For many of you who follow my campaign Facebook page, the
following words will be redundant.
The news is that I came up short, by 60 votes, of making it through the primary.
I would be lying if I said that I wasn't disappointed. Making the decision to run for school
committee was a very big one and represented my (and my
family’s) commitment on many levels. It was an effort
that took precious resources of time, energy, and money.
But, my initial disappointment of losing wore off very
quickly. Campaigning was a wonderful
experience – I got to meet and talk to so many wonderful people who are equally
concerned about our schools. I continue
to be amazed and impressed with the optimism in spite of some harsh
realities. I appreciate that the campaign has
given me more visibility in the community and will help in allowing me to do
meaningful work with our schools. However,
let me be clear, this does not come without the help of you (and other parents
and teachers in our community). I have
no idea where this path will take me and if it involves another campaign, formally
furthering my education, or just continuing my work
from the periphery. Once thing is
certain, though, I am looking forward to all of the opportunities that lie
ahead.
We are at a very critical time period in the district right
now. Considering the time and attention I need to give my kids, I can now focus my spare energy specifically on current issues without the distraction of campaign details. Honestly, there are MANY things
going on in our school district that need time and attention. I am listing five below that just happen to
be on my mind at this moment…
ONE – Individual School Improvement Plans (aka SIPs) are in
progress right now. These need to
be aligned with the district’s Accelerated Improvement Plan. The way that each school interprets this task
and carries it out is absolutely crucial to the success of our district as a whole.
TWO – MCAS data and the future of MCAS – supposedly this could
be the last year or two for MCAS. Some
say good riddance, others are not ready to jump off the cliff into some great
unknown, yet. So, why are we so
concerned about our current MCAS data if the means of measurement will to be
changed in the foreseeable future?
And, how will this apply to our district's goals? There will be more on this later.
THREE – Leadership - there are going to be some big changes in school leadership over
the next 12 months. Lord help ALL of us
that we get the principal we need at Bowditch, please (please! Please!). Principals at Collins and Bates are also
retiring - and will there be other changes??
We now have an overseer at Bentley.
I’m not a parent at any of those schools, but what affects them affects
all of us in this community. If you weren’t concerned before, feel free to
jump on the bandwagon now!
FOUR – Other district changes - I won’t enumerate but some
still feel the winds of change a-blowin’.
What does this “middle school task force” equal? Is it just a fancy way to package up a
discontinuation of K-8 school configuration (and less choice for
families)? We’re going to have to start
talking about DDMs (District Determined Measures) at some point also.
FIVE – Parental involvement has become my main issue. Everything I read about student achievement and school success comes back to family/parent engagement because educating our children really is a team effort (student, teacher and parent). I am troubled because this key part of the equation is not getting as much
attention as I’d like. Parents that I speak to feel the same way. Things that we need include increased communication (frequency and
quality of communication, including a good quality report card) and a welcoming
culture/environment.
That’s all for now.
My piece about the superintendent’s evaluation is moving along. It’s not new news…but the superintendent’s
goals are currently in development. I’ll
keep you posted!
