School Committee Meeting 8/6

001good afternoon I would like to call this meeting of Berlin Boyston Regional school committee to order just a reminder that this meeting is being recorded your image and or voice may be broadcast please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge Al to the flag the United States of America and to the republ for it stands one nation under God indivisible and justice for [Music] all um all right so public comment I don't believe anyone here wants to make a public comment just want to make sure great does anyone have any Communications they would like to share before we jump right into the meeting okay fantastic all right so tonight we are are interviewing some interim superintendents just give me one minute here it is okay so I'm sure there's people live streaming so just

002so everyone is aware of how these candidates came to be um so Michael Wood works for the district right now he works for TMS and he has been filling in in the finance director role and Albert ganam um was recommended To Us by masc so what happens is when you are looking for an interim superintendent you can reach out to the Massachusetts Association of school committees and they have a list of people that they will recommend um to come in and do an interim stint in your district for a year six months whatever you need so Al was the person that uh Tracy NOC had recommended to us and he is here tonight to interview so the way we're going to do this tonight um we're going to have each candidate come up they'll give

003us a two to three minute introduction about themsel and then each person on the committee has prepared a question it will be the same question that will be asked of both candidates and then after the questions are done what we will do is we will have a 10 to 15 minute period where the candidate will be able to ask ask questions I don't want it to be a free-for-all so the questions have to go through me and then I'll see fit you know you can raise your hand if you have something to say or if I feel that you know someone might be best suited to answer it I'm so glad Janelle is here for all of the special ed stuff and Renee and I think John should be coming so hopefully we'll have all

004of our bases covered Paul's here as well um if we have any questions so we can answer all right so without further Ado the way we're going to do it is we'll have Alo first Michael is not here yet and then Michael will come Al will go in the hallway so he won't hear Michael's yep and then we will be able to um have both candidates go in the hallway and we will deliberate on camera in public and then we will vote and make a decision tonight thank you Lori okay Al without further Ado welcome thank you so much for coming good evening good afternoon I should say like borderline yes [Music] all right so whenever you're ready you can start with a little introduction um and then we'll go around the table and it'll

005be five questions I do not have a question I am just going to facilitate and make sure we cover all of our bases if I feel like something is missing I might ask it on the end okay um so good good afternoon um this is uh a little different for me I'm usually on this side of the table so um thank you U making for the instruction if I could just tell you a little bit um about myself I know some of you guys have my resume but for those who don't um I've been I've been in the education for a little bit for years um I started out as an elementary school teacher in Wester um I did that for a couple years and then I became Elementary in the sister principal at the

006same time probably one of the toughest jobs I I had had in my entire career doing both those jobs together um from there I was asked to become the assistant principal at wout maging school um it was the first Magnet School in the city of Wester and that's where we're trying with de isolation bring students from all over the city into what was called a magnet school at that time um warts magnet school we based on how it got under his theories um and we really you know we're drawing things on that box side that right brain um so was based on how Gess theory of multiple intelligence um I was there for 13 13 years I think right around there um very successful um school and even at this point this still one of

007the highest performing schools um in the state of Massachusetts when you're looking at mcast schools as well um from there um I was asked by the superintendent to take over City View Discovery School um which was located in W true inner city school a little over 700 students 98% free and reduced lunch bilingual uh inexpand time day school and that means it was a little bit earlier in the morning we started and a little bit later in the day as well too um from there the new superintendent asked me to become the director of curriculum and professional learning forer um so myself my team overa on the professional learning for 5,000 teachers in in the city and for the 25,000 students we had to oversee um all the assessments that took place map testing mcast

008and advanced placement as well too um I was there for about three years and I applied for my first superintendent job up in the West State hon wam which is a Regional School District uh was there for six years um successfully passed in work with um the the budget and successfully P six budgets that year um h w a little difference of communities um the probably the most difficult part is the school commun is made of seven seven School Comm memb five from one Community two from the other uh 80% One Community pays 20% the other pays and trying to keep that Equity there was is really was a really good challenge but we were able to do that successfully six times um it made it through CO as well too um I I retired

009from him no over him the school asked me if I'd stay on for three months more so I stayed on and helped out with the new um superintendent as they as they came on board um I was retired for about a month and I am no Tom GRE syndrome here I'm happily married three kids been married for a long time I just wasn't ready to retire I didn't realize that until after I was retired after about a month I was like okay what am I now um so you know my DNA makes it so I like to work I enjoy working that's my that's my place um so I am currently right now the assistant principal and director of admissions at Vine Academy which is a private prek to8 um school that's loc Catholic school

010that's located um in in wer it's run by the sisters of Vini love it um I've been there for a little over two years now um the director ad missions piece is a new piece for me a new learning piece and and that's what I'm really enjoying there um again very happy there um I got a call as Megan said from Tracy no from um and said hey you're interested in ber Bon School District had a great chance to talk to Megan several times as well too and it's definitely something that are very interested interested in learning interested in being a part of this um spent the day yesterday traveling well I appreciate um a lot of people Rene and John gby to Bill they spent um some time in all the schools as well

011as in the municipal office as well too um it seems like it' be a really good Fit U for myself here but that's important to make sure that I'm a good fit for you guys I say the same thing to parents when they're coming around um during as a Director of Missions and Veteran I say it's got to be a good fit for both you guys and for me and as much as they're interviewing me I say we're interviewing you and so as much as you're interviewing me I'm interviewing you to make sure it's a good fit for for me here because that's extremely extremely important um so I'm here to hear more about um world and Bon Regional School District and answer your questions as well too so thank you for the the opportunity

012thank you Al thank you um okay so I hate to put someone on spot but I'm gonna do Lisa I already saw your question and it's great hi Lisa So Lisa will go first and we'll just go right around the table work Lisa Mike Julie Jess Lori and just point in clarification answering Lisa because I've been in some committies where they want to answer the chair and then go that way comfortable okay good it doesn't matter whatever you're comfortable with and I think I I'm guessing I don't know Kyle you can tell me I feel like maybe a lot of people are live streaming this I don't know so I think there's a lot of parents and people in the community that are interested just couldn't make I get it home with kids summer really

013tough to get here at 4:30 in the afternoons abut so there I think yeah if you want to answer towards I think towards the camera so people are sure um is it a lot of people 25 that's still that's decent yeah people want to hear all right go ahead Lisa sorry so I'm sure you're aware that many parents are becoming concerned that schools aren't really partnering with them in their child's health and me physical and mental health and um that they're not being transparent about important issues that might be coming up regarding their physical and mental health and and likewise they're also getting concerned about materials that they might be exposed to that they might find controversial or objectionable and so I'm wondering like what your general feeling on that is and also specifically would

014you do you support the parental right to be notified about controversial topics and also to opt out of that so when I was a director of curriculum and W for three years the curriculum was a huge piece right I I still believe that is the backbone of of Education having a strong curriculum that doesn't mean just a program right A lot of people consider a program to be the curriculum whether it be en Visions or whether it be you know literacy pys of literacy the curriculums and that's the gateway to our children's education and and that's really important is to makeing sure that we're vetting that and looking through that and and really taking up to whether it be a math program whether it be a social emotional program I'm a strong proponent um of

015PBIS right and and as a social emotional piece of that that goes along ifone thinks it's just that reward system of PB but there's a huge social emotional piece of that that goes along with it um so I again I believe we're the Gateway when we need to really The Gatekeepers and start out the Gateway We're The Gatekeepers and really making sure the curriculum that's coming into our schools is V and it's vetted through not only myself in the role that I was as director of curriculum and hopefully vetted through myself as a superintendent but also through my Administration as well too and also through the parents so it's real important to make sure that people are having an understanding of that and I think it's important to inform parents all the time the more

016communication the more transparency that we're giving families the more transparent that we're giving the community about what's taking place I think that's extremely important do I think that parents have the right to op up absolutely I think that's certainly something that parents have have have the right to do um we want our parents invested in this education as well too so it's not in in IA that we well their functioning when when we talk about education it's combination of the community It's a combination of teachers and administration and it's and it's a family piece as well too and those three have to be working together right to to to see where we're going to be in providing our education for our children um again curriculum is is that backbone and we need to make sure

017that we have a high quality curriculum for both social emotional and there's quite a few programs that are out there and curriculums that are out there as well too um so it's important that we bet that and and get that information out to our families as well too I hope that that answered your question if I didn't feel feel free to ask me really do prioritize trust and partnership it is it it it's extremely important that um and the people involved the more we're all R in the same direction right so that's real important that we're all together um and supporting each other as well too thank you thanks and please if I don't answer a question fully please like don't hesitate to ask me a followup question that's okay yeah if anyone wants to

018ask followup questions maybe we'll save it for the end y all right Mike sure thanks hi Mike hi how you doing good thanks uh yes so just to introduce myself I'm Mike the committee from burlin couple of young kids in the elementary school over there so looking forward today good time with that yes absolutely very much very I mean he runs par School y absolutely so uh if I could just I'll just read the question here so you've worked in Regional districts in your past and you probably understand some of the unique challenges we had this year uh in our school district especially getting a budget pass so what experiences from your career will you draw on from and how will they help you lead this District through this coming year and if you were

019hired can you tell us what your priorities will be in the next three weeks and then in the first 60 to 90 days here and what was that second part sorry yeah so if you hired what would be your priorities based on what you know about our district in the next three weeks before school starts and then in the first 60 to 90 days you're here so my first three weeks I think the first thing about a successful candidate is is sitting down with my the administrative team right sitting down with directors sitting down with principles and really seeing where where we're at and making sure that we're ready for the start of school that that's the biggest piece what's missing what what what don't we have do we have enough Staffing because that this

020is the time of year where Staffing gets get that that CR time myself in the role that I'm in as well too the second thing in in in all honesty is is I would meet with the the facilities director um making sure that buildings are ready um when I visited the schools yesterday um curbside appeals a big big thing to me right so even as a as a superintendent my facilities director new and him over him that the schools need to look at they open whether it's summer or whether it's it's you know the middle of school year and and that's a huge piece for me and I I think we need to get them ready both outside and inside and that would be the conversation I'd have next after my administrative team and saying

021where their needs are and and what they're ready for um and making sure we're ready for that opening day the second part would be that facility director bringing him and making sure that we have everything we need buildings are ready buildings are prepared as well too um so those would be the first things I would do the the other part would be getting into the schools I had a chance yesterday I appreciate Renee and John both gave me a chance to walk around the schools and they they're great but really diging in a little bit deeper and seeing what's happening in the schools what're we're ready for getting ready for those opening days of opening professional learning teachers I'm a big proponent of professional learning and making sure that we use that time wisely right

022a lot of famili sometimes think that it's a half a day or a release time day and those days are so important it's extremely important toiv that professional our teachers get better at their trade everyone needs to get better at their trade right I I I'm GNA use the analogy again and I apologize even Tom Brady had a coach right so we need our teachers need to have coaches our principles myself included need to get prepared and get ready and have that professional so those are extremely important making sure that's all in place and not sort of like flying by the S of a pants okay here's a half day what are we doing right instead of having that all L up for for the entire year they the six month thing was it three

023to six month was that the second part of that question uh I I said yeah six 90 days yeah I'm I'm a proponent of the school Improvement plan right we need to look at what our what our school Improvement plan looks like for our district um a lot of times it just stays on the shelf right and and that's a huge piece I had that conversation with John y say that that should be our Guiding Light right everything else there's a lot of things happening and and no one loves a blinking Christmas tree better than I do right but it's really about having that steady light um and if you have a strong School Improvement plan that's that's sort of your your non stop that's what you're looking at all the time and there's a

024lot of things that come at you as a superintendent as principles and administrators and teachers but my theory has always been with my school Improvement plans if it's not on our school Improvement plan for the next five years great idea we G put it off to the side because what we should be focusing on is our school Improvement plan so that next phase I would be would be that school Improvement plan making sure because that will lead our district and hopefully the district for for coming years when I was getting ready to retire superintendent schools that was the one gift and John proos came in as after I retired said that was the best gift you could have given me that a completed School Improvement plan so that will be the work the other part

025is get me to the community um one of the things that I'm known for is being in the community both in himam you'd find many uh uh AMS in the senior centers they had one in each Community hearing from the community what they wanted getting people to know me as well too um I had I had an unbelievable Administrative Assistant when I became a superintendent um I kept a tight schedule everything went through through Kate but the one thing that I insisted on was that 8 to 10 block I didn't stop my day in the office until 10 o'clock and because the Min getting that off is just getting something right there's a lot going on there um but from 8 to 10: every morning I was in the school I was in the community

026I was visiting the senior center I was out of school every single month that 8 to 10 block was sacred time and everyone knew not schedule me in at that time from 10 on it was great but that first couple I was I was in schools and I think that's an important piece of that role as well to getting in the community building that trust building those relationships because very soon after that we're preparing for the next year's budget and we need to make sure that everyone's aware what's taking place and the community are on board what's taking place so if you were asking me what my my schedule in terms of what I be doing for the next couple of months that that's what I be I'd be working on you asked me a

027first prodct question I don't think I answer I'm sorry if I uh that pretty much covered I mean I asked to draw from your experience in Regional districts yeah how you would handle the challenges we've had reason inct Regional School districts are tough right they're they're complicated there's a lot going on there um like I said H and wilham and I apologize I keep referring back to them but that that's my that's my my mindset that's where I came from there was five to two right every single time there was five on one school could two on the other so trying to make sure that things were were Equitable and that that's important as well too um I even spent my time as a superintendent I'd go a little bit in hampon get my coffee

028there i' go into wilham and get my gas there right so the people in the community could see me as well too because that's extremely important as well too and and fames are paying attention that so that will be an important role for me as well to make sure I'm both in Berlin and W to thank you H hello how are you hi Julie how are you hi good good all right so my question is I also wrote my down um how is the role of interim superintendent different than the role of an appointed superintendent are there any differences and can the district continue to grow with an interim superintendent and how does that happen so so I look at this one year with not a high quality teacher the data shows that impacts a

029child for three years one year of not not having a high quality teacher I I I imagine that's what it looks like as a superintendent as well too whether it be in or not so I I believe the rules are the same right there is many people that think that inum is just coming in and just keeping things a float and and certainly that's a p of the RO but I imis that as a very small part of because my conversations with Megan my conversations with Renee my conversations with Julie my conversations out in the community John sorry jul that question J there inde deed there and and it's time to do it now right and make sure and whether it's a onee inum or two inter it's making sure that we get things in

030place so that we have whether it be a school Improvement plan we have ready to move and ready to move forward uh we constantly got to be moving forward so I think it's you know people might look at it differently I would look at it as I'm completely invested in here as a superintendent even if it's a and making sure that the work needs to get done because if it doesn't the only ones that really suffer are our students and our teachers and we get need to make sure that's not no one's looking it's sort of like the substitute teacher right they say you know all all heck breaks loose when a substa comes in it breaks loose because kids don't like that un unability right they get they really like that DayDay routines so

031my job as a supernintendo make sure those day-to-day routines continue but also that we continue to move forward so that we don't s suffer a set back by any means instead moving forward thank you ddy answer your question yes thank you okay great awesome Jess hi Jessica hello thank you for coming today thank you um so my question is what culture did create and support in your past districts and what culture do you hope to Foster with a staff school committee students parents and the town's administrators and finance committees so it's all about that communication right it's all about that trust um I think it's extremely important and and one of the things that like I said earlier it was extremely important for me to be in the schools right and have it being there

032first in the morning when the kids are arri and seeing the parent drop off right seeing the bus drops off getting a chance to talk to the families getting a chance to talk to teachers I mean that's that's just who I am and that's what I did and my teachers and principles knew that my principles first had a hot time when I first became a superintendent doing that because but then they realized like I'm just there to have those organic conversations right and just sitting down and having those conversations passing the hallway walking with the principles and just saying what's happening talking to those teachers in the hallways talking to the students in the hallways as well too that that Fosters that relationship it I I I go back to you know when uh a

033parent a teacher has to call a parent because a student has an issue or there might be misbehaved and or there's a concern about some academic piece I used to tell my teachers that City it's a lot easier conversation if you constantly have that communication taking place with them so they're not always getting that call saying you know here here's what I'm concerned about um and I feel the same exact way so that this way then no one's thinking that I'm just in that corner office because that's not superintendent I ever have been and will never be um so fostering that open relationship um the other part and and again um I attribute to my Administrative Assistant like I have sort of an Open Door a lot of people say that but I did if

034if people need to make appointments and come in and talk to me I did that but not from between eight and 10 anytime after that I was there and I I'm not afraid of the hard work I'm not afraid of the long days and many many times I'd have those meetings well into the afternoons and well into the nights as well too um and and that was with an hour drive one way at the end of the Willam I'm eight minutes from here when I when I did my when I did my Tim yesterday today I'm a wish the guy right on the right on the right on the board in that Bal here as well too um but many times um you would have seen me very late in hand in wam because um

035sometimes it's the best time to get work done as well too but in answer your question fering that communication fostering that that you know being present and not having to always be having those conversations with they're difficult but having those conversations um what it's just day-to-day in organic conversations dad ask your question indeed thank you so much great last but not least Lori hi Lori from um so I'm gonna abandon my um really fancy questions and I'm gonna ask you kind of off the cuff so hopefully this comes out okay um you said you did a lot of research into our district and I know that you know within the last few days to appreciate no yes limited but it's been it's been hard for us since Co I think for a lot of districts

036um and I think you know parents and citizens are concerned because it just seems like every time we we get past a problem we get into there's another one around the corner and so what I'm wondering is another like just another like like you know budget was a hard budget Pro process and and you know that there's many pieces to that so I think I have two questions number one after doing your resarch what made you say yes I want this and number two how are you going to make um the parents and the the citizens who the taxpayers who don't have children in the school feel about the fact that you're you're coming in here and you're you know you want to do this this is like a a positive challenge for you so

037again I am currently at veteran Academy great great spot I thoroughly en right um again looking to learn always right director of admissions was like something I never experienced on the first impression when families are coming in right with their most precious precious possessions you know we start out preschool 2.9 right they're and they're coming to visit that my back by the way they're coming to visit us when they're two and a half and two years old they're they're young so that that first impression is so important to us um so I thoroughly enjoyed that um but when I got a chance talking to Tracy talking to Megan and and doing a little deeper dive um with Berlin Boston um I had this conversation a little bit with with John yesterday so one of my

038favorite books oldtime book old school book is is Jim Collins good the great right whether it be working in in Industry education like that this is one of the the best books and my first year as a superintendent we did as a book study across our entire U our entire community and I'll share with you the other books that we're doing now but when I look at Berlin and Boston they're they're very good SCH I looked into their data um little concerned open and honest conversation here uh math right there's a little there's a little worry there when I'm looking at that data there it looks like there's about about 70% of students doing okay um but there still that 30% that AR right and that's a concern that's the ones we we really need

039to worry about but but I I think that this district is a good district and there's a lot of really good things happening but I think it could be great right and that's that's the whole premise of Jim College book good the great right the enemy of being great is just being good and I think we need to do a lot Digger digging deeper into some of the data that's out there data is not everything right that's one piece but but that's one piece that intrigued me um so it's one of those communities and I and I felt the same way about Cam and WAM and again Regional School districts are are complicated right the budget's a huge piece right and I'm sure someone around here is gonna ask me about the budget but if

040not I'll share my my theories on that as well too but I I I I sort of like a challenge um and again I'm retired right I'm walking my dog the other day someone says to me what are you doing off and I said I'm retired I could be I could be walking my dog every day um but I I enjoy you know taking on a challenge and I don't think this is a challenge but I think this is a place to take us take something to move it forward and every job I had whether it be at City View where again Bilingual School and I didn't really speak much Spanish at that time right but I took on that challenge and I wanted to make it better hon wilham as superintendent brand new no

041Regional experience at all they put me into a Regional School District that that at the point was closing middle school and that's something I ended up I ended up doing was closing one of the middle schools I always enjoy learning more I always enjoy moving things to the next level and I always hope that I take things to a better spot so when I leave whatever job I've had and I haven't had that many sort of consistent along the road that I I hope I let them in the Ben well and so my goal would it be one year as an interim our how we we categorize this is to leave this place in a better spot so it's least moving in the right direction as a district especially Regional everyone's rowing right everyone's rowing

042everyone's working really hard but I think the job is super is make sure all grow in the same direction and sometimes that's really really happen um to answer a question about the community it's it's a huge piece and I think that was probably my one mistake I didn't really do well my first year in hand and overand right I got in there they hid me in Late July I got in there there was budget end of the year we got to get that budget all set and I was getting doing everything I needed to do but that Community piece and getting that ass that emotional piece involved with the community members which was a huge piece uh so back to what I said earlier many times I was at the coffee spot right many times

043there was a old senior set there's a meeting with them having sort open forums and talking to those people and letting them know what was taking place because they're taxpayers and they're paying the budget as well too and and especially in particular in hon wilham very the population that had children was less than the population of people there so I had to make them buy into what I was doing and believe in what they're doing and answer questions as well too so you know when you see me at that coffee place it's really not just because I'm having my coffee but no one wases it better than I do but but it's because I was engaging those conversations with a lot of the community members and having those um whether it be the to meetings

044and things like that thank you that answer question yes it did thank you okay great so um thank you everybody so now we're gonna spend 10 minutes um you can ask us questions that should bring us to about 5:15 and then that'll be perfect we'll have 30 40 minutes for Michael and then we can vote oh yeah one thing Al um a few people in the community had thank you Jessica um so you and I had spoke about this the um ethics a few people have reached out to me that you self-reported yourself to the board of Ethics in the state of Massachusetts so could you just I I want it to be recorded on so everyone hears it so it's not my take on the story but you explained to me totally reasonable explanation

045to me and honestly I think it's a very uh moral and above board thing that you did but please explain it so everybody can hear so so you know I I I own that right and that's the type of guy that I am so during Co we we we did really well with Co the best we could do in the end we we were open September 10 we had cohorts we had core a we had cor B we had it it was unbel we all lived through it we had some remote groups that had were 100 deep I mean some of our kindergarten were 100 deep um it was it was difficult finding staff and finding teachers at that time um my wife is a retired uh ESL teacher was taught for many many years

046we couldn't find any teachers and the biggest part there was a reading group from 11 to one literally was that time frame from 11 to one um that we needed some help just the kindergarten teachers were struggling with that remote trying to keep it all going live um post of the job didn't get posted a couple times in G I'm sitting at the denner table one night and they say to my wife can can you help us out here she she reminded me that she was retired as well too we really we really we really need some help here so she started doing that um School commity members were on there as well too their kids were on the remote that they were that they were um that she was teaching right um posted the

047job no one applied for it school cre members all knew about it someone from the community said hey by the way you're you're supposed to report that there's there's a part again I was new as a superintendent deal on Co didn't really know that you're supposed to officially let the school commit know and get permission someone reported that and said hey you really need to do that told my school committee they were like we know we're good but that's not who I am so I'm I'm the one that reported to the eics but I felt like I need to do that right so so that's the type of person I am right so I didn't have to but I self-reported myself because I needed to let people know that's took place um they came back

048as you can tell there was there was no finding right there was no fault a lesson learned that you in the future if you hire someone that's your you know family related you need to let schoy officially know um but that just goes a St type of person I am right so I needed to make sure that I did this and and they came back with a couple choices Al you could do this you could do this you can you can I just a little bit more if you walk said no I made a mistake I own the mistake and and that's one thing I I always said and I still say when you know what hits the fan I'm the fan as a superintendent I when all heck Breaks Loose I'm I'm the fan

049and so I needed to make sure that I own that as welled um and so that's why I self-reported that to the ethics board and they came back with their fining school he had um my school had no concerns with as you can tell they still employed me after that as well too um and then I ended up retiring in SC be on for the next three months to work with the next superintendent I could have retired um just for a record many many years ago um I didn't because I was getting mess with Co and I thought that was extremely problem but that was a great question and and I own it and that's just who I am and that's the type of superintendent you're GNA get someone that owns his mistakes and don't

050try to put it off with someone else or something else as well too but again during Co we needed to do what we needed to do and I probably would do the same thing again but this time I let know writing as oppos to just that way as well too I hope that answers your question yes thank thank you very much I really appreciate that we talked about that before yeah I just wanted it to alen I that was the first thing I had asked and yep and um yeah but I wanted it out there in public y okay great thank you so do you have questions for us I do I got I have a couple questions first okay um if that's okay yes it is um the the first most important thing um

051you know and John and I had a chance to talk yesterday is is the budget right so the huge end reports coming up a lot of things coming up as this time of year um so so I I'm curious with type of budget process you go through one of the things I grew up with I'll say grew up with in wer and I brought it to him for him is a zero base budget um are you are you familiar with that service do we do that here no no we don't we should um what we do is we take last year's numbers and so I I'm just going by what has been done in the past y so they took last year's numbers and they added a percentage increase but the principles sit down and

052John you can speak to this what you the principal usually work with the superintendent and the Director of Finance and they'll come through and say we need a new teacher or we need to increase supplies by this amount because we didn't have enough paper last year um so John do you want to like add more detail that's exactly how it works we go through you know the personel part is already it's all set right you know you know the teachers you have you know the teacher you need to get um part of the conversation with building principles and administration is I need a new math teacher in the high school that's not going to be somebody who's Bachelor three right they're very hard to get this is what it's probably going to cost us we

053go through that part of the process um but a lot and then the other piece and this is usually the longer part we look at our strategic plan sure and we go we promis ourselves we're going to fill in the pl get a literacy coach um what's that going to cost what that what is that going to look like and how do we spread that cost out to make it palatable for the town from there it kind of goes behind the Ed of curtain of the business H so so so I to answer I would like to do I think zerob based budgeting I mean in finance that's kind of how you well sure combination but yeah I think if we just haven't done it before I don't think that necessarily means we can't do

054it that way it it's tough to introduce it is everyone familiar with a zeras budget in case for sometimes you throw acronyms around as Educators on sometime so so zerob based budgeting is is you start at zero every single year right whether it be my directives whether it be my principles um your budget is zero you start there and you build your budget so it's not just adding on to Lash budget you build it every year and what I did is I have my principles and my directors they they build their budget stting what they need they they come in and they meet with myself and the Director of Finance and they build a budget from zero but the one piece that everyone that ever has ever worked for me knows that when you're building

055that budget from zero the the one Focus that always has to be part of that conversation is about the child right so that's the non-star and I use that over and over again and anyone that knows me knows that right you're building a budget based on how that's going to impact that child how it's going to impact our students in the district and you build it from zero and you you build it up and then basing it on how it's going to impact our students whether it be an extra math teacher whether it be curriculum how's it going to impact our children and that's the conversation that I have with not only the school committee I have with the select board I also have with the community right here's our budget we're building from the

056from from the very beginning it's not just adding on each year we start from the beginning because sometimes things look different each year and sometimes it might be a bigger push in director of special education it might be a big push there or might be a push this year is going to be in curriculum so there's got to be a little bit more there um so zero based project we start that every year and it's just worked out really well it's a concept that sometimes people have a hard time understanding but when you have the child as being that Center of that zero based budgeting it's an easier um story to tell when it com to those communities and that are the ones that Ely going to be voting on that budget as well too

057and the select board as well too so I I'm sort of a proponent of that I i' be I'd be very interested in seeing if that would work here both in Berlin and bston I think that would be important and I think it really works for with a regional school budget as well too um again that there's so many variables right that whole Transportation Fe that 100% we're supposed to get 100% reimbursement for transportation right that has never happened and we're supposed to getting that that was the first caveat to becoming Regal School District was that reimbursement to transation and it's been at 70 and sometimes 80s that's how well it's been so um but just was just CU on that much I yeah yeah definitely something to think about as we will have a

058new Director of Finance so perfect timing y agree anything else um it's a question I I I ask sometimes the people I'm I'm hiring um so a year from now if if I'm the successful candidate a year from now um and you were evaluating me and the process of Education says you know you either need Improvement you're proficient are exemp right those are the categories that go through if a year from now if you were evaluating me what would be that the one thing that you'd want me to be proficient no what would you want be example what the one thing from a year from now that you'd want me as a superintendent of this District to be exempt over again that you could evaluate me and say yes you accomplished that goal that's tricky

059sorry didn't mean to that's okay does anyone on the school committee have uh just something you want me to be you it kind of follows along with my original question that I asked you and what you just explained about zero budget if we were to say you were exemplary at something when you mentioned zero buing you mentioned getting everybody to buy in how do you deal with the people convincing people to buy in who I'm sure one of your books there has something to do with uh dealing with change or people who are resistant to change there are some people who are just just wanted the way they've had it and it doesn't matter if it's new different or even correct versus the wrong way so if we were going to rate you exemplary I

060would expect that we would be able to say you know he did a hell of a job explaining this new zero based budget to people who don't understand budgets and getting the buy in for the community that's what I would say thank you anyone else okay I would have said budget related also just because we almost had a civil war yeah really need to avoid that going forward and by way it's just not this Regional s right so in him and wilon we had the same thing sometimes right and that that's the job of the superintendent is to be the common that on right but I really find if you if you keep it all about children right it's not about you know okay we need another math teacher this is the reason why look

061at this the students math scores right if you keep it all focused on children it's an easier story to tell I like that anyone else want to pipe in on that Clarity and communication about the budget budget yeah I would say not the budget um because I think if we have a strong finance department I think that I know we went through um um trouble with our budget but I do think that was a result of um we weren't in the right place with the Department um so for me what I would want to see you to be if you were a selected Exemplar yet is getting our students to leave high school with everything that they need to be successful yeah after high school and that probably means with getting all this staff exemplary

062getting the curriculum really proficient and great um that that would be what I would like you to be exemplary at is getting our students where they need to be after high school and and isn't that the true true test of success right what what are our student are are they getting into those I Le Schools are they getting into schools of the choices they that really is the summit of of how successful we are as a dist there are a lot of wins right along the way uh but when our students graduate from here you know what are they doing where are they going how are they becoming a part of our society that is successful and really to carry on you know even a veteran one of the first questions that even preschool parents

063ask me the kids are 2.9 years old saying where when they leave veter where do they build where are they what's their next step what schools are they get accepted into and that really is that the true test of your success right when students are graduating when walking across that stage from everybody in this room to all of our teachers that's the true test of our success that all our students are graduating going on and moving on right that that truly is we where how we know that we're doing that job well yeah yeah it doesn't even have to just be school right that they're walking out of school with that's right walking complete human that's right yeah portrait of a graduate was something that was worked on this year and um and is a

064really beautiful Vision yeah um for our graduating it's one of my favorite times right when the kids are I mean that really is I'm not sure how we do it here and I know there's talking to yday had 56 students graduating from years right around there might off on a couple maybe right around day of gradua like one of the things that I did as a superintendent is I had all of our school committe on stage right because that was truly the work that we were doing dayto day was those students walking across that stage that was that that was the true test of our success as well yeah all right awesome did anyone else want to add in on that all right if you have one more question I will allow it and then

065we're g to move on so when I'm I I just more of a statement so one of anyone that knows me there are there are two things I'm looking for I when to hire anybody and I've done a lot of hiring in my career um it's compassion and hard work those are the two things I truly anything else I can teach them anything else they can learn we can move forward we can teach him math we can teach him the new program we can teach him the curriculum it it's compassion how to work when your education those are my everyone knows that about me and that's truly what I will bring to this job if you think I'm a successful Camp is that compassion and how because those are the two things that that is

066truly needed in these jobs that we're doing you got to be compassionate and you got to be will to have hard work and I think those are the two things that I possess and I think you'll see that um that that's the type of guy that I am and the my my work ethic the hours that I put into this again I was at feran I just came from the yeah right so that's just just who I am and and and I promise you that's what I'll be doing here superintendent as well too if that's if that's what you guys choose to select me thanks for the opportunity to meet with everyone really was a pleasure that was great thank you thank you so much all right so Al I'll ask you if you want

067to wait in the hallway while we interview Michael for 45 minutes yeah what are the other two books yeah so this is my app so this is the book that I'm doing this year with all of our teachers uh at better uh this book is called Teach like the champion there's are many many versions of it this is the newest one 3.0 um it's all strategies about teaching Like A Champion whether you're a veteran teacher or it's your first year teaching um so what I I did sort of our book study um so what I do is I break up our staff um and everyone takes a chapter you have to read the first chapter so I make some humer of it like this is your summer reading ladies and gentlemen right here's your book

068come pick it up before you leave when you I always give a little picture of the umbrella on the beach and stuff um but they read the first chapter and then afterwards we break up the chapters um and we each take a Chapter we each present the chapter um when we're done um we have to do sort of like a one pager and so we don't have to read the entire book but have one do a part of their thing reading so it's great book this is the newest version 3.0 um great great book to read the other one for brown right and them that she writes is just you can't you can't help but it right so she she's my Guru right so she's always what we're looking yeah um on how to be

069a a better educated um so she she this is just her newest one it's always a good it's always a good greed but I believe in book studies with our teachers I believe in book studies with our our principles s to make it fun right start start being a little bit of a competition because you had to bring food as well too so that September you have maybe bagels and by June it's like this full course field people having right because they're all trying to do each other with each each each meal but um I always found doing a book study so I am strategic right so if Janelle hasn't worked much with Julie because one's a an eighth grade teacher one's a preschool teacher I strategically put them together right so this way that

070they get know each other a little bit better doing a book study together reading a little bit um it's it's great so it's your question those uh sort of the ones that are always sitting on my desk as well I'm familiar with the first one but not this one yeah so a little bit OC right so that's who I am right but it's always Page by right this is this still holds itself right and it's an older book but it's still one of one of the best book there than okay that's great thank nice meeting everybody thank you very much for the opportunity thank you oh my God I'm sorry I think it was over my time no you're fine thought he wasn't here but he [Music] Wasing all right so guys I'm just gonna

071I'm just gonna grab Michael see you lat me you guys let show them right's no see here all right okay all right hi Michael thank you so much for coming sure so I'm GNA give you a real quick rundown on how we're g to run the interview okay so we'll give you the first two to three minutes to kind of give a brief introduction of yourself to the community um and then we're going to go around the table we'll start with Lisa and we'll go just right around everyone will have a question for you it's the same question that we asked Al um and then after that we'll give you a brief period 10 minutes if you have any questions for us okay okay sounds good all right so without further Ado take it away

072sure so um I gave a lot of thought to apply to this position um I think I have a lot to offer um I've been a superintendent for 22 and a half years uh in variety of districts but the majority of them have been in Regional School Districts both in Maine and New Maine uh Massachusetts and so and one of them uh was a a two Town Regional School District One was actually one to Regional School District if you believe that um no nobody wanted them so they were able to by special Act of legislature great your own Regional District but anyway um and I think I think being a superintendent of a Regional School District does take special skills uh and it's about leadership of bringing people together both uh within the school Community

073to understand what you're trying to do in terms of building a vision about what your school district is about and what we do for children and families and teachers and staff and also uh how do we work with the community as a whole uh and think of them not only as um individual communities but also as the community of Danto and how do they want to see themselves supporting uh the education for Berlin Boon students and that's really I think a critical skill set to have in any kind of leader and when I think about a leader um who uh is doing an interim role it really is to bridge where you've been and address as much as you can to build a great platform for the next leader to come on board and really

074take off you know I always think like to think that you're you're doing something that's going to leave a better place and um and I think that again the skill set that I have in terms of leadership really um plays to that role quite well um about me personally just thinking about um you know the commitment of this work um I really like um the idea that I'm only five minutes away um I really like that I'm at a stage of my life where my children are grown and that I can commit uh to the kinds of activities that really I think a superintendent should commit to in terms of evening and activities on the weekend and things like that so that they have there's a presence there and so there a touchstone to what

075they want to hear uh and talk about and I don't have to speak to anything I just have to listen and bring bring whatever I hear that's of import to back to those who need to hear that and to give the community voice whoever if it's teachers or staff or students uh or community members uh and so um I think that's a great advantage to my candidacy uh in terms of things uh that uh I think this role will need because there there are some things that we need to work on and it's going to take time you know because it's going to take conversation and conversations that aren't easy sometimes and but conversations that will definitely take time to do and we're going to have to figure out how to have those conversations in

076an open honest respectful way uh so that we can be great role models for kids and each other uh and um again I think that's an area that I have a skill set that has come a long way since my first superintendency at 34 you know I was a very different person then in terms of being able to understand what voice really meant uh but certainly over the years you you you begin to have great mentors and and colleagues who can show you what it's like to really be a good listener and a good practitioner uh in the in the school setting um so I think I can bring something to the school district I'm not without my foibles I'm I'm not without making mistakes uh I am a y am um I'd roll up

077my sleeve but it's a short sleeve so um but I do put my heart and soul into my work and um when the outcome is really shining uh you have a great team uh and that team will be ready for uh continued work with the next leader and I think I can do that great thank you all right so do you want to jump into the questions we'll start with uh Lisa we'll go this way so just in society in general and especially with schools there's a growing concern about lack of transparency and trust and so parents are getting very concerned about schools maybe not being upfront with them about issues that their child might be having physically or mentally and um so there's a lot of concern about that and um also with them

078with kids being exposed to material or maybe lessons that the parents think are controversial or potentially damaging and so I'm wondering what your take is on that whole situation and also if you support uh notifying parents of things and also giving them the option to opt out things that they find objectionable sure so give me an easy question you know this is a very challenging time as a society and what we're going through and again I I go back to what I said earlier about conversation um I think that principles and and teachers need to know Their audience and they need to know and understand what it is that will um be well received and what won't be um my my general rule of thumb is to go to the core of what what we

079know we have to teach and that's the Massachusetts Frameworks and that's accept it's not my argument to say I don't like this piece I don't like that piece so that is what it is that said there are multitude ways to reach the goals and the objectives that are in there and I think that's where we have to come to some grips around well how can we do this in a way that's respectful because we want to respect our community how do we respect our community when we know we've got to cover this uh and what materials do we want to use now obviously there are some laws and regulations around certain topics that absolutely have to have parent communication about but I would go back to know your audience know your community you should be

080open and honest with them whether it's at my level or at the principal's level to say you know ask the teachers if you're going to have a difficult unit to teach and there are materials in there a make sure you have options B make sure you you communicate with those options aree ahead of time and see make yourself available so you can have a conversation about what those options are or could be and maybe the parent has one too because they understand it from a different perspective they would like their kids to learn it but they don't want that those materials I think that uh again if you bring them up first you can have an attempt at showing them the materials and trying to help educate people about what is real and what is

081out there uh that's not and um I think that once you have those kinds of conversations you can usually come to a compromise in the end they've got to come to school we've got to have them there it's better to figure out a plan of action that allows them to be included rather than excluded and so I would say you know let's work together to make sure we have a plan like that but it has to follow what the objectives are of the massachusett Frameworks and you would in favor of notifying parents yes I'm a I'm a big proponent I I know this is televised I don't know how many teachers of of weekly letters going home to parents this is what we're going to be studying this is what's going to be happening this

082is the name of the book I mean everything's online now so it's not as complex to pull something like that together I know things change and sometimes you're off a day or something like that in terms of your lesson planning but um you know making sure that there's a a plan of action ahead helps the teacher think more more than anyone to be able to lay out that letter and say on a Friday afternoon this is what I'm I'm planning to get to next week and um this is the UN that you have so communicate communicate communicate goad Michael yeah Mike sorry thanks Michael Mike uh hi mik so um so you're working in the regional district in our right now and you worked can't speak let me start that again since you've worked in

083Regional districts in the past and you're working here right now uh you probably have a a unique understanding of our particular challenges that we have right now so um what experiences from your past would you be able to draw from how would they help you lead us through this year and if you were hired what would be your immediate priorities for the next three weeks before school starts and then in the coming 60 to 90 days so let me start with those two pieces there um I've had a very linear path in the last eight weeks in terms of what I've been able to look at and what I need to uh do uh so in the next three weeks I really need to figure out what is the plan for this year how are

084we uh opening up school how are we making it available to everybody are we really clear about what our goals and objectives are and our things tied to that in a very coherent way so that teachers get the message that we have a plan and and even though we have an interim in different capacities we have a plan and we have good people in those roles and we're taking action um as though it's any end of the year so I think that's a real critical piece in the next three weeks to really unpack what we're about and where where we're headed educationally because that's what we're about we're about education in the next 90 days I think I think my my time needs to be spent really developing relationships with you as a board and

085bringing you into the conversation with our two communities um because it is really critical that we start our budget process early and we talk talk talk until we have a clear understanding of everything every time I seem to open up something I I have to pack it even further to understand what's this what's this about and how was it done previously and um if I'm doing that and I'm in the role imagine what the Greater Community you know again talking about transparency how do you explain our formula when the people in the in the business of doing it not only myself but other people desie we can't get our agreement around what the formula is uh and so um I think that's the 90-day plan is to really understand what our goals are for the

086year that have already been started I I don't think I'm coming into say you know oh no let's throw that out and let's do this uh but I I think that we need to really talk about let's look at a gar and look this is what we need to do this is how we're going to get these things done this is who's going to take the lead and figure out the support systems in place so that we can um do that um to the earlier part of your question about Regional School Districts they're complex but I I don't want to I don't want to put them in a different box Al together I mean I I was in Malden for a gr time and you talk about neighborhoods and each school had a neighborhood school

087and that was like seven different towns they each had their own identity uh many times over in some respects and they were schools thousand student schools uh and so it's about how and again I I go back to what I said in my opening remarks I think the leader is about weaving that fabric together so that when you talk about Berlin Boon Regional School District you're talking about all the kids you're blind to what town they come from and what goals they have in the future only that our job is to figure out how to get the there and figure out with them not for them and so um I think that the the Regional School Districts what I've learned the most is you you you've got to be careful about and I would say

088this about Municipal districts too but you've got to be careful about how you talk in a way that might disparage one one community over another one neighborhood over another you've got to be careful about how you engage folks to make sure that you engage the right people in terms of um you know people who really know what it is and have a have tentacles to the community greater because you want to use your time WIS right you want you want people who are going to learn what it is that you're talking about whether it's about curriculum materials or budget or uh special ed or whatever it's going to be and you want to get it out there and you want people who can help you can be your army to to really get that information

089out there um my my chair in my in Hatfield when I was there uh her background was marketing and um she absolutely had an amazing way to Market and to figure out how to get materials thoughts ideas out there to people uh and um we were very successful and I I really credit our school committee to do this we we did an override um in a small town in in very hard times and I and I think that that's you know a testament to their understanding that this is our message this is what we've got to say we got to say it over and over and over again and do not deviate from that message not a harsh way like that but you know that that was our Mantra and um they took it to

090the Greater Community I took it within the schools and we were Partners uh in in making that happen I think you know collectively the teachers Administration and and the community really got together and made that happen because we were on message almost all the time and and that's very unusual um and again that's that's not necessarily unique in Regional Schools but what's challenging in Regional School is to to get that message to bleed into the communities as though it's one message not a Berlin message and a waron message but a greater will message so great thank you Julie yes okay hi Michael hi um all right you you sort of answered this a little bit in the introduction but I'm just going to touch upon it again and then I'll answer the second or ask

091the second part of my question um how is the role of interim superintendent different than the role of an appointed superintendent are there any differences there and can the district or how does the district continue to grow with an inter superintendent right so uh this would this would be my third interim superintendency uh and I think that I've handled them different depending on what as far as the needs and the duration of the time I was going to be there to do that uh and what role I was going to have after that was going to be and uh I think that the key about a good interum to me is someone who comes in and strongly Advocates what's already on the road map to go forward so that people don't feel like oh another

092superintendent another plan here we go again I I I hate when we talk about that and we do that to ourselves within schools and it's really harsh I think to do that and so I really again my initial three weeks is to really get a handle on what our plan is and to move that forward so that people know that yes we have somebody leave but there's somebody in their place and they're going forward and there's no no question about what we're doing and how how we're going forward I think that the uh the nature of the interim role is really then carved out by the work that we do together with the you know partnering with the school committee uh and you know if there's specific tasks that need to happen then during the

093time that I'm interim and and it I'll be frank sometimes it's easier when the interim does certain things that it's harder for somebody who's coming and wants to stay uh and and you know that's just harder uh and so I'd want to hear about those and and learn about how we could do those together in a way that's respectful to the organization and moving the organization uh further uh the key to a good interim is not to disrupt the work that teachers and principls and staff do every day you know it's to make sure that you're complimenting their work and you're you're able to be a resource to move it Flor can iover yes thank you great thanks uh okay Jess all right even thanks for coming in um what culture did you create and

094support in your past districts and what culture do you hope to Foster with a staff school committee students parents and towns administrators and finance committees I think people would describe me as very approachable creating a culture of openness um a culture of being able to talk with them and understand the issues for trying to say this is how it's be um I don't need to be right I don't need to be you know the last board on anything but I do need to follow the policies and the regulations of the state and laws of the state and kind of going back to my teacher I need to educate people to to get there and so the culture that I like to think that I build is one that he's fair and and fairness is in

095the land uh and and I don't think I'm too far away from what's already in place so I think that's a good starting point a good platform to to jump off on um but um that's that's a culture that I that I want I want people to feel like they can come to the central office not as a way to get around people uh get around principles or directors but simply to say uh you know there's there's a conversation going on and we thought you needed to hear about it if you haven't already and maybe I do and and maybe I don't maybe it's something that you know really needs to stay where it is and I don't need a part of it but thank you for sharing with me and I appreciate that you're

096you were willing to come to my to my office and do that share VI an email uh I think that that's the kind of culture that makes people want to come to the school district because when you have a leader that is not creating fear then you will have a leader that welcomes everyone uh and engages with them and again it's not to be have a one way fits all but at the same time there are practices and policies that we all have to follow I have to do it you have to do it and and as long as I'm Dem demonstrating that and and not secretly you know giving out something on on the on one side of my mouth that that uh shows uh you know I think that's the the best kind

097of culture that can be thank you hi hi so I went off I went a little Ru with my question so I tried to recreate it um so what I had asked Al was I had heard that he had did a little bit of research and but you actually have been here so you you you know what what our difficulties are and what our struggles are um and so I guess my question would be what makes you want this position knowing that it's challenging right um and how are you going to help the community feel better about the future how we're going to move ahead and I by Community I mean parents as well as taxpayers who don't have students in the school right so I think the challenge is what excites me because it's

098something it's a puzzle and it needs to be figured out and we need to think about different ways of moving forward when we do this work and I want to lay the fears of the communities as a whole we're not different in terms of our challenges you know there may be some things that are a little more public out there um but not really we're we're the same as a lot of districts and you know when I think about districts that I came to um to work in uh it didn't phase me to know that there were particular kinds of challenges uh you know I I went to one District that had a culture of a superintendent who was tyranical you know I put it up there um I I knew the person I didn't

099never thought of that that person in that way but come to find out that's really how it operated and you know it took me a long time to move that culture to a different place in terms of what um Comm and and a lack of fear looked like and I I learned that firsthand and you know I came to a district that had a um Finance Authority board didn't know what one was when I came there learned very quickly uh people said oh it's going to last five to seven years we were done in two years we cleaned it up pretty well now and I do say we we had a great Finance team I came in and um you know knew how I thought it needed to be approached the Finance Authority chair was

100great to work with he really knew his stuff from do so I learned a lot and we were able to be done in two years and and it surprised me I mean that was I didn't say oh we'll be done in two years and that that was a goal that I had but uh you know just just knowing that being able to get out from that cloud would allow the community to start to look at the district as the with pride because it was all about education and not about these terrible Finance issues that you know they they had lots of headlines on um and oh by the way the finance issues weren't all terrible they were just not well communicated to the parties that really needed to know and a little better organization of

101the off internal offices so people knew who was doing what and who was watching what you know so it didn't take rocket science to figure out how to fix it uh but everybody thought oh we we were that district with that uh Finance Authority board under uh under that cloud and we were able to to move forward pretty quickly and get onto the business of educating kids so I I I think that that's the challenge here is to again have good communication and transparency and that wide network of people who we're talking to so they better understand what's going on and how it's going to have to be so that they can start being proud of their individual um student and the schools that they attend and getting the education they know is a quality

102education thank you I really appreciate that keep going with you're gonna ask questions all right well thank you so much um did anyone have any other lingering questions before we move on to letting Michael ask us questions uh do you want to bring that did you guys have a chance to look at that did you want to bring that up or do you want me to bring that up now sorry I didn't have a chance so I just um I didn't have a chance I didn't read the whole thing sorry um just so you know you usually Google a candidate and um a lot of the community has as well and so I just came across an article about um your departure from Thea Regional School District in 2015 and I was curious if you

103could speak to that situation and and leaving that District sure it was um very difficult to leave um but uh you know this this is about transparency and Dynamics I will tell you this is my vantage point you'd have to talk to other people who had a different vantage point in what they were thinking and doing I went through the evaluation process in April I got glob remarks and and glowing um ratings and we went through a change in the school committee and a new chair came on board uh and I had a great relationship with all of the chairs up to that point it was a different dynamic in terms of how the school school committee operated and um I thought I would have a good Dynamic with the the new chair I knew

104her for a long time and and was very knew her knew what she had to offer and so forth but um she had a vision of her own of what she wanted to accomplish and uh didn't think with me in the superintendency and i' had been there 13 years so I had developed a culture that was I'll be honest it was just it wasn't driven by me but I was a big part of it um and I think she wanted to drive the culture to the goals and and directions that she wanted to go um I think they they you I I remember the day vividly um I I mean I literally uh she didn't have a meeting she came in one day with another member of the school committee and um simply said we'd

105like you to go and that was that was the conversation that we had I got no explanation I got a nice letter of recommendation um she just said I want you to go and literally I thought okay well my contract's coming up and I'll leave in June and um a week later she was in my office and said no you misunderstood we want you to go now and I was like why and she wouldn't give me an answer and I didn't push it you know once once you once that barrier is broken that there's no relationship you just got to go and I wanted to go out on High um at the same time that all of this was happening G to take a breath um sorry my wife was sick and is a little

106bit of a gift sorry get personal apologize it's not a foreign question and I I am end up doing the same thing every time so um so yeah it was that was it and I had that gift of time so it was it worked out the way it did and then I was able to kind of scale back um and go into the director of special ed role um which I've done previously and it just gave me my nights back and a little bit more life with my two kids who were still in high school and um yeah so thank you I'm still very fond of that I I lived in the community um throughout my kids both graduated from noov I attended every event that I could um I don't think if you talk

107to anybody who knew me um they had anything against me or any any issue with me um and there was no no um what's the word I'm for um M feance or anything like that and um yeah it's a great school system thank you and my apologies no no wor you're not the first okay great did anyone have any other questions thank you all right so do I I wanted to leave a little bit of time um it's a little bit before 6 so it's perfect if you have any questions for us um I know you've been working here for a couple months so I don't know if yeah I mean I don't have any questions I think the the conversation that I would want to have would be around how can we develop the

108parnership between the superintendent and the school committee there there are some some practices to be frank that I saw um with the previous superintendent that I would want to I would want to grow from and and make sure that we understand how differently it can work uh in terms of of being a school committee and a superintendent uh and um and do that well uh so that everybody is getting their needs met um and so that's a a big part of developing what's part the relationship piece of the evaluation right it's that school committee superintendent um relationship and and understanding what do you need from me in terms of communication what do you want how do you want to present it um all things that if I don't do it the way you thought you

109were asking about then I'm GNA get slammed for not doing it or not doing it well but if if I'm not clear and I don't ask so that's on me too I'm accountable for that um then you know how do we do that how do we have those conversations and just be able to do it softly calmly respectfully uh and and understand that you know and I don't want to in any way under um estimate what the issues are that we have here because we have issues um but this two shall pass and we'll we'll get through them we'll move through them uh and and like I say the experience at in the show was a good one in that regard because man when I got there I just was I never had a reporter

110come to my office before and I think my first or second day I had reporters at my door there um because it was very much in the news and it was like okay let's let's talk about it let's figure this out and so we did all right all right well thank you so much um really appreciate yeah I really appreciate you coming out and talking about yourself letting us get to know you a little bit better because we've been working with you now for a couple months you didn't know a lot of this stuff so it's great really appreciate it all right so next thing we are going to do is I'm going to ask you to wait in the hallway probably because it's easier we're just going to talk about the candidates and take

111a vote right now um oh okay yeah so just uh for the public time is of the essence um and the main reason is because Carol's last day is August 30th and it would be great to have somebody you know once we vote on a superintendent we plan to meet again on Thursday and in this meeting we will work on the contract that would be in place between the district and the interim superintendent um once that's all set then everything should be official and the person can get started um but ideally so school starts in three weeks from Tomorrow teachers go back in two weeks from Monday so I know it seems like we're moving quickly but I think the goal is to make sure that we have somebody in place and up to speed

112before that first day of school so that none of us are floundering and we all know where we're supposed to be and what we're supposed to do and we have another great school year so we will um take a few minutes we'll discuss deliberate take a vote and then I'll come out in the hallway and let you guys know and then we'll adjourn the meeting okay all right sounds good so feel free to good luck thank you I really appreciate it thank you so much right so I felt like that went really well I think we got a lot of information about both candidates um really really hard to deliberate about people people in public and I remember this firsthand because I had to get appointed to the school committee and there were six people

113that had to do that and I was one of the six and then they made us sit all in there and oh by the way we all had masks on so on top of that we had a present with a mask on which was really really hard um so yeah I just remember how awkward it was sitting here and cringing like listening for them to talk about you so I figured it would be easier if they didn't have to listen and we could I'll speak freely um I remember from that meeting the best way to start is maybe we talk about like what things we liked about each person I think that's an easier way to get into the conversation and then go into maybe I don't even want to use the word negative just

114you know pros and cons concerns and then we can take concerns yes thank you Jess um and then we can move forward with the vote so um I can start [Music] um so I thought they both bring good specific experience to what our district is looking for that mean that they both had um really good Regional superintendent experience they both have done this job before so neither one would be walking into a job being like oh I've never done this before I have no idea what what they're doing um so you want guys want to start let's start with positives let's start with positives that's that's an easy positive right there I was just picky back that positive and say Michael's done the inter R three times I think that's a very big positive y

115I think an inter R is very different than a superintendent I don't think Al has done the intro as I didn't read it on his thing I don't only he said three months he did so but yeah he what district he worked for he was for 3 months after that to help them hire someone but that's not really I agree totally different experience yeah so I just just to piggy back on what you said with Michael he said three but I'm only seeing Lester in 2017 did I miss uh for Michael he did say three he did say three I just don't know if see it Hatfield uh he was assist assant superintendent in [Music] maldener interim curriculum an intern superintendent Lester and then it looks like he went back he was an interim in

116Hatfield he did a three-year stint maybe he just right well it's three years and it says 2021 to just yeah I thought Al was great had a lot of energy I liked his energy yeah yeah I felt like he had like a really Clear Vision like he was just very organized in his approach the way he explain things to me I was able to understand it better yeah I agree I also liked how Al had book study groups I think the culture within the schools and teachers knowing teachers and working together kind of carries on the you know the half days that we have planned right um you know the importance of that work I also like that Al is just a completely fresh set of eyes I feel bad that Michael is not bad

117Michael has been with the district for a couple months and and a different role and I don't know if he's gotten bobbed down in details um but Al is just coming in from like the birds I view um which might be might actually be easier because he's not overwhelmed with some of the minutia maybe I don't know I need time for that right well it's a different role too I mean there's it's so different and I think we have to remember that the finance director role is just being a finance being a business manager is not being a superintendent they're two very separate roles and they should complement each other they're not the same thing right and I think too that Michael's job with what he did now for the district you know he came

118in as we know like it was a mess yes he did the very best he can but we can't we have to we have to view him on yeah it has to be totally separate yeah we have to remove all of that piece and focus on all the things he said in my opinion for Mel um you know moving the district you know into a pa place of calmness and respect um I think right now we have some significant rebuilding to do internally with the administrative teams and externally with the communities this is no big secret we are are not a well-liked committee we are not a well respected committee um take it or leave it that's where we are and what I liked about Michael is he was in the trenches with this committee

119when we were at our worst um as a committee um and still he wants to stay and what he wants to do is work to rebuild this so then we can connect with the community so we can be a successful District that I liked Al on the other hand I heard a lot of that's just the kind of guy I am this is the type of person I am just the kind of guy I am and in my for me it seems always to me is that people that are boasting about themselves rather than working with the groups that that's a flag for me Al he is selling himself to us yeah but so wasn't Michael but he was doing it let's do this together guys we have to be calm we have to be

120respectful we have to do this as a group we've done some damage and I know he has that internal piece but I didn't hear Michael at once say this is just the kind of person I am and even when he had the opportunity to show what kind of person he was with you know his wife being sick he he took a moment of pause and that would be the kind of person that I would have as a superintendent in this District in my opinion I I like how Al is about zero budgeting but I I just would caution us to hold Michael accountable for the finance piece when that's not what he's applying for here he's going to the superintendent of schools yeah that's a good point that's a very good point I thought I

121heard a lot from Al about Community talking to theun building up he said the whole thing about 8 to 10 he's out of the schools in the senior centers right that's where senior Senators is where there's issues if you want to talk about image right I agree I just don't know that seniors respond really well to that that's the kind of guy I am I think they respond better to Michael more he was talking more about explaining what they're doing because they won't necessarily get those Communications every day or every week I just I thought it was a positive thing yeah I agree I think it's positive to be the communities I agree with you on that yeah because we know people aren't reading emails cor cor cor unfortunately cor I just think we have

122we have done some we we need to work um with these communities the schools are the schools we in good shape I mean I know we don't have Finance director and that sense but the schools are they are the schools are we are Great Schools we have great schools and I believe in our schools I I think we need to have us long term I do think we need to have somebody and we need to put out a search we need to do it the correct way panel that whole thing but to have somebody as the inum what did he say when I asked that question about what makes a good interim superintendent and Michael said it's about bridging that Gap so that the next leader that comes along can do their job versus what

123Michael said it's kind of the same thing and in versus a regular superintendent and I don't think it is well I think also we don't want to be stagnant as a district so I I mean I think both of them said they want you know I felt that you know for direction and not just hold down the fort which I think is important that's all I say I really I really want what Al did with the books with the teachers I mean that's fun and it's inspiring and community and hopefully improves teaching that was I like that um the article that I found so you know simple Googling it was a 2015 article written by Kent Cleveland um and it talked about his departure and there was concerns on communication with the school committee and

124requests not not recognized um in terms of contract act and not getting approved by the school committee [Music] um and so that gives me pause um it's a little bit more information I guess executive session notes were opened up the December after he left um so it just that gives me pause um because it also said they there was not good working relationships with school admin um town Administration either which again take with a grain of salt because if you're fighting for a district you might not be buddy buddy was administrators so yeah that's a good point and he did get a good review from the school committee he said right uh Michael that yeah yeah it would probably be worth it to go back and read those minutes and um that was a long

125article it was really hard to I was trying to read in p is I had not seen that um and even though we had U Michael in the district I had just received his resume two days ago and we all got it so I don't because we hired him through TMS he doesn't actually work for us TMS works for us he's a consultant for TMS so he actually doesn't work for us he works for TMS as a consultant um and I guess for me it's really hard to um you get to know somebody because you've been working with them their habits and so it's really difficult to separate um what we've gotten to know from Michael and this new Michael that came to interview um one of the things I noticed is it it didn't

126seem like you know he said he was willing to come to meetings but one of the things I've noticed is that um he didn't seem interested to come to a lot of the nighttime meetings so that was a concern and I know he likes to work from home but again like we don't know what the other person's going to do because we haven't worked with him so it's just really hard to separate that because we know that but we don't know what the other person is and anyone can say whatever they want it's until you actually have experience working with them to your point Julie about this is the kind of guy I am this is the kind of guy that's the kind of guy he perceives himself as being but we don't really know

127until we work with them but we have worked with Michael and just that would be my one concern about some of the things I've seen um in working with him personally so um anything else hard I think that's the hard part is that their strengths are completely different yes and we have a lot of needs it what I found really consoling is that both of them said and I didn't mean to make it sound like our district is is um is not doing well because we are doing well but you know it's been it's been a bit of a bumpy ride at times and you know some things we've handled well and some things we haven't and so I wanted to know why both of them would want the job because it you know you're

128coming into kind of like a little bit of a tangle you're going to have to pull a little bit to get out and you're going to have to work with people and I think the real struggle is we have two very different people who have different sets of skill sets and would be beneficial in two different ways and that's the hardest part is trying to figure out what would be best for us going forward right now and that's what I'm struggling with as I go through the mountain of notes that I took and their resumes looking for something to stand up to make it obvious yeah and obviously it's really tough in general to hire someone in a couple days um but unfortunately that's the position that we're in um and just a reminder uh

129I mean I as long as I am on the school committee we will be doing a search a full search this is not just we're going to hire an intrum and if it works out you're in if obviously if the inim person I don't know if either of these people would be interested wants to apply for the full superintendent role but we will be doing full search there will be a search committee there will be an interview process so the first round of interviews would be conducted by the search committee and then the school committee would have to do the second round of interviews so we'd be looking for teachers parents principes to serve on this committee it would probably take place sometime in the winter late fall early winter um and you know I'd

130assume we'd be of course hiring probably right the beginning middle of budget season um but from what I learned from masc we're very late in the game so most most people that are interested in being an interim already either have something to do or they they've decided they don't want to do this right now so it's it's not a huge candidate pool um so I don't know if they've changed their practices I was um the when when the when we hired um Jeff I was on that search committee I was a they picked a person from Brand and from Boon and I was the treasur of the ESP PTO so um chair the chair couldn't do it and they asked if I would do it and I believe we did I think we did in

131the spring but they may have a different now but even then it was like very it was like it was early early spring but there were people from the community there were uh select board members there were um school committee members um it was a really nice group of people and I think I just want to kind of put that out to the public because when we go forward it's not just it's not the school it's a it's a a group of people that would be putting you know their heads together to see what they want for the the future of this of this District I agree so but I'm glad you explained why we have to do this so quickly right now and that we don't have the luxury of time yeah yeah we

132need someone to get ramped up many people reached out to on different recommendations and it was two people that were interested yes exactly yeah yeah and I called Mas we called NES whatever um I reached out nesda nesda um we reached out to masc masc was the one that provided Al we reached reached out to Old superintendant I've reached out to people that came and did trainings for us we spoke with all the principes and asked if they had any leads so yeah this was not taken lightly it's just I mean Megan if I could I'd like to give you I don't think you get the credit that you deserves you have given up I I can't even I can't even to tell the public how much of her time she's G she has small

133children they were sitting in the back she's given up vacation time she's given up days with them she's given up nights with them she spends almost all of her time on the phone or contacting people or researching going over to Central office trying to lend a hand like thank you so much for stepping up because you've gone above and beyond what anyone could have ever asked you to do and I know I am incredibly grateful and the community should know what you're trying to do to to to make us stay afloat and go in a positive direction so thank you you sacrific a lot and I'm grateful yes thank you you appreciate it sounds like it's more than full time even what you're doing itun basis just the past couple days but thank you guys

134so much I just want thank you thank you so much I just want people to know that to your point time has been put into this it's not like a knee-jerk it's not like we're just trying to fill the role there been a lot of research and yeah you've done a lot of that so thank you and yeah I I you know it would have been great if we had you know 10 people and we could have done a first round interview and the second round interview and had more input and had more time to do more research but we don't um so does any do you guys want to vote now or does anyone have anything else to say Julie you said you didn't have anything else or no no I don't have I

135thought you said that Mike did you have anything else please I don't want to I want to make you guys ready to vote well that's a different question I know someone I said are you ready to vote I guess someone has to make a motion as to who they think should be that's usually what we do I moveed to a point l G him as the interm superintendent second okay Mike Lisa all right any discussion on that I think the masc Tracy norc's recommendation you know I've heard her speak at the conference and you know as a field agent she is a very Dynamic respect respected person and and a personal recommendation from her I hold in high regard um aside from his presentation as a person yeah she did Tracy is the one that

136uh so just so everyone knows again Tracy recommended him to me and I texted Tracy back and said well I see he was reported to the board of Ethics so I think I'm gonna pass on that and she said I urge you to call him and talk to him he's a great candidate so I even gave Tracy an easy out and she didn't take it she she said he's a great guy so I listen to her and I called him and I I agree yeah well and you want to explain what the masc is for the community yeah so masc is the Massachusetts Association of school committees so it's a group um it's a not for-profit organization um most of the people that work for masc they have been doing this their whole life they're

137experts in the field as far as open meeting law and how School committees operate and how school districts operate how budgets work and all that so they're very well connected in the state I think is the best way to uh put it right um most Tracy's part of the board of that group I I believe um so uh she actually offered to come to a meeting and give us any advice that we needed um and I believe Al would need a waiver I don't know from Michael but um Tracy offered to help me apply for that waiver so it's great resource for us it's something we pay into our district pays into and we all have resources they put on trainings and they come and do trainings for us but great great resource for uh

138all school districts across the state all right any conversation so motion on the table is to hire Al it was seconded all right so it will be easier to do a roll call vote on that all right all right Lisa I will start with you sorry okay this is an i Mike all right Julie I'm a no okay Julie's a no all right lari this is really hard I'm an i okay Jess yes second it's very hard um I an I as well okay I'm an i as well so that motion passes 5 to one we have ourselves an inim superintendent it is 6:20 I'm GNA let them know want to leave my's already there are you sure yeah all right oh y Paul you had another business item yes thank you so uh the

139other thing we had on the agenda was to vote a finance director so right before Carol gave me her resignation she hired a finance director um I think given the fact that she is leaving and we just appointed someone new I think that the right thing to do is to let the new person make a decision on if that's a person they want to work with so um now that we know Al is going to be our inum I think we give Al a little bit of time not much but a little bit of time to make a decision and we're meeting again Thursday if that's enough time that would be great to get that vote in there so we don't have to meet again next week if not we can uh get a zoom

140vote in once Al has had adequate time can you refresh my memory what happened last week at that meeting which meeting I feel like we already voted on that we did not we Ted it we just discussed it was not on the agenda I put it on because I thought we were going to vote on it but then after much thought I think it makes sense for like we said the finance director and the superintendent are they should it should be a really strong partnership um I don't know that we've had that lately in our district and so I think that it's only fair to let that person decide who he wants to work with and then we we the school committee so superintendent hires that were all the school committee votes kind of to

141affirm that decision is my understanding and when did you say you wanted to table that too so we have to Mee again Thursday what I'm hoping is that will give Al enough time to make a decision on what he wants to do and then it's not on the agenda but I did put on there any business not foreseen by the chair within 48 hours because if Al feels he's ready to make that decision by Thursday I would love to do that and then this committee will not meet again until August 27th because God knows we need a break and we will meet August is it August 27th at Tuesday before the first day of school okay and that will be with both Carol and the in superintendent all right so I guess we don't need

142to notify people in public I guess what we can do is we can adjourn the meeting right now and then I'll let them know is are you guys okay with that so are we having a meeting on Thursday we areos to Thursday at 5 the way it's going to work we'll go into Open Session we're going to go into executive session we will negotiate the contract with Al in executive session Al can step out we can negotiate I spoke with our attorneys this morning um and then we'll come back into Open Session and we will vote on the terms of that contract the big thing we'll have to discuss is salary um and um you know any type of other time off stuff like that um but I we should have uh our attorneys will

143be um providing a blanket contract for us to work off of this week the other thing I'm still waiting on is just some detail to see what type of wiggle room we have with the numbers and the finances I still don't have that information I hoping I will have that by Thursday or at least we will have something hopefully you know Wednesday night or first thing Thursday before we go into that session all right anything else thank you guys all for coming all right so um could I please have a motion to adj the meeting so all right Julie second Lai all right all in favor I all right I'm an i as well thank you so much motion passes all right guys all right so I