No agony in this defeat

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!

Twas the night before the primary...

I have nothing to give towards putting together a witty rhyme…but, wouldn’t that be fun.  I have been wanting to get working on my posts, but my writing efforts have been focused on answering nearly 30 questions for the Salem Education Foundation’s online forum.  As it is, campaign and family obligations (apple picking and lunch/snack prep) have occupied a lot of my time and I haven’t been able to answer all of them.  FYI – here is the link to the forum - http://salemeducationfoundation.weebly.com/#/news/.    I do plan to get to all of them

In fact, I should be working on my questions now.  But, with a scratchy throat and achy body, I am going to sleep very soon so that I can re-energize for tomorrow.  I do, however, want to leave all of you with some valuable information that I came across while preparing for last week’s forum (if anyone recalls my late night “ah ha” moment).  As a bit of background info, there seem to be organizations devoted to every cause on our great earth (and beyond).  So, there should be no surprise that there is a National School Boards Association.  I happened upon across some information on their website related to governance and the “8 Characteristics of Effective School Boards” as published by the Center for Public Education.  http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Public-education/Eight-characteristics-of-effective-school-boards/Eight-characteristics-of-effective-school-boards.html

I would love to address each characteristic separately but I already need toothpicks to pry my eyelids open.  Instead, I leave these for you to ponder as you enter the voting booth tomorrow.  Consider the current characteristics of the committee and what you would like (and expect) to see. 

Eight Characteristics of an Effective School Board
1. Effective school boards commit to a vision of high expectations for student achievement and quality instruction and define clear goals toward that vision
2. Effective school boards have strong shared beliefs and values about what is possible for students and their ability to learn, and of the system and its ability to teach all children at high levels.
3. Effective school boards are accountability driven, spending less time on operational issues and more time focused on policies to improve student achievement.
4. Effective school boards have a collaborative relationship with staff and the community and establish a strong communications structure to inform and engage both internal and external stakeholders in setting and achieving district goals.
5. Effective boards are data savvy; they embrace and monitor data, even when the information is negative, and use it to drive continuous improvement.
6. Effective school boards align and sustain resources, such as professional development, to meet district goals.
7. Effective school boards lead as a united team with the superintendent, each from their respective roles, with strong collaboration and mutual trust.
8. Effective school boards take part in team development and training, sometimes with their superintendents, to build shared knowledge, values and commitments for their improvement efforts.

Before I sign off, I want to thank everyone for their support thus far – it truly means a great deal to me.

Katie Casiglia