Mary Byrne
School Committee members are beginning to shape their vision for the upcoming school year, with a series of goals focused on data-based decision-making, continuing policy revision work, assessing progress on the strategic plan, and developing a budget in line with student needs.
The goals were discussed at the School Committee’s public “retreat” Monday evening. Before talking goals, the committee discussed the previous years’ goals, such as understanding student needs for budget development; successfully onboarding and supporting the new superintendent; revising and updating School Committee policies; supporting the development of a new district plan; increasing collaboration with town government, and finally, promoting community and family engagement.
“With any one of these goals, either we met it, and we don’t need to continue working toward this year … [or] it’s something we didn’t meet, and we want to keep working on it, so it’s a goal we have to evolve, to fine-tune,” said School Committee member Amy Zuccarello.
Some of the goals were tied to the year’s circumstances, including the onboarding process for Superintendent Jill Geiser, who was hired last year, and collaborating with town officials—a reflection of the dual budget scenarios required in light of the then-proposed Proposition 21/2 override. Other areas, such as policy revision, will continue into the coming year as the policy subcommittee continues revising policies.
New this year, however, is the desire to ensure data-driven decision-making and the use of data to assure the committee that its investments were “in good stead,” particularly since the passage of the Proposition 2 ½ override.
“That data can be elusive … but in the absence of that data, it’s hard to make that argument to ourselves that investing in public dollars in this way is the right thing to do,” said School Committee member Jeff Liberty. “If we can bring more student data, I think we’d have better discussions about budget.”
Chair Meghan Moriarty clarified that the committee would be looking for summary data rather than individual student data.
Committee member Matt Kraft proposed a goal for the committee to understand better how the district is preparing students for the changing climate or workplace, for example. After a brief discussion, during which members agreed that this could instead be a lens through which the committee approaches its work and policy development, the committee agreed to stick to goals with more measurable outcomes.
Zuccarello asked that members send refined wording for the goals discussed on Monday to her by Sept. 1, in time for a potential vote at the Sept. 5 meeting.
