COMMUNITY MEETINGS:
6 p.m. Monday, Normandin Middle School (Cafeteria), 81 Felton St.
6 p.m. Tuesday, Keith Middle School (Community Room), 225 Hathaway Blvd.
5 p.m. Wednesday, Roosevelt Middle School (Community Room), 119 Frederick St.
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4 comments:
So, how did those Superintendent discussion meetings go? From what I read in the paper, the first one at Normandin, only ten people showed up. If this was the turn out that occurred at the other locations, shame on not only the parents, but more appropriately on the teachers. This was a public forum for teachers to share their views on the type of person needed to head up New Bedford's school district. If I were still teaching in the district, I would have been in attendance voicing my opinion. If these discussion forum drew few teachers in attendance then teachers can cry wolf all they want if they don't like the new superintendent, you'll get no sympathy from me.
In response to your question, you are correct in the meetings for the community were not very well attended. This does show a lack of interest by the parents of the district. The teachers were offered their own "focus groups" with the firm that the Mayor hired. Those were better attended and I hope that the suggestions were heard and will in fact be used for the search.
Having taught in the school system, I can make an assumption as to how many teachers showed up to these focus groups. Unless the focus groups were held during a teacher's free period, my guess is not many were in attendance. My experience is that teachers would rather complain and commiserate than take an active role.
I awoke this morning with two words swirling in my head. "Predictable and disaster" were those words. They are in fact metaphors for one another from a time-lapsed perspective. Anyone in the district could have predicted the results during the latest superintendent's tenure, and among many teachers that I have surveyed, the current situation is a disaster. So now the district will be moving to cull finalists from from a pool of candidates. What the district does not need are candidates that only have special education experience, or only elementary experience. Two or three year's experience at the middle or high school also won't cut it. The superintendents that had the most favorable results in the district not only taught but held supervisory roles at the then Junior High School and the High School levela. The names that come to mind are Paul Rodrigues and Constantine Nanopoulos. Anyone with less experience should be a non-starter. Lets not hire an educator that is not qualified, or looking to pad their retirement pension by "lasting" three years.
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