is valued, not only by their students,
065but by their peers, their colleagues. Um, I want teachers to feel like their superintendent supports them. The superintendent knows who they are. Superintendent knows who they teach. And I think that goes a long way. Um, I I want them to feel like they they have a seat at the table in the sense that they their opinion matters. So, if there's an opportunity for them to be part of of of a of a new initiative, to give their feedback around curriculum, to give their feedback around anything, I welcome that. I want them to to to voice their opinion. I and I think, you know, that two-way communication between all of our our our team members is is invaluable. Um, but the other piece of this, I think, is is PD, professional development. I think that we
066need to give teachers and support staff. And I think maybe even more importantly, you know, our our paras that they deserve and they need. Um it's not one sizefits-all. Just like when we're teaching kids, not every student learns the same way. Not every teacher in parah needs the same professional development. Um based on the needs of the school or the district or based on what what what curriculum they're rolling out, do they have the time to learn that curriculum? Do they have the time to to learn a new screening screening tool that we want them to use? So, they have the time to make sure that they they are learning a new um uh Greybrook initiative. I mean, there's all kinds of things we can think about, but that goes down to thoughtful planning. And
067I think that there there's potentially an opportunity here to look at a district-wide uh PD vision and and plan and and calendar, if you will, about what we're going to do on the whole for the whole year with what group and what they're going to do on every single professional development day that we have scheduled for the district. I think that's really important. if they see their time is being valued by their building district leaders and that they can come to work when the kids aren't here and learn something that will make them a better better educator. I think that's what we should be doing. Um we should not be wasting their time. We should not have them show up to a staff meeting and have have them sit around idly. We should have them
068working or talking with their gened teacher, their special ed teacher with their their likeminded colleagues about how they can become better as professionals. And I think that's something that's that's probably grossly lacking in a lot of districts. I think that we can we can do a lot of work here with that. >> All right. So, for some reason I was given the finance questions. >> Um uh you know uh obviously budgets are always a a problem always challenging um and while we are here to to educate students we we we can't do that without money. Um can so this is kind of a a multi-party gambit but I want to break it up for you. Um, can you please describe uh your role in financial planning and fiscal management in your current uh or or
069previous districts, however you want to you want to do it. And um how have you balanced strategic investment in district priorities with responsible stewardship of of taxpayer resources? How have you ensured that financial decisions align with the district's mission, strategic plan, and student needs? And then believe it or not, this is actually just the first part. Um and uh how have you balanced school committee and admin priorities if there's differences there as well? >> Okay. >> And then there's two more. >> Two more. Okay. Okay. Um so currently I I I do all the budget presentations. Um that's the way it's it's I've done it in my four years. Um I work collaborative with with our admin team. Um, but you know, we build a budget based on our strategic plan, based on the needs
070of our kids. Um, what I've done in years past is is I' I've looked at and I've done it a couple different ways, but I I've I think my first couple years in this role, I I I kind of put all the cards on the table. I said, "This this is what we absolutely want and need, and I put everything out there." Um, and I think it's good in some respects because then the committee, the taxpayers know exactly what the school wants, uh, what they think they need, uh, to be successful. Um, I've scaled that back a little bit the last couple years, especially this year, because I think that, you know, we're constantly after effort kind of the pandemic went away and we lost ESRE funding that and that fiscal cliff that we've all
071talked about, you know, we saw obviously a deep drop in in funds. uh and where chapter 70 is kind of always in flux. Um and you know, we're very very heavily relying on our revolving accounts to kind of support our budget. I've been a little more um safe with my initial presentation uh this year especially. So, you know, we're looking at a level funded budget for this year um based on many factors. But that's that's an anomaly. I think that what you want to do is present a level service budget. Um and I know that that but that's only the first step. I think that when you when you when you do that, you know, you have an ongoing conversation with the business manager, with the town manager, with members of town leadership about, okay,
072if a level service budget is at five or 6% over where we were last year, what is kind of the sweet spot? Where where do we need to come in to make this all work for everybody? Um, and that's kind of the next phase of the process. You know, if you're if you start at 6% over FY26 into FY27 and the goal is to get to 2.5%. How do you close that gap? Right? How do you close that gap? And is that gap going to come on the backs of of cutting personnel? Is that going to come on the on dipping into revolving council a little bit more? Um, is that going to come from um unexpected funds from, you know, I think last year we saw a little bit more money in Chapter 7
073than we had in the years prior. Um, it kind of stayed true as the governor's initial budget kind of stayed true through the whole process. Um, sometimes you'll get extraordinary relief through circuit breaker that you weren't expecting. So things can happen throughout the process, but you have to have a plan as to how you're going to come up with to to to meet that deficit. Um, and when you're doing that, I think it's very important to present it as impact statements. If I if we cut this position or this program, it will impact these students. If we cut this, this will happen. And it's very you want to be very clear with the committee, but more importantly, the families and the students about what's going on um if we in fact cut these positions. So
074I I think it's very clear to message that. And that's not that's not in a contentious way. That's a factual objective way. Um I think it's very clear if you cut an English teacher what the impact could be. If you cut an art teacher, what the impact could be. I think it's it's going to be very glaring for a lot of students and families. So you need to be upfront about that and and that's where I think the committee comes in and gives feedback about the direction of the budget. What are the priorities of the district, the committee, uh and and what's in the best interest of our students. So it's an ongoing process. Um, and I think that, you know, it's it's again, if you have a starting point based on conversations with a
075town administrator, town manager, um, you kind of know where the town's going to be. Um, and and if there's just too much of a gap, that's another whole conversation. Maybe there's a conversation down the road for an override if there's a is there a flavor for an override. Is that something that the town should entertain? But that's a conversation, maybe not for now, but that's something that that could be um discussed based on on on the the shortfall and the needs of the district. Um, but I, you know, I think I would go back to what I said initially. You're looking at projecting out what the state's going to give you, what what the town is, is willing to to come to the table with, and also what do you have in your revolving accounts
076that you could offset some of these costs? And and you know, if you have if you have robust revolving accounts, if you continue to dip into those accounts, how much will that adversely affect the district in the long run? You know, you could do that once or twice, but you want to make sure you keep those robust in case situations come up during the school year, too. Okay. And um so can you share a specific example of a time when you had to make a difficult budget decision um such as reductions or reallocations and and how you manage that process? >> Yeah. So I mean I I I can think of this year. So so presenting last year for FY26, you know, we had a essentially $800,000 gap we had to we had to fill
077and we have a very small budget compared to Hollston. So it was it was reworking the numbers so to speak and and we were luckily able to get we had some some numbers that we didn't project appropriately initially on circuit breaker. You know you you you sometimes tend to project low and and when we find that that number is going to come in 75% reimbursement. We can then project up a little bit. Um but we did the same thing I just talked about. We we developed the the impact statements for the loss of these positions. And what we're able to do is take some of the positions that were potentially going to be cut and turn them into districtwide positions. So this position would service students in K through 12 as opposed to just 8
078through 12. Um so it didn't give as many opportunities for for let's say in our class, but we're able to give art to all of our students even if it wasn't on a on a daily basis. We had art available at least weekly for all of our students. Uh we did a similar practice with our music. We made the music teacher a district-wide position as opposed to two 1.0 positions. Um, and that allowed us to kind of still offer those those two programs, but greatly diminish our budget. Uh, we we we took our facilities director position this year and went from 1.0 to.5 based on the needs of of our district and that helped reduce some of the cost for our budget. So, it was a combination of of looking at uh the increases in
079our revolving accounts and also the reduction from 1.0 0 to 0.5 for some of our positions and how we kind of re reallocate some of those positions to make them districtwide as opposed to building based. >> Okay. Um I guess if I have time um how how we incorporated data enrollment trends or or um program evaluations into your budgeting decisions. I mean you sort of answered around that a little bit but um I I guess especially data and and enrollment trends. >> Yeah. So I I I think the enrollment trends for us I mean I know there's there's you know there's different groups that you can use those long-term trends. I think, you know, we're in a spot, again, there's some similarities, but some big difference between the two districts. But when I think of
080North Brookfield, for example, you know, we're we're our numbers are pretty small. So, but but we can't we can't just go and eliminate one second grade teacher because that that grade is is is small that year because that's going to trickle that's going to trickle up, if you will, as the students progress. So, we've had to say, okay, even if we have a down year for an elementary school year, we need to keep at least those two or three teachers that we have. um we've been able to reduce some instruction at the high school level because those numbers have dwindled um where we can survive with a 1.5 or or one for certain subjects, but at the elementary level based on those classroom numbers and and as those students transition up, we've had to keep
081those numbers where they're at um because we want to keep those class sizes down for those students. >> Thank you for uh indulging me. >> You're welcome. You're welcome. >> Okay. Um, as you may be aware, in December, the MSBA invited us to the eligibility period for potential renovation or replacement of our 56-year-old high school building. >> Yeah. >> Um, as our next superintendent, you will be intimately involved in this process, working closely with our town officials, as well as planning for a new and innovative instructional spaces with the school committee, staff, and families. Please describe your experience with capital building projects such as construction of a new building or school. Um, and share with us some of the vision and opportunity that you see in creating this brand new and innovative learning space. And
082then additionally, how would you include the voices of administrators, faculty, and staff and families in the decision-m process? >> Yeah, I I think again many many parts of that question. Um, and I answered some of the questions today. Uh, so I'll reflect back on what I said earlier, but I think that's an exciting endeavor. I think that that that's how you energize a community to really to rally behind a district. Um, when you're planning on a new high school, um, high school in particular with you think about all the spaces that are within a high school building, it's really exciting to to you want to hear those voices. You want to hear parents and students weigh in on what they want. Um, you know, you think about the maker spaces, you think about the the
083science labs, you think about the advanced manufacturing spaces that we may be able to build in. You think about the the athletic complex that that maybe house within the school. Um, you know, the auditorium, how the acoustics, you know, there's a lot of pieces to that that you want to to really bring in as many voices from inside and outside the school as possible because I think there's a lot of excitement around that. I think 56-y old high school is it's it's a tired high school. there's still a lot of great things going on in it, but it's a tired building. Um, so that's exciting. And I think that um the process, although long and and can be tedious, I I I think it it's it's a very um it's a very very rewarding process,
084too. Um I've been part of one building project on the fringes when I was a a principal at a at a previous district. I've also been kind of I've overseen a athletic complex build. Um, so I don't have uh intimate MSBA knowledge yet. Um, but as I mentioned earlier today, I I I have a lot of colleagues who have been through the process and I I have a a colleague from town over who's going through a high school project right now and so he is constantly sharing me, you know, what's going on, how that works. I think that, you know, that the the initial bid process is exciting. I think that I I have a I have a close friend who um works for a company called A Labs and and his sole job is
085to go into new buildings and help the building principal, the building leaders design those those science labs. And that's the kind of excitement that I think that we can really rally the community around. It's like what what do you envision the opportunities that we're not even talking about right now for our students? What can this new building offer our students uh not only in the next five or six years, but 1015 years down the road? And um you know also what cost savings will we have by this new building? Yes, the initial cost will be large. We understand that. But as far as environmental savings, what can we what can we save the community in the long haul as we go from a to a more efficient building for our students in our community. So
086I think it's a very exciting time for Holl. I think that um um you know that's that's definitely something that that will um be a talking point for a lot of people for a long time until that pro that project comes to fruition. I'd be excited about tackling that project. >> Thank you. >> How would you define leadership and how do you demonstrate that with your leadership style? >> What particular strengths do you believe you will bring to our school system? >> I'll stop there. There's a second part, but we'll go over that one first. >> Yeah. I think good leadership, good leaders empower others to be leaders. I think that the answer is not coming from just one person. The answer is in the room. And when I think about a high functioning leadership
087team, I think about a collaborative team that is working for the good of, in this case, the school district or their school. Um, they're rowing the boat in the same direction. Um, and to do that, there's some elements that you need to have in place in order to do that. You need to have a sense of trust among each other. You need to foster a sense of psychological safety where where anybody in this team, anybody on this team feels safe to give their opinion and not be ridiculed by me, other members of the team. Titles in many ways do not matter, right? And I mean that. I I think the superintendency is a very important role and a very important role for messaging the the the vision of the district. But I I am not
088the person who's in the classroom every day teaching French to our fourth graders. I'm not the person who's teaching calculus to our to our high school juniors. I I need we need to work as a team to make sure that our plan is is is tight, our plan is understandable by all of our stakeholders and that our goals are challenging yet attainable. And I think it's continuing to message that to all our stakeholders. And I think when we do come up against obstacles, how I want to support leaders is by being a thought partner for our leaders, being a someone who can who they can rely on to to work through an issue or a problem together. I I I I think it's very important that we break down those silos. Um I had a
089great conversation today with the police chief, the fire chief, the town manager, and the word that they all used multiple times is collaboration. And and I I I really think and and we had about a 30-minute meeting today. I really strongly feel after leaving that meeting that this community has some leaders in place that want to work very closely with the school district. They want they want to see this district to be the best it can be and they want the community to be the best it can be and they want to work as a team. And I think you have to foster that same kind of feeling for our internal team here. And that's not just the superintendent, the assistant superintendent, the business manager, the principles, that's the superintendent, the paraprofessional, the the head
090maintenance person, that's cafeteria workers, that that's anybody who has an active role in the school district. Their input is valued and there would be a place for everybody to give their input and how this school district can better. think you know what I if I were to be in this position you know the first part the first thing I would do the first 60 to 90 days is to really take in as much feedback as I can from all the stakeholder groups I would love to sit down and meet with every single member of the staff here whether it's onetoone or in a small group and have some overarching questions about how we can make Hollston the best district we can be what what do we do well and what do we need to improve
091upon and I think you know that would be my job to collect all that that initial data and and to kind of put that together, not only just to present to you, but to present to our community as as a whole about where we want to go as a district and how do we value education in this community. So, um, but I think there's many parts of that. I think that that that you also have to play the long game. I think that again when you come up with that clear plan, that clear vision for the district, you are going to, like I said, you will you will hit those bumps in the road. You need to be consistent and and work with fidelity in making sure that you are trying to attain those goals.
092And I think that's that's something that I've been happily successful at over the last 3 to 5 years. Um 3 to four years as superintendent. I think that we've played that long game very well. Um that I've supported administrators through challenging times. They've supported me because we have that shared trust and a shared vision. >> Awesome. So as a followup to that or second part of that, how would you adapt your leadership approach or what new skills would you need to develop when moving from a smaller district to Hollist which has 2650 students across four schools with specialized programs like French immersion and Monasuri? >> Yeah, I I so I think I'll go back to something I just said. I think it's collecting as much information as possible. if I would be in this position,
093I'm coming from this district from the outside. I don't really know anybody in the district. I don't have two, three, 10 years of experience here. I didn't grow up here. So, be learning about what's going on almost like a SWAT analysis of the district, you know, personally and professionally. Um, but as far as, you know, the small district to the large district, I think that's I think coming from a small district is to my benefit. And the reason I say that is because I've had to wear many hats in my current district. Um, and I embrace that. But you have to take on the role of director of curriculum uh of kind of the the financial executive in in a sense as far as the budgetary process is concerned grant manager um 99% of the
094grants are are coming from my office. Um so I think having all those those experiences I have a better understanding of what goes on in a larger district. But I also fully recognize that we want to hire professionals for these positions. We want to hire people that not necessarily have 15, 20 years experience, but are professionals in what they do. And I want to empower them to be the best they can be. That's not through micromanaging. That's through support. That's through that's through strategic thought partnering. That's through meeting with a purpose. But it's empowering them to be the best they can be. And when they do things well, it's celebrating their successes and showcasing their successes for the entire district. when a teacher does well, when a principal does something great, when a student does
095something great, I want those people to get the know that the recognition they deserve. And I want to empower them um to take those changes to be successful. And I think that's what good leadership does. I think that's, you know, coming again coming from a small district to a large district, I don't think it's really an impediment. I think it's actually an advantage. And I think to have those additional layers, um, it's going to be my job to to make sure that that everybody feels like they have access to what's going on, that they feel like that the communication that's coming out of my office, central office is received by all stakeholders, and that will be kind of I think the the the learning point for me, but I think I think we can do
096that. I'm very confident we can do that. >> Thank you. Um so on a three-part question just as a broad overview strategy plans reporting progress evaluating um by school committee. So what I mean by that is please share how you would work with your administrator staff and school committee to develop a vision long-range plans and annual goals that build trust, strengthen relationships and bring the community together around the success of students. Then how do you report progress toward reaching such goals and measuring their outcomes? And how do you think the schoolship committee should evaluate you on that progress? >> Um, >> well, the so the as far as the the plan for the district, I think we've talked about that in a couple different answers. The strategic planning is is is huge. And I think
097the current plan runs through 2027 and I think, you know, starting next year, we're going to start to look at, okay, um, what are our next steps as as we look to develop our new plan? you know, what are the things that may hold consistent with this this old plan to the new plan? Um, how do we kind of put together our stakeholder groups to to to have that ongoing conversation? Do we hire an outside consultant? Uh, I've done I've done it both ways and and in past experiences and they're both impactful. Um, but what are how do we kind of bring everybody together to start that conversation, if you will. Um once that plan is developed so from 27 28 on whether it's 3 to 5 years that's where building leaders and directors will
098develop their individual building plans but those individual building plans even though they come from the greater strategic plan should still be with input from the teachers support staff any member of the staff on that building. There still should be an opportunity for staff to weigh in on the direction the building principal is going with their school improvement plan. All of those documents should be presented to the school committee. Um I I think the strategic plan is the biggest one in the sense that hopefully some members of the committee will be part of that process and you'll be you'll be seeing that process as we build it from the ground up. Um so you'll be able to kind of share the excitement around the newest plan. So that that's the first step. But the school improvement
099plans that the principles will develop will will mostly come from that overarching uh district-wide plan. I think it's it's then contingent upon the leadership team um both as a whole and within the school buildings to really hold themselves accountable and and be honest with themselves. Are we doing what we said we're going to do and and are we hitting our timelines? Are we making sure we're messaging this to all of our stakeholder groups? Do our families have knowledge of what this plan entails? Is there an opportunity for them to have a continued seat at the table in the sense that can they help with the implementation of parts of this plan? Can they help with the messaging of this plan? I think it's really important to have strong parent voices behind this plan so when
100you roll it out people know what it means and not education speak um but you know in real language but also how they can help facilitate and talk about this with with their friends and what they can do to support the school district. I think that's very important regarding the superintendent evaluation piece. I think you know you you evaluate the superintendent on their goals but also I think their accountability or their their achievement of the district-wide goals too. Um and I think two are different and similar. I think that that you know that there should be progress monitoring for both. Um and and whether that's through you Joe and you said you were part of that subcommittee whether it's an ongoing Google doc that I'm sharing with the committee or with the subcommittee. Um, but
101I think those are also conversations you can have throughout the year about, you know, where are we at with with your goals, with the district goals, which might be again a more formalized presentation to the full committee um, as a monthly or bimonthly update. But I think those things in tandem kind of round out the whole picture of where we're at as a district. >> Okay. Well, thank you for asking your questions. Um, is there anything you would like to share with us in support of your candidacy at this time? Anything? Anything else? You've shared a lot. >> Yeah, I I just want to say again that today was a fantastic day. Um, a few of you said it was a long day, but yes, it was a long day, but it was a great
102day and it it's tough because we all came off of two snow days, but we're back here tonight. Um, but it was great to talk with members of your faculty and staff, uh, many of your students who, you know, they just beamed about talking about their schools. And I think that's, you know, a great asset to have, and I wanted you to hear that from me. I'm sure you're going to hear that again, but it's really an asset to have students who are are really that thoughtful, articulate about the connection they have with their teachers and their schools. Um but I think that that overall um I think Hollist is is is in a position um you know there's a lot of success is already happening but I think there's an opportunity to to make
103this district even better than it's ever been and I think that it will take a lot of thoughtful planning and creative leadership um and the right people in the right seats to make that happen. And I think that uh what I've learned today, what I've learned over the last couple weeks in my conversations with some of you and members of of uh the committee, this the team here already is that I think that parts of my skill set will really fit nicely with what's going on here in Holl. I think that this opportunity is is is really an opportunity that I would cherish and an opportunity that I would work extremely hard to really build those programs for success for all students in Holl. And uh I think that uh I I would be very
104excited to have that opportunity. So, I thank you all of you for your time. Um, and I I really appreciate you meeting with me today and and on Saturday. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Oh, motion to adjurnn. >> Make a motion to adjurnn. >> So, move. >> Second. >> I I'm making a motion to adjurnn. >> Oh, okay. >> Second. >> Okay. All in favor? Great. Okay. Thank you and good night.