All right. Thank you all and welcome to the special school committee meeting of the Greenfield Public Schools. Um we are here tonight to interview uh for the second time and hopefully choose a new superintendent for our schools. Um, so
first as we begin and it is Monday, February 2nd, 6:30 p.m. Um, and now we're do a roll call of the members. >> There it goes. Member Deniv >> present.
>> Mayor Disorger >> here. >> Member Dyman >> here. >> Member Goodwin >> here. Chair Ston >> here. >> Vice Chair Childs >> here. >> And Secretary Webb, I'm also here. >> Thank you. We have a quorum and are
called to order at 6:31 I believe it is now. Um I also want to introduce two uh guests that we have who will be with us for the interview portions of this evening. Um, we have Judy Bennett and Tara Cludier who are both representatives of our Greenfield
Education Association, our teachers union, and they have a question on our list that I would like to give them the privilege to ask themselves. So, um, now that you know a little bit about who's in the room, um, we have time for public comment. Are there any members of the
public in the room which would wish to make public comment? Seeing none, are there any members of the public online who would wish to make public comment at this time? Please raise your hand or honestly just holler out because I can't
see you on our iPad. I see somebody who looks like they might be wanting to. Anybody? Okay, I don't see any hands raised. I'm not seeing any chats come through. So, public comment going once,
public comment going twice, public comment gone three times. We are closing public comment uh at this time and moving on to our first interview interview of the evening. Um, I'd like to welcome our first candidate, Sharon
Conoyer, to come up. And we have on the table for you the laminated list is a list of the questions we have to ask. We have a couple of pieces of scratch paper in case you want to take some notes um to gather your thoughts. And that water is also for you in case you should need
it. Um, and I'll just have there you go. Double check. Make sure that's green. That means that we can hear you. Um and if uh if it's all good with the members, we'll go ahead and proceed. Great. Um so the way that we'll take
this is we have also a list of questions that we're going to ask before us that were determined in advance and we will go around starting with member Deniv this time um to ask the first question and each subsequent question. So, member Dyman, you'll ask number two. Member Childs, you'll ask number three, and so
on and so forth until we get to the end of our questions. Um, for this interview, we have 75 minutes. So, eight questions. You have time, right? Um, with that, let us begin. Member Den,
would you please ask the first >> Thank you for being here. Question one, why you for Greenfield and why Greenfield for you? Sorry member, we inserted a candidate opening statement just briefly. I apologize. Can you
>> So candidate opening statement first then please >> and then I'll ask my first question. >> Well, first of all, I'd like to thank you all for having me back. Um it was lovely meeting. I think some of you at at my first interview and um just as a
little um I know most of you have or all of you have looked over my um information. Um, I've been in education for this is my 36th year in education. Oh, sure. As a teacher and as an
administrator and um a little feedback there. And um I'm very excited to bring that experience to Greenfield. Um I had an >> Sure.
We are switching out the mic to uh resolve some tech issues for those following along on the Zoom. Give us just a second. I also neglected to read the chair statement. So, just so folks know, this meeting is being recorded by Greenfield Community Television. If any other persons are present, you must notify you
are recording. Thank you, Anthony, our intrepid reporter from the Greenfield Recorder. All right, now that we've got that out of the way, is this better? >> Okay, is that better? >> It sounds less squeaky. >> Great. So, um I had a wonderful day today and I
want to thank the administrators and staff who met with me and showed me around and gave me a little bit of a taste of uh Greenfield and um what the what they were proud of and what their goals were and um what they were looking
for in uh leadership and what um they've been really um proud of as far as the work that they've um been able to complete here um in the district. And um what was really impressive to me over my day today was just a continuity and a
commonality in the themes um across the district. So um I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for the time that um you've allowed me to come and spend with you both um in my first interview and in my time with you today. And I'm looking forward to answering any questions that
you have for me today. So thank you. >> Thank you so much. And my apologies. member if you please proceed. >> Okay. Question one, a two-parter. Why you for Greenfield and why Greenfield for you? How would you apply
your experiences in the context of the Greenfield Public School District? So, my experience over my my 36 years, which I I've hate saying over and over again, but because it reminds
me how long I've been doing this, but um I think has prepared me really well for a community like Greenfield. Um I currently um am superintendent in a regional school district in Connecticut. very different from the school district
where I spent the majority of my career, 25 years in a prek through 12 um school district in a community very similar um in demographic to Greenfield. Um I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience in the
district that I'm in right now as superintendent. It's a large regional high school. Um it serves um up to 13 it's varying varying numbers of school districts depending on the year but up to 13 um different towns. Um it has a
very complex budgeting system. I've learned um so much about the ins and outs of of many different parts of the profession. um many of those parts I I thought I knew already that I came to to region 19
and figured out that um I didn't know all that I thought I did. Um so that experience has been really really helpful for me. Um, and I think that why me for Greenfield is I come with that knowledge of both the preK12 experience
and also um a complicated um budgeting system, a very complex um system of um interacting with a variety of different stakeholders from a variety of different
towns that um creates the conditions where there has to be relationships between um many people in order for us to get it right for our students that are coming with a variety of different needs and a variety
of different um resources from the towns that they come from. So, um I think for for that reason that makes me a good fit. I think my work in Windsor locks um was the district that I spent 25 years
in is um again is very very similar. Um a little bit smaller, not as many schools, but that prek through 12 um experience is one that I'm very very eager to get back to. It's one that I've missed. Um I've like I said, I've loved the the high school experience. I was a
high school teacher. where I was a high school principal for for many years and a and a superintendent where my office an assistant superintendent where my office was right in the high school and and I've loved that. But what I really loved about being an assistant superintendent and interimm superintendent in Windsor Locks was
getting into the prek two buildings and in our intermediate elementary schools and being able to really work on a team that worked on a progression of knowledge and skills in preparation for that final destination of high school where you
could really see the connection of um really creating that mission and vision together as a leadership team working together with our teachers, knowing that those foundational elements, whether it's the the character-based um standards or whether it's the academic standards really build upon
each other to get to that ultimate goal of a graduate. Um I also bring that experience, my experience with NASK. Um I've been on the commission for 13 years, I think. um in some way, shape or form either on the commission. I was
chair of the commission for many years and now serve as a trustee. And I think that that experience um really helps to bring that continuity to um to that K12, preK12 experience in building the vision of the graduate. You don't create a
graduate starting in nth grade. That vision of the graduate starts in prek. And the um those car those schol um habits of scholarship start in prek and we start to build those in a
developmentally appropriate way from prek all the way up to the high school. Um, how I would apply those experiences would be, you know, going back to to what I love, which is getting into the
classrooms. um me building um well building upon what seems to be an already very strong leadership team and um continuing to build upon that leadership capacity and working with them to continue with the goals that they've already created and the progress
that's already been started in um in building and building upon the Greenfield Public School District. I think um my knowledge of the full prek through 12 continuum will help to support that. I
think my knowledge of building a and and um having been mentored by some amazing superintendent, bringing that to the table and using that knowledge and using those
skills to meet the leaders where they are and to be able to listen. I had some some really great conversations and I think what I took away from from those conversations um is number one I I have
what I heard was really strong leaders who know what they're doing and where they're going and they need um they need a leader who's going to listen to them and who's going to recognize their leadership capacity um and bring them
together and continue to um to lift up and to continue to help them grow. And I think that that's what I'll bring to the table through through our leadership um through our leadership meetings. One of the things that that I would like to make a part of my practice
was something that was really important to me as a developing leader, which was um having meetings um one-on-one meetings with leaders, spending a day in buildings. Um it would be great to be monthly. That would be my aspiration to be
monthly to meet and to discuss to discuss goals and aspirations but also to get into classrooms and it was so it was nice popping in a little bit today um when we could to get into classrooms and to see kind of the magic happening with the kids and with teachers and um that's something that I think that I
would be bringing to the district is that desire to be boots on the ground in classrooms with leaders and bu continuing to help the leadership build on their own capacity. They know where they want to go and I think they know what they would want from me in in supporting them to get there.
>> Thank you and thank you so much for being here. Um would you please walk us through how you prepare a budget? Uh we are interested not only in your methodology but also your philosophy. >> So the budget um prep process is
It's a little different from the regional district to the Windsor Lax district. What is similar is I do believe in um the staff helping to create that budget. So going back to department heads and having the
department heads go to their staff to get input into what the wants and needs are. Um, it's important for me to help create kind of the scenario and what the what the conditions for that budget is depending on what the the budget climate
is for any given season. So, knowing what their boundaries are, I don't want to set them up and say, you know, go for it. Sky's the limit in a budget um climate that won't support it. So, um,
you know, for for the past few years, we've had tight budget seasons. So, I've had to go to directors and and say, you know, I want you to ask for what you need, but we have to stay within these parameters
um in order to to pass the budget. And especially in a circumstances where and I'm not sure um if you're in the same circumstance as we are, but we have declining enrollment. So there are um
some challenges in facing declining enrollment and maintaining the high quality program that we want to continue to maintain for our kids. And so um the very first step in creating the budget is having that conversation with my our
department leaders. Um I only have a one principal. So here it would be having the conversation with the building leadership, having them go to their department leaders and then engaging the staff in the conversation around what they need and then they would bring that
back to me. Um in Windsor Locks it was a little bit easier where I could ask them to then prioritize and so then if I had to make cuts I could I knew what needed to to go. Um,
at EOS Smith, I meet with every single department head prior to going into the um, winter holiday because they need to know what where where I stand based on what they've submitted. So, we go through their budget together and we
talk about um, what I think is going to fly and what what isn't. And so going into they they know going into um my superintendent's presentation of the budget what they've asked for. Um we also have conversations around staffing.
The past couple years we've we've prior to the past couple years we haven't had to have conversations about staffing. in these past couple years we have around um you know some difficult conversations around potential reductions based on class size and um where there can be
reductions um whenever possible due to attrition um and then moving forward there um my I also know what is palatable to the community and when we
have three member towns so we have we have three specific member towns even though we may serve 13 other towns um or 13 total towns or receive students from 13 other towns. We have three member
towns who are who are um supporting us financially and they have different pain points. um we have two that are very small and two or three students um increasing population at the high school has huge impact on
their budget. So we have to pay very close attention to you know I may only increase my budget by a small percentage but if they're increasing the number of their students by three or four kids it can increase their
percentage increase significantly and it can throw off their budget. And so we go back to the table as um my my board and myself to look at where we can then make further reductions. Even though our bottom line number may be relatively
reasonable if their percentage increase is going to cause them to have to cut teachers and cut staff, we really need to go back to the table because we are all in it together. And despite the fact that we are, you know, three preK8
districts and one regional high school, if they're cutting kindergarten teachers in a one given year and then maybe hiring one back the next year or whatever the case may be with their budget, it impacts the quality of their program, which impacts the quality of education for the students that we're
going to receive in, you know, 12 years. And so, um, that process, I like to be inclusive. Um, I like folks to know where they stand. When I do have to make staff reductions, I have the conversations with those folks prior to
my submission of the budget. We sit down and have the conversation. Even if it's not um even if it's a potential for the position to be reduced to say your position is going to be discussed. And so, you need to know this is the situation. this is
this is potentially how it can go. Um, you know, it is it's definite that the position is going to be reduced or there's potential that it can be reduced. If a budget if if a position is going to be discussed, we have that conversation with the staff person first. By we, I mean me. I have a
conversation with the staff person first. Um, and then we go through different iterations of the budget. I present the budget. we discuss it with the board and they will either accept or they'll send they'll send me back with some um a bottom line number that they need me to get to and then I'll go back
to my department heads and to my principal to say you know we've got to reduce by so many thousands of dollars and where do we think we it should it should come from and where do we think it's going to have the least amount of impact on student program and student experience.
I think that's my philosophy. It's the the least amount of impact on student experience is is generally my goal. >> Thank you. It is important that schools work closely with other city departments and city boards. Could you tell us how you have successfully worked in these
environments and what you will do here to develop these linkages? So yes, we um because we have the three member towns, we have select people and um in the case of Mansfield, we have a mayor. Um there are finance boards and
select and select people from those different boards and there's a variet there's there's varying degrees of interaction um between those boards. Um during the last few budget seasons, those interactions have become increasingly
more important because times have gotten tough and we've had to tighten our belts and it's become, you know, much more important um that we work closely together. So um as well as
with our um state reps. So we we have several times a year um a couple times a year um municipal meetings where we ask our um select folks and our state reps
to come and give us the kind of the state of the state of of the towns and what are the pain points. We do that when we go into negotiations and we do that when we're going into budget season. Um they will sometimes come to our budget meetings. I always offer to
go to theirs so that their towns know how their money is being spent because I think it's really frustrating for those member towns to um to feel as though they don't have a say and because ultimately when we set our budget if
there's no if there's no back and forth interaction or if we're not listening to where they're struggling and what the impact is going to be on their schools and on their other um you know town budgets. then you know basically they pay the
region and it becomes very one-sided and the the relationship can deteriorate very very quickly. So um having those informational sessions and the listening sessions becomes really really important. Right now we're in the
process of working through um with our we actually have a a Google form out to try and get a meeting together. Um, we've been talking for several years about getting a a rolling average because right now towns pay based on the number of students that they send and
it's this up and down from, you know, one year to the next. A town can get hit really really hard on, you know, whether or not they're they're paying a ton this year and then less ne next year and it ends up being um really really challenging for towns to plan on what
their budget's going to be. So, we have a um ad hoc committee on rolling average and we're um we have a meeting set up with our select folks and with our um our mayor and our town manager from Mansfield. Um we're in the process of setting that up to have a conversation
because we found a way without changing statute to work together to um potentially look at just a a rolling average of taking the average over five years and setting that amount so that they can be more planful in their
budgeting and not so um variable in what they have to contribute to the region and hopefully not um have their staff on pins and needles every year wondering if they're going to have a job.
So the the um that working closely piece, you know, it becomes very important. Additionally, because of the super because the superintendent are we're we're all so different, but we share kids. um we meet monthly and um for the past six years since I've been
there, we've worked collaboratively um because we have we have to agree um on what our goals are for our kids in order for as much I don't because I don't have control over that progression. Um and
they are very invested on what happens to their kids when they leave the eighth grade and come up to the high school. Having that communication with the superintendent and agreeing on what deep learning should look like prek through 12 has something that we've been working on has been something we've been working on for the past six years. So those
those communications have been really important. >> Thank you so much. I'm actually going to if you don't mind since your question seven I'll skip over the two of you for now and member web if you would be willing to ask question five. >> Thank you.
Sorry. >> Number five. What is the most valuable lesson you have learned? We are especially interested in an example of a time when something didn't go as planned and how you responded. Also, thank you for being
here. >> Oh, thank you. Okay. So, there's so many um in all honesty, nothing ever really goes as we plan. I think um
I think one of the most valuable lessons that I've learned I actually talked about it today is when we are in asking folks for input whether we're asking teachers or parents or the community um
we have to mean it. We can't just invite folks in and say, you know, we're being inclusive and we're asking people for for their advice and for their input if the decisions already made. Um, and that was something that I learned a really long time ago. It just it
deteriorates trust. And I think for a long time that was a practice in not just education, but in organizations in general. there would be a decision made and then they would invite folks in and say, you know, well, let's do a survey or let's do a focus group and get folks
pin opinion on what that's going to look like. Um, if we're inviting people in to give their ideas and opinions, we'd best be open to putting those ideas and opinions into practice um or including them in that decision-making process.
The decision should not already be made and That was just that was a really important lesson a long long time ago that um that I've tried to put into practice. Um it's the the challenge
always is getting people to um trust that even when you're really trying to be proactive and you're trying to to be upfront about it that that that trust piece is really um I think challenging and the only way to really
build that trust is to continue to practice it and for their input to be visible and tangible in the decisions that are being So, um, that that's one of the most valuable
lessons that I've learned. Um, time when something didn't go as planned, I think, you know, the most recent was a roll out for um, we did a grading and reporting pilot.
This is probably our most controvers controversial um situation that we've had where um coming out of COVID there were a lot of changes that co forced um it forced a growth mindset which was a question that
we talked about earlier. It forced a a different approach to looking at student learning. It it approached this whole um perspective of um trying to be more un kind of trying to be understanding and
and to a certain degree you know we took some of the guard rails off. There were much more flexible deadlines and and there were just you know there we got a little loose I think with with all of those things for all the right reasons because kids were put into this
situation. We all were um I think a student described it to me best a few years ago when I was teaching a class where she she said we were she goes we had mass shared trauma and I was like wow that was it was super insightful and
accurate and I think um with that there had to be changes and so as we started to come out of COVID we tried to pull it rein it back in and start to create some more boundaries for kids. So deadlines started to happen again and we started to look at our
grading practices. So what do we keep from CO? What do we what do we lose from CO and so one of the things that we started to look at was you know within our grading and reporting what were some of those practices that made sense within a growth mindset for kids. And
one of you know we so we looked at things like where was reassessment part of the process. So we pulled together a working group of of teachers and parents and kids and we put together just some guidelines of what stays and
what goes. And so we did that for for a year. And then the next year we said, "Okay, so we lived with that for a year. What did we learn?" And we pulled together another group of um teachers and um got some parent input. And where
we ended up after a couple years was kind of putting together a more comprehensive pilot and then rolled that out with teachers. The timing on it wasn't as early as we would have liked it to to
have been. So we, you know, presented that to the board after working on it for quite some time. We rolled it out to the board probably in April or May, April. And so then May, June, it got rolled out to staff even and even though
they had been um that was for the that was for the actual um policy. So we we rolled it out to the board in June for the pilot is when it got rolled out to staff. So we had the whole summer to kind of roll that out,
but we know summer is not the best time to roll things out because people are coming and going. Um, so we started our first year uh or a year back with PD those first couple days with just the pilot. Thought things were going great. Went through
our year and by the end of the year after doing surveys and focus groups, we thought everybody was on the same page and when the policy passed, everybody was not on the same page. And so um that was a huge learning
experience of we thought that the communication the board thought the communication was great. We thought the communication was great. Um communication was not um it didn't land. So apparently it wasn't
great. We can think it's great all day long but if it doesn't land then it wasn't great. So, the response to that ended up being I spent all last summer, the principal and I, meeting with kids and parents and teachers. I just had open office hours for a good chunk
of the summer sitting down and listening to, you know, where where are we with this and, you know, where where did it go wrong and what was your perspective of where this was supposed to be and where is the actual pain point when you when you look at the policy and what it
involves as far as, you know, preparing for lessons or, you know, where does reassessment fit in? And you know there was there were five major points to the policy and that was really it was really helpful for for me and for um the
principal to listen um and to hear and those conversations are sort of ongoing. Occasionally someone will pop in and give you an update on um on how's it how it's going but we're continuing to survey because the policy
is the policy. Um we have more teachers who come to the policy meetings now which is great because we're able to get some you know um input in real life and we're going to be doing another survey of the staff of you know how's it going what adjustments need to be made and
then how do we move forward with that. But that was probably the most um the best example of how we thought we had it planned out perfectly. It was a you know a two to threeyear transition
of a process that just didn't go as smoothly as we thought it was going to go. And uh there's been a lot of reflection on our part and the part of the board and on how we would make it better next time. Hi there. Um, tell us about a time that you made an
effective district-wide change in your time as a leader. How did you decide on a change and how did you measure the results? So there's been so many of of those as well. Um, so all of the decisions about COVID, I
think I came in in 20 in July 1, 2020, and that those are the district-wide changes I think that I was most proud of in that, you know, walking into that role um, for good, bad, or otherwise. I don't know who decides to become a
superintendent in a global pandemic. Um but those decisions that had to be made around the safety of the staff and the students, I think um
they were all changed. I my my I my plan coming into as a superintendent was you don't make changes your first year. You come in and you listen and you get to know people and you build relationships in real life. That's that's how it's supposed to go. and then entering into a
time where you know we had I actually started before I started with working with our re-entry committee which had um kids and parents and teachers on it. Um but our re-entry plan we had two versions. We didn't know if we were starting hybrid or um all in
person. Um we ended up going hybrid. I thought that that was um the right decision for the time for a school as large as ours with you know a thousand kids in the building. Hybrid was um definitely the way to go. Um
and then the following year I think a change that we made was not going completely back and this was from input from teachers as well. We didn't go back to completely normal after the first year after that COVID year. We went back
to four days normal and then we had a delayed opening on Wednesday and it was almost a wellness Wednesday where the kids came in a little bit late and teachers had um professional learning in the morning and they also had time to work together
knowing that we had kids coming in with gaps and they needed time to work together. Um, and I think that that was we had to do a lot of explaining because it was either the parents either loved it or they didn't. Um,
kids either loved it or they didn't. And um, the teachers appreciated it but wanted a little more control over it. So in some cases it was a little bit of a pushpull on how much of that is their time to prepare for their kids which they needed and how much of that was
time where we needed to provide them some professional support professional development on how to help them um fill the gap the learning gap that we were seeing um in students. So I think that that was um I think that that was an effective district district-wide change.
Now, we did go back to a regular schedule the following year. And again, that was a decision made by a committee made up of teachers and going into that process, that schedule wouldn't have been my choice. Um, but the committee made up of
students and parents and teachers, that was their choice. They needed that continuity. They needed to have that schedule in order for them to get back to normal. And in retrospect, even though it wouldn't have been my choice, it was the best choice going back to um
to that regular schedule for them. >> As a time check, >> as a time check, it is only 7:08. We have you until 7:45. Awesome. >> Hello. Welcome. Um, requesting feedback is often described as one of the most impactful
practices of effective leadership, even when feedback may be critical of district decisions or working conditions. Please give an example of a time when you actively sought out and responded to feedback from teachers and IAS instructional assistants and how you
validated and followed up on the responses. So the grading and reporting policy was one um where we put out open invitations to all staff on on that. We serve we
survey a lot. Um sometimes that just gets lost in translation. And so with the with the grading and reporting piece I think it was really very personal and we didn't want to do a survey. I didn't want to do a survey. I wanted to
sit down and talk with folks around what what was really the issue. Was it the aut was it autonomy? Was it, you know, was it the workload? You know, what was really the challenge? And in some cases, those conversations went for an hour.
Um, they were great conversations. Um, and I did learn a lot. So, you know, that's probably the most extensive example of where, you know, information was was sought out. Um,
you know, I know in in Connecticut, and I'm sure it's the same in in Mass, it's been a minute since I've been a part of a a teachers union in Massachusetts. Um it's a long time ago, but um the Connecticut Teachers Union will will do
um they'll call it a blitz where it sounds really scary and and bad, but when it's done right, it's great. Um because they will interview staff and so and then we'll we meet with the executive counsel and we'll get and so
it's not a survey. It's just they have conversations and they bring back um information. They bring back what's good, what's not so good, you know, what are some areas that need to be improved. And it it's nice because
the executive council or representatives from the from the union will actually sit and meet with their colleagues. Well, they'll get the real scoop and then they'll be able to bring that they're able to bring that back to us and we're able to sit down and and problem solve and say, "Okay, so what's
the priority of what we really need to focus on? You know, what can we control and what can we where can we make some headway?" So, I found those to be really really helpful. Um, my office is in the building, so I find and there's a revolving door Whoops. in our office.
So, um, folks pop in That's another piece too is, you know, having that an open door policy has been really helpful. Um, drives my assistant absolutely insane. She usually wants to kill me because she's supposed to be the
gatekeeper and I'll hear I'll hear somebody outside. Um, and so for me, like I don't want to miss an opportunity to hear what somebody has to say if there's an issue. Um, so I'll either get up and go out or she'll ask
because she usually will know. my door. If my door is open, it means that someone can come in and sit down and have a conversation. So, that's another piece as well. I think, you know, sometimes the the idea of asking for feedback sometimes can be contrived and you because I' I've found
that when I when we ask for it, sometimes we we don't get a balanced we don't get balanced feedback. You either get the people who are really happy about it or really not. And so there's no balanced kind of piece. Um I
did find with the blitz that we got we got a b really balanced um balanced feedback of this is what's going well. These are the things that that really aren't going well. Sometimes they were conflicting which opened up some really interesting dialogue around okay so some people think it's great and
some people think it's the worst thing ever. So what do we do about that? You know how do we make everybody happy and get to a place where you know folks are on the same page. But um I found the open door policy works really well for me. Um
not for my assistant. >> Well, first of all, thank you for coming out in the cold on Groundhog Day and a full moon and all the madness of winter. So, thank you for coming because I know it's a long drive. >> So, this is your opportunity. What
questions do you have for us >> and were there questions we didn't ask you that you would like to answer? >> So I think I mean my question is or one of my questions is you know as you look I feel like I got a
nice feel I think for the district today. This was a great experience, you know, being able to talk to folks and just really get a feel for um what's happening in the buildings and what some of the priorities and the goals are and um
just how valued your staff is by your leadership is amazingly impressive. It's it's great. Um my question is what are the what are the obstacles that you see
um that might be preventing progress with the district? So folks, we've got time. We can each take a moment to answer a question. if you have a response to this. I don't expect everyone to have one, but if you have one um that you would like to
offer, keeping in mind that we we all have our own individual perspectives. None of us are speaking for the committee at this point. Um does anyone have something that they would like to say in response to that? Okay. Can I do member Denive, then
member Goodwin, and then member Childs? I think um this is my fifth year on the committee. So from my perspective, every year or almost every year there has been disqu around budget transparency. And I think that something that would
really serve our district is a new way to look at the budget. Um and I don't think that there's anything wrong with the budget. I just think that it's not as digestible as it should be both for the committee, for our city
councilors, and for the public at large. So, I think that I think that we've made a lot of changes and we've grown a lot as a district and as a committee. But, I think that that is something that just keeps coming again and again is how can we like there's really no more education
that we can do on it. We're at the point where I think we need to rethink how we're communicating it and how we're looking at it as a whole. So, that's something that I would like to see change. >> Thank you. >> Declining enrollment. We have dropped um
in the last 10 years um from almost 2,00 to,300. So, we've we've dropped um we have an amazing staff and I'm glad you you caught that. Um but we also have had um
change in staff. I think one of the things that happened with the pandemic was a lot of people chose to retire. So, we have a lot of new staff. Um and we've had turnover in principles. One school
has had almost a new one every year. So that's really hard for teachers and it's hard for families. So I think that's the big piece. Um we are a a city of poverty and we're looking to bring in more businesses,
uh more partnerships, working with places like GCC, our community college, our YMCA. Um somebody who can build those relationships. um because it's we are in it together and it it's hopeful to have somebody who
is willing to work on those partnerships. >> Uh very similar to what my colleagues have said um for the budget along with the need for it to be transparent and communicated in a way that anyone can pick it up and just fully understand all
of it. state aid isn't where it should be and so we have to deal with the reality that we're given and with the economy of scale when we have our declining enrollment that just makes the budget trickier and then also on the
staff note uh retaining the IAS instructional assistants and recruiting them when they're so key for our most vulnerable kids and it's a hard job and it's hard to find people that are the right people for the job and who will
stay in it, especially with what we can afford to pay them. So, I'd say those are the biggest obstacles I see. >> Thank you. Go ahead, Mayor. That was a good question. I'd echo what
some of the others said about the incredible staff that we have and the incredible support you'll get from families. Um uh not being able to fill vacancies is one item and um
the ability of the children to read has kept uh the schools as a whole from succeeding or progressing. Um I think we need to focus more on that. Um first they have to learn to read and then later they
read to learn and that is I'm not in the schools. That's what I've heard that and I've seen factually the the data on that as well. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else got anything from staff perspective? Great. Oh, yes. Go ahead,
member Dman. >> Um, thank you. Yeah, kind of following up on some things that have been mentioned. It's a relatively lowincome district um with very high needs. our student population has a a relatively
high rate of um special needs, 504s, um disabilities, and other things. Uh this makes it really challenging and uh it makes it feel like the district is always strapped. Um and so there are conversations going on about cha changing the state level chapter 70
funding, which would be fantastic. I'm not sure exactly where those conversations are, but um we run into challenges in this district because we already have rather high property taxes and um at least as a rate. Our property
tax rate is quite high and then the property values are lower than those of the state average. So it comes out to not enough money. So this is a constant um tight rope walk that it seems like we've been walking for a long time. Um, and it seems like it calls for
innovation and creative solutions. >> Would you Is that >> I just wanted to add one more thing. Um, sometimes I think that we are our own worst enemy and that our obstacle can be self-perception. Um, our students are amazing. Our staff
are phenomenal. Our district is actually really cool and our kids do some cool stuff statewide even. Um, and sometimes we don't do a good enough job of making sure that everybody knows that we're actually pretty cool. We're great, you
know, and yes, all of these challenges that my colleagues have mentioned are real and they're solvable. Like, we can make progress here. And in the meantime, we're still doing some really good stuff. And I don't want us to get caught in a loop of thinking that we're the worst thing in the world because of all
of these challenges. So, I just wanted to name that as well. >> Thank you. >> I think that's a that's a challenge I think too with um we forget to self-promote and to and to pat ourselves on the back and and put it out there.
It's um I think that's one of the biggest challenges that schools sometimes have especially if you don't have all the resources of some bigger districts where you have someone especially hired to you know take pictures and do press releases every 3 seconds. So it becomes you know it has
to be that that priority of you know how do we make sure that all those great things are are getting out there so that everybody knows How do you see um how do you how would you describe relationships between town
officials and school officials? We're working on it. Yeah, I would say that they're not as bad as they could be. They're certainly improving. Their lines of communication are open. You know, no one is stonewalling anyone else. Um,
and I think that the point about having, for instance, budget documents that are just accessible that that are very clearly laid out, that is one example of ways that we could improve communication through just being transparent even more, you know. Um, so nobody is Yeah, we're we're not fighting,
>> but I do think that there could be more regular communication that happens. That's my take on it. >> Great. >> Thank you. >> I think that we've entered um a new era recently and I have really high hopes
for change. Um I think that we have some brand new city councilors that are very interested in learning about school funding and are very interested in working with us. And in past years, we haven't had any communication with city
officials. There was just no talk across lines. And now we have that. So I think that if we step up to the plate as a committee and create avenues and experiences um for them to interact with us, I think they will hopefully do the same. and I
look forward to having lots of joint meetings with them across um complimentary subcommittees. So I think that we're on the path towards that being really positive. Uh but we have not begun that work yet.
>> Thank you. >> Okay. So I just I do want to I want to answer one question from earlier today if that's okay. So, there was a question asked at the meet and greet that we didn't have time for around um growth mindset and and and how do you kind of
go about instilling or putting forward or teaching, I guess, a a fostering a a growth mindset amongst staff. And, you know, it's we've it's it's one of those things
where, you know, I I thought about that all day. in my two hours um in between about how we've done that in other districts and it was a little bit different in each district. So um you know in Windsor locks I think in either way you start with an educational
component a professional development component of folks really knowing and understanding. So you can go down the Carol Dwek road and and you can do the the you know the research and share it and make sure that that you know staff know and are are up to speed on it. I think at this point most folks know um
what growth mindset is and how it works. What's really hard to know and measure is a belief in it. You know, do we believe that all kids can learn at high levels? And beyond that, you know, do we believe that we can teach all kids to
those high levels? Um just kind of takes that question to the next level. And you know if we do you know how do we go about doing that and what are what are the supports and the structures that we need to have in place. So, you know,
rolling that out involves a lot of conversation, an honest conversation with our staff around where are you, you know, do you believe that and what do you need in order to make that happen and what are the
what are the systems and the structures that would support that? Because as we mentioned a little bit earlier today, traditional education isn't necessarily set up to support a growth mindset. You know, our grading practices in general don't
support a growth mindset. You take a test, you fail it, and you move on. It's not it's an autopsy of what you don't know. So, it's not really set up to you make a mistake, and then you have an opportunity to go back and actually learn what you didn't know before. So
it's a different process and you have to go about you know relearning how what that instruction can look like and what that formative um what the formative assessment process looks like that then leads up to your summitive. So that summitive assessment
is not an autopsy of what you don't know. It's now just a validation of what you've learned along the way and what's the instruction look like. So in Windsor Locks, we kind of we did that instructional piece and we built it into the teacher about process with teacher
support. Teachers were a big part of our brand new TV val document that we did 8,000 years ago. Um in at EO it was a little bit different. It was more built into the policy as we went through those iterations um for grading and and reporting. And you know what the reality
is now is that teaching and learning has changed. you know, gone are the days of um it's my job to teach, it's your job to learn. It's now it's my job that you learn. And so if our data is saying that kids haven't
learned, how are we supporting our teachers in making sure that they can support kids in in getting that learning done? So that is there's different ways to get there, but I think collaboratively with with the teachers and with the administrators because the
last thing that the absolute last thing that will work is doing it to anyone. It has to be done with and so figuring out what works for Greenfield in figuring out, you know, where do we stand on a growth mindset and then what are the best steps that we need to take
to move it forward in a way that supports the strategies and and the and the systems that would make it work for kids because ultimately I think you know most of the research shows that what gratifies teachers the most is when they see their students successful. That's
why teachers get into the business. It's because they want to see their kids successful. And so, how do we support that? Through that collaboration. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Um, we've reached the conclusion of our formal interview process for our first candidate. We really appreciate your
time and your answers. Um, at this time, you are like, we will not be deliberating right now. We'll wait until after the second candidate. Um, you're free to stick around if you'd like. um or I know that you have quite a long drive um and we'll be in touch either way. So, thank you so much.
>> Thank you so much. It was great seeing you. >> Um for the members, we will not be deliberating right now. I suggest if you have a moment, take some notes, jot your thoughts down. What stuck out to you? What did you like? What did you have concerns about? If anything, what would you like, you know, what would you wish
you would have known more about? When you think about the best fit for our district, sort of ask yourself, is this candidate that person? Do not deliberate with one another. That will come later. But you are recessed until the next candidate comes and the next interview will start
at 8 pm. Thank you all also members of the audience for being here. 8:00 p.m. All right. Thank you everyone for being back. Um, oh, it looks like we are absent our recording secretary. I would like to give
give her just a moment to get back. Ha, there she is. Excellent. Uh, perfect timing. Um, so everyone, thank you so much for welcoming uh welcome back. Thanks so much. Uh, let me remember to unmute so our friends online can hear us again. So that's
great. It is 7:59, so we're even a little ahead of schedule. And we are getting ready to start the second interview with our uh second candidate Carol Cruiser. Um we have time and just to give a everyone so everyone knows how it works, we're going to give time for
you to give your opening statement. Um and then we'll start with member Goodwin asking question number two and go around just like we did for the last candidate. Um we have 75 minutes set aside for these, you know, opening statement and seven additional questions. So we've got time.
>> Okay. Um, and with that, I think we can go ahead and get started. Everyone ready? Excellent. Um, and I did want to let you know that we have two additional guests. Um, these are representatives from our education association, our union. Um,
and they have a question on here that they will be asking themselves. So, wanted to let you know. >> Um, all right. With that, please, we'd love to hear. Um, do you have an opening statement for us? >> Sure. Sure. Um, well, I'm Carol Cruiser and before I start my opening statement,
I just wanted to say thank you. Uh, thank you for having me here. Thanks for a great day. Uh, thank you for ordering the sunshine cuz it made it a whole lot better. It was gorgeous to be out and about today. Uh, it was wonderful to see your schools and see the energy of your
schools and driving around town. Uh, I got to spend some time at the library while I was waiting for the interview and it was such a a nice, wonderful place. got a little bite to eat and gave me a sense of what a a vibrant community Greenfield is. So, um I'm just really happy to be here. So, thank you very
much for the opportunity. So, I'm the opening statement. I I just want to say that I hope that through my resume and the recommendations and conversations that uh you might have had with people that in Chapi, colleagues,
staff, people in the community, um I hope you got a little sense of who I am and hopefully we'll expand on that tonight. um that you'll see that I'm a collaborative, empathetic, inspirational leader. And what I would like to do is make sure that all your questions are
answered so you understand that I'm steady, I'm dedicated, and I really think that my values align with what you're looking for in Greenfield through talking with people and and through what my research um of Greenfield is. It's very similar to where I come from. It's
very similar to some of the things that we've been working on and I just think that I'm really ready to be of service to Greenfield. Um, it's going to take a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm and I have that. It's going to take time. Um, and I think that I'm a a very
stable leader that can help. I would like to enhance all the stuff that you have going great here. And I'd also like to work with the school committee and the teachers and the staff on what you would like to improve and go forward with Greenfield schools. So some of the
things that I I want to make sure that I'm focusing on is strong academic inclusive teams that will guide instructional ex excellence and will help with continuous improvement. Um, I'm also really really an advocate for
mentoring and supporting staff, making sure that they have everything they need to feel empowered and ready to handle all the complexities of the schools. Um, they need strong academic to be able to deliver strong academics and to help with all the non-academics and social
emotional supports that us the students need. So, if you were to choose me, I would come here with an open mind, a lot of thoughtful questions, a lot of questions. Um, and I would also want to examine all your systems and structures.
I saw a little bit today. I would like to dive deep in what you have for structures, how they're working, how they're improving student experience, how they're helping staff help student experience. And finally, um I just want Greenfield
Public Schools to continue to be and strive to be a place where every single student and staff feels respected, valued, and understand for the students what they would like to see in their future. So, I'm really excited about the
opportunity. I'm really excited to answer your questions, and um I hope you will see that I could be the best fit for superintendent Thank you so much for for coming to Greenfield. We really appreciate um having you.
>> I'm glad you had a great day. So, and thank you for bringing the warm weather and we really appreciate that. >> I thought you brought it to me. >> I don't know. Um so this question has a couple parts. Um why you for Greenfield
and why Greenfield for you? How would you apply your experiences in the context of the Greenfield Public School District? Okay. So, I do think that me for Greenfield and
and Greenfield is the perfect place to show what I can do to help you get to where you'd like to be and to celebrate what you already have. So, one of the things that I think that why I'm a great fit for Greenfield is where I my
experience is with um districts that need help with their accountability scores. I worked very closely with the Massachusetts SSOS and DESIE to work on building the first um
to work on building ILTs and data teams. I've worked with Massachusetts in uh data wise cycles and empowering teachers in order to be able to look at how data is used across um schools and across the
district. My experience is with looking at horizontal alignment. Um obviously Chabby is a much bigger district but they have a lot of sim we have a lot of similar demographics. we have a lot of similar um aspirations and goals for
really giving a strong instructional core for high quality material. And so I've had a lot of work with that in the high school as a principal. And now for my third year in um in central office I've also worked on doing vertical
alignment prek tok uh with curriculum with systems and with structures. other experiences that I think would be beneficial for Greenfield and what I bring is I'm the assistant superintendent for support services um for Chipe and that's about 7,000
students 15 schools we do prek all the way to um 12th grade and so now I directly oversee anything that is not directly curriculum so um all the social emotional supports counseling
transportation nursing behavior discipline, food service, athletics. I'm going to miss something. Um, but I work very closely with the superintendent and the assistant superintendent for instruction. We work together. So, but anything that's not curriculum, um, I do
also work with the summer school and title one and the title one coordinator. So I believe that my experience is putting structures in place, putting safety features in place, looking at
making sure that um there is the right structures in case anyone feels that they are being bullied. Um as a title N coordinator, I work with civil rights, I work with Title N. So, I've put a lot of procedures in place to make sure that
all the reporting of any sort of issues is dealt with swiftly and that there's procedures and policies in place. Um, I've worked with a lot of the discipline and behavior expectations all the way from all the schools and put some place
some uh guidelines to help teachers manage behavior expectations. And I also think I've been a great support to administrators and principles on how to deal with some of those in the classroom. So I really between being a a
health teacher and being very uh strong in social emotional support and then being a vice principal for a school of about thousand for quite a few years I believe six years seven years and then a principal for that same school. I really saw a lot of the instruction. I saw a
lot of what needed to be done. And now being at central office was just vital to understand the budgeting, the the politics, what what everyone was going through from all ages and all grades and being able to to
attack the different problems with with teams, sometimes on my own, mostly with teams, in order to make sure that schools and students had the best education, that we were looking at the whole child. um that we were looking at how the
community could help and I've done a lot of work with that with wraparound services. So I do have a lot of strong experience and a lot of um different areas and a lot of multitasking and I've been able to stay laser focused on
helping all students um get what they need. And I'm also very honest and straightforward about gaps and other issues that still need to be addressed no matter where I am. And I would do the same for Greenfield. Um I would look at
data. I would ask a lot of questions. I would talk to a lot of people and make sure that everyone feels comfortable with the the direction and the vision of all of you and of myself and of the
commu the greater community in in Greenfield. Thank you. >> Good evening and thank you for being here. um walk us through how you prepare a budget. We are interested not only in
your methodology but also in your philosophy. >> Okay. Um so this is it's been very interesting to go from managing a budget of about a 100 staff members and a thousand students um for the years as principal
and then being on the other side of that in central office and seeing everything that goes into doing a budget for 15 schools. So this is where I have learned so much in three years. So my philosophy for the for the budget is that you
really need to see the vision of the community and of the school committee. And then you have to really look at the strategic plan. I mean I've looked at yours a lot. I know it goes to um 2028 for a lot of your goals. And so you want to make that strategic plan and the
vision of your community and school committee um into a reality. And my philosophy is that there's a lot of things you have to consider and a lot of voices that you need to hear from and you always have to get how can I use the
budget in the best way to move student achievement and to move student goals. So that always has to be in your forefront. Um but then you do have to understand the realities of the world. um facilities, the increasingly
transportation budget, the special education expenses and out of district expenses, um heat supplies, all that has to be taken in account. So, you kind of have to look at you have to look at what's essential and then what is okay, that's
nice to have, but we can do without it for the moment. Um, obviously the philosophy right now is we have to take a real hard look at what's going on in the city and in the federal government and in the state government and it's really important to stay really right on
course with that and know what's going on and know that it can change by the day. So, I think that's really important. And you also have to think about what you have for a foundation budget, for a local budget, and then what you have for grants and what you could possibly get for grants, if
there's special projects or anything out there, because there definitely is depending on what you want and depending on what your priorities are. So, a lot of my philosophy is always going back to what is in the best interest of students. As far as methodology,
you need to start early. You need to start with a budget calendar. And so what I would do is I would, you know, go from what we have done in Chipe and what you have done in Greenfield, which I think I've looked at both and been involved in chickpe obviously and they're kind of similar to
start really really early. And then you need to get um you need to get the players in the same room or in many rooms as you're talking. So that would be talking to the school committee, the city council, um getting feedback from others in the community. And then I
would want to spend a lot of time with the assistant superintendent of instruction, teaching and learning because that's vital and obviously the business manager. I do I do did see that there was a posting on the 29th for one. Um and so that's really important. The
director of pupil services is huge because special education is such a huge component to a lot of people the budget. Um, and then you have to get into the buildings and sit down with the principles and the principal's team and who the principal wants you to talk to.
What do the teachers need? Um, what is what is going to move curriculum? What is going what is going to give you the best outcomes for your students? And so you so you can't just look at what's good for tomorrow and what's good for next year. You have to have a one year,
three year, 5 year, 10 year plan. um buildings get older, things need to be replaced, things need to be fixed. So, I would look at all of that and I would work on it with with those people and then I would come back over and over.
Another part of my methodology would be to make sure there's no surprises. You can't always you can't always predict surprises. You can't always predict a leaky roof or um I saw today that the a pipe had burst in one of the elementary schools. Um, I know they're fixing that
kindergarten. So, um, you can't predict everything, but you can you can go with the scenarios. You can say, "What if what if what if this happens?" You can have plan A, plan B, and plan C. And when you have to go to the plan B or plan C, then I would want to make sure
that um the schools know it, the union is aware of it, the school committee is aware of it, city council, and just come back to the table. So, it's a lot about communication um and it's a lot about transparency. It it is tough times right now and so we
want to make sure that we're working as a team um and we're hearing all the voices and then when the tough decisions have to be made, you know, I put that out for the school committee and um to see which way you would like me to go.
And so that's how I would do it. Hi, thank you for coming. Yes, >> it is important that schools work closely with other city departments and city boards. Could you tell us how you have successfully worked in these environments and what you will do here
to develop those linkages? >> So, I think one of the um the biggest positives and one of the reasons I've been so successful in Chipe is I have been there a long time. So, I've developed a lot of relationships over the years. Um, and I do understand that
the importance of that. So, I would um I think it's unbelievably important to have those relationships that people know that they can come talk to you, that people believe in your integrity and they believe that they can trust you. And so, if I were to work here with
city departments and city boards, I would want to have similar relationships. And that means putting the time in. That means having the conversations um being around going to going to whatever open meetings that I am allowed to go to, invited to um you know
watching them as well when I can. I I have seen a couple city council meetings and so I think it's important that that you build the trust and that people trust me. So some of the so as student support well as vice principal principal and now as the assistant super of
student supports I work very closely with um the city council but I also work closely with the fire department the police department and outside agencies in the city. So, I'm responsible for working with the police department on um
on lockdown trainings and I did this year I did a professional development myself with the help of the police department and I trained all staff on um fire hazards, safety hazards, lockdown
procedures. Uh we also added some signs of suicide and some mental health in there. And it was important for me to do the PD myself with a little help from a police officer for a few things. Um, but it was really important for me to do the PD myself so that the people that I work
with understood that I understood the importance of it. That I believe safety is the biggest most first priority that you have to have in order to run schools and run a district. And I needed that the staff, the paras, the teachers um to
see that I I believed what I was saying and I meant what I was saying. I work with the fire department on um and the our director of maintenance. We work when we do fire inspections. We also did when I first came as the assistant superintendent, we hired an outside
agency to do a huge safety audit um physical safety audit with all 15 schools and I worked with these outside agencies just to look at everything from boiler rooms to vestibules um to cameras
that were needed um looking at the physical safety and the procedures that we had for safety and I worked with those outside agencies and the city departments. Um I have a very good relationship with the mayor and I've known him a long time. We've worked
together. Um he was a parent of of one of the students before he was the mayor. Uh so I feel that I am very capable of understanding the complexities that come from trying to run a city and how being
the being a superintendent you're a vital part of that and you need to be able to work with those with the different organizations and understand that everyone wants the best for the citizens. So as superintendent I have to fight for the school. I have to fight for what's right. Um, but we also have
to make sure that we're a team as a city. So, I have I have done a lot. And just to to recap there, I just think that I want to get out of I want to start right out of the gate getting to know
people. And I think once people talk to me and they know me and they hear from me, um the trust will build and they will know that I am honest and I do what I say and I follow through and I spend the time.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you for coming here. Um what is the most valuable lesson you have learned? We're especially interested in an example of a time when something didn't go as planned and how you responded. How much time did you say I had?
Okay. Wow. I I could answer this a lot. I could answer this all day. Um, so I think one of the most valuable lessons that I've learned um through my time going through the different jobs that I had, vice principal, principal, teacher,
assistant, superintendent, um, is that you have to be as thorough as you can and prepared as you can with whatever plan you're doing. But then you also have to be willing to
say I was wrong or this isn't working or we need to adjust. And I know that's vague so I'm going to be more specific because I could give a few examples. Um when I was a principal we did we we did have difficult time in our special
education subgroup. Uh we were working to improve our scores. We are working to improve our in our classroom. And so we went to look at our co-eing model for special education. This was pre right before pre- pandemic. So we did a lot of
work. We looked at the data and we looked at what was going on in our classrooms and we realized that we needed to be way more inclusive. We needed to get students um who are not islands, who were um not subspparate and
get them into the classrooms as much as possible. And so we did we worked with um with a lot of district help. It was not just me. Uh we worked with a national consultant Dr. uh Lisa Deert. She's worked all over the country and
she was instrumental in working with inclusive practices and coaching us coaching principles coaching teachers on how to include students more in the classrooms and how to do co-eing. Um and there's different models obviously uh
but we worked and we had some teachers who definitely had done co-eing we had done in the past um but we really went full force in how to um do parallel teaching and how to do um a lot of different types of co-eing and it was
working and we were making some progress. Uh but we were looking at the data and and then unfortunately um the pandemic happened. So after the pandemic, we really struggled um as I think a lot of people with keeping
teachers and we struggled with h being able to hire enough teachers and hire enough special education teachers. So once we continued to look at that data with our ILT and our administrative team, uh what we found was that it was it was difficult to have that true
co-eing model the way we we planned it when we didn't when teachers were changing a lot. Um so what I learned from that valuable lesson is you have to keep learning and you have to keep growing and you have to take the best parts of what you learn and then keep
moving. And so that's what we're doing now. So, there's great parts about co-eing. Um, and I would and the inclusive practices that we learned and we modeled were fabulous. Um, but now we're trying to fit that into a model
where we have a huge amount of special education students. So, we're we we don't always have the amount of staff to have co-eing the way we originally thought we would be able to have it. So now we're looking at the data and we're putting them into we're looking at the students and looking at their goals and
looking at their IEPs and sort of making individual plans for each of them and how teachers and special education teachers and the general education teachers can help them. So we've so we focused on really improving tier one
instruction and really identifying the tier 2 and tier three interventions that can help the students. So, there's a lot of lessons I've learned. Um, but I but the biggest one is to keep looking at the data and making sure that you're
adjusting when the data tells you you need to adjust and making sure that you're willing to admit that you don't have all the answers and that you need really good teams and you need people around and you need to listen to everybody and everyone to come to the table. And then you adjust your and you
take the best and then you admit that things don't work and you move forward. >> Thank you. Um, please tell us about a time that you made an effective district-wide change in your time as a leader. How did you decide on a change
and how did you measure the results? So coming in, this is my third year um in the district level, but I like I said, I've been in the district for a long time. And um I would say the district-wide change that I made when I
came up was to try and it's working um to get the 15 schools to kind of row in the same direction when it came to behavioral expectations and supports for for uh behaviors in the classroom.
Um so there were what we did and is we focused on trying to support teachers on how to manage behaviors in the classroom and then what kind of behaviors definitely needed
administrative help and how to distinguish between the two. Teachers were really clamoring to have transparency to making sure their voices were heard. Um I'm I'm sure it's no different here where some of the behaviors have increased um especially
at the prek K the younger levels that teachers were not used to um and all the way up through through the 12th um grade. So, one of the things I really focused on as someone who handles discipline and someone who handles social emotional was to implement um an
electronic reporting system for teachers so that they could put into their administration when they were having behaviors and they would put whether it was um teacher managed, which we did professional development on what they
thought what they thought was teacher they should be dealt with as teachers and what they felt administrators should deal with and we worked with our principles a lot on on those things. So we did through Google forms, we put conduct forms together where teachers
could put in to their administrator uh depending on those size. It could be right to the principal or it could be to their vice principal and it would say this happened in the classroom with so- and so I dealt with it but I just want you to know. Um and then they could put this happened in the classroom. It's not
an emergency but I need support on this. It did not take the place of emergencies. you know, the administrators still have walkie-talkies. They still respond to emergencies, but this was a way to um make sure that administrators saw what was going on and was responding to it.
Then on the Google form, um they could see what the response was. they could see if the principal or the vice principal, depending on who it was, sometimes a counselor even, um, called home, did a parent meeting or some other alternative um, alternative methods for
suspension. They could see it right there. Did not take the place of conversations, but it was a way in a fast-paced world for them to make sure that their voices were heard. So, that is working. And then I get those reports. um I can see them anytime but I
get the full reports every Monday and so I'm not just using open architects to look at discipline data which I do use but I'm also seeing what the teachers are saying and I've been able to support teachers that way and support principles that way um by having that system. So,
and then we are dovetailing that system into also I'm not going to say a change necessarily, but using a lot of what we're learning from that to strengthen our MTSS structure. So again, we have
had um we have great we have varying levels of strength in our MTSS structure in the 15 buildings and some you know have great policies and procedures and some were a little different and not that we want every school to be the
same. That's not the goal. But if the expectations are high and the expectations are the same, um then teachers know what to expect, administrators know what to expect, and the students know what to expect as they grow up and as they go through our system. So I was able to dovetail that
district change um with the online reporting with um improving the MTSS structure and I did that with the help of um the director of counseling and the assistant superintendent of instruction. And so we were to make that really strong and if I'm and we also had a lot
of PD on that if I'm to be honest we're still working on it. Um and we're still working on that. We've gone to some conferences and we've also worked with um some of the you know the Massachusetts blueprint and so it's a work in progress but we've already seen
behaviors go down. uh we have seen teachers being feeling more heard um and feeling that if they don't feel heard there's an avenue where they can say I've reported this so many times and I can go look at
it and I can make sure it was addressed and it helps the conversations and so I do think that has been an effective district-wide change and I look forward to how it continues as we keep putting in more social emotional supports
um into our procedures. >> Hi, welcome. Um so requesting feedback is often described as one of the most impactful practices of effective leadership even when feedback may be critical of district decisions or working
conditions. Please give an example of a time when you actively sought out and responded to feedback from teachers and IAS, our instructional assistants, and how you validated and followed up on the responses. All right, I'm going to read it real
quick. Okay. So, I I absolutely agree. I just wanted to make sure I understood the question right. So, when I actively sat out and responded to feedback, so I want to make sure I get it the right way. Um, so there's a so there's a lot of ways I
don't think you can be an effective leader unless you're willing to to hear the truth, the good, bad, and the ugly. Um, it doesn't do any good. I'm I'm pretty straightforward. I say what I mean, and I appreciate people who do the same. Um, and I think that's why, you
know, some of the people I've surrounded myself with, uh, with district leadership teams and teaching teams and and just people I've made relationship with over the years, um, tend to be people who just sort of say it say it as they see it. So, some of the ways that I've actually sought out um, as
principal, we established um, a pack, which was a a principal advisory group, which was teacherled or um, instructional assistants. we call them ESPs um or anyone in the staff. So it would they would have the agenda. I would meet with them monthly and it was
a time for them and and there was usually um I was very I had very good relationships with the union and um I had union rep representatives there too and we would come once sometimes twice a month and they would just come and they would bring up anything that they wanted to bring up. Um and that was really
good. It wasn't the only time they could bring things up. Um, but it was something where they felt a little more formal where, okay, I'm here for you. Just tell me, tell me what you have, um, what's brewing, what do you need to get off your chest? And a good thing about
it was they also came with some ideas and some solutions. And so they would come and they would say, "This is a problem and I think this would work. Um, this is upsetting us. This would work." And so I was that really really worked but I didn't want it to be just once a
month. So the other way I would come feedback honestly I would make sure that I was going classroom to classroom in the mornings. Um I would stay later in the afternoons and um I would ask them you know what's going on? How did you
feel about this? What did you think of the faculty meeting? Um did I vomit? Was I too stiff? Was I too serious? was I did I joke around or not take it serious enough? Um, and I also asked different people. I didn't just ask the people that I thought maybe, you know, that
they liked me or didn't like me. So, I think I think that that was helpful. And then so as a principal, you know, I'm going to say one of the one of the main things and I talked about this in in my resume, but
the biggest response that I did listening to the feedback from the teachers was when right after we came back from the pandemic. So when we came back, um it was rough as I'm sure for those of you who are here um all of you know that kind of feels like this time
that's sort of like a movie. Um it's a weird area now, but um but at the time when you know we had trouble getting everybody back, it took us a while. So when they did come back, um the teachers begged me to do something about the cell
phones. It was very it was rough and I think other schools had the same problem. Um but we had a hard time re-engaging the students. They were literally watching YouTube movies. It wasn't just texting on their watch or texting on the phone. they were watching
full movies. Um they were just completely not engaged in class and um the teachers were also coming back from the pandemic. They were re-engaging. Uh we were still wearing masks. We were still distanced and they said this is
our biggest problem. This is our biggest concern right now is we can't do anything uh with the amount of cell phones. Um it was also the time where we had the Tik Tok challenges. Um, and so our my freshman were coming in with really hadn't gone to middle school and
and for those middle school, God bless you, teachers and and principles, that's such a transition year when kids come into nth grade. So they came in so behind and they were looking at the Tic Tacs during the day, ripping down um the
things in the bathroom, putting lipstick and fingernail polish on the on the bathroom because they were looking at these at these videos. um they were trying to find each other during the day, not going to class and wanting to fight. So the teacher said, "Whatever
you do, please please." So I did. Um I at the time it was controversial. It's been a while now. And so I took the leap and I asked for uh I asked for approval and the blessing of the school committee and the superintendent at the time to
introduce the yonder pouches. Um, I worked with the with the community. Um, you know, there there was a at the time some people wouldn't even some people fought back to me that that phones weren't addictive. Um, I don't think
anyone thinks I don't think anyone would fight me on that anymore, but they did. And it was also a time of high anxiety where where parents wanted to contact their kids at all times because they were also anxious. Um, but you know, I really did think it was career suicide. really wasn't sure where it was going to
land me at the time. Um, I was nervous, but I really really thought it was important. So, I did respond and it took a while. It did um just to get all the pieces in place. Um, but we did it and um it was tough. It was tough in the
beginning. Those first couple days I had students, you know, you're talking a thousand students. I had students literally on the floor. It was four floors on the floor crying uh hysterical because we had taken their phones away. Um which kind of proved to me that there
was a problem. Um so from doing that it was a work in progress and then our other high school joined the next year. Um and then I also started to talk in conferences and um nationwide to a lot of other people who wanted to know if if
they could go this route. So that was a direct response from teachers and that was a teacher saying please look at this CBS news article on Yonder and please try to help us and so I did and in return I got a lot of support from
teachers and in the school they still um they still support it and they still help out a lot. So I think that that's wonderful. As the assistant superintendent, um the feedback that I got received and I've spoken a little a little about this, but it was on
behavior management, on safety and security, on making sure that um nothing was brushed under the rug. So you know, I am responsible for making sure that bullying reports get done. I am responsible for making sure I am the
title N coordinator. So, you know, I have put strong procedures and policies in place and every single vice principal and principal knows that the minute they think that there is a Title 9 violation, they stop and they call me and I go out
and I investigate it myself. Um, and I work uh very diligently with what um the guidelines, Massachusetts state law. Um, the other thing was they wanted to make sure the response was, you know, we want to make sure that everyone's safe and
that nobody's civil rights are violated. So, again, I have done a lot of um professional development. I've gone around with we we do have a a lawyer who works with us a few days a week and we've gone to all the secondary buildings and I've also um started to go
to the elementary. I can't believe I'm going to say this but yes, elementary and we've done professional development on how to investigate when there's complaints. We've done professional development on how to follow Massachusetts state law on discipline
and alternatives to suspension and um we've also done a lot on with the alternative suspension we've done a lot of PD on restorative practices. So that's in response from what they were asking from me. So, I've done I had
done restorative practice, you know, in bits and pieces for years as a as a teacher and then a little bit as a vice principal and then you would just see it in pockets. So, when the law changed in Massachusetts and we really were strong on trying to decrease our suspension
rates, um I relooked at the restorative practices and there were people doing it, but I looked at it more from a global on how we could do more of that. So um I listened to them and you know I was very excited last year to re-engage
in restorative practices. We did two professional developments, two days a piece, >> and um we hired someone from the outside to come in and we trained principles, vice principles, counselors, and a few interested teachers on the basics of
restorative practices and then in so then they're using some of those uh practices and ideas. But I think as we know if you if it's not a system, if it's not a structure, if it's not really um rolled out in a in a manner, they'll
continue just to be pockets. So this year in March, I know now have a 3-day co uh train the trainer, train the coach um PD that's going to happen with some outside consultants. So, they're going to come in and they're going to train 10 of us, my district uh director of
counseling, myself, and some principles and counselors, and they're going to train us on how to coach others and how to train others. And then that group of 10, we will um develop a three to five year plan for the district so that we
can really make sure that um the structure is there and that who's ever in that seat and whoever is rowing that boat has the policies and procedures and has that knowledge. um so that we can really use those restorative practices
and that we can really gauge the infect effectiveness and and that was that was all from staff um asking okay you want us to do this this and this so from my side from the support side we need your
support as well um so I do feel validated about that I feel validated about listening to the teachers um I have very good relationships with Um, I've worked hard on it and even when um we've had to have difficult feedback
going both ways and I've had to give difficult feedback, I feel that's received well um because I'm I'm willing to listen to and and take the feedback back. What questions do you have for us? And were there any questions we didn't ask
that you would like to answer? Good. Okay. All right. Um, yes, I do. So, I do feel like I have a sense and I I didn't have time to meet as many people today as I thought. I was on a strict schedule. I was told make sure I
was out to make sure I wasn't late and uh so but I was happy to get to meet the principles and I got into a couple classrooms and um I kind of got a little bit of sense but I guess my question to you is as a school committee what's your
biggest priority or the first thing the superintendent should do when they come into the into the Just like we did last time, if folks have something that they would like to respond. All right, I see member Goodwin and then
I see member Deniv. >> I think with any new superintendent, the most important thing is the listening and asking great questions. Um uh we have an amazing staff um amazing families. Kids, you want to know something? Ask the children. They'll
tell you. >> One of the things that we've been trying to create as a school committee in recent years is a process of creating goals. Not just goals for the district, but goals for the committee. And this is a place where we've struggled. We
haven't had any effective meetings in that way yet. So my fervent plan is that we will come together as a team and have a goal setting meeting that aligns with our strategic plan and that allows our
voices to be heard because we hear from our constituents and we have to bring forward that to you. So, I'd like to see a new superintendent embrace that process and help us to create a really well ststructured goal setting plan so
that we can all hit the ground rowing in the same direction with ideas for the future. Um because that's somewhere where we have struggled. So, that's what I would like to see. >> Okay. Um so, we have worked really
diligently the last three years. Um so when I came to central office there's also a new superintendent, a new assistant superintendent and myself. Um and so we have worked really diligently on goal
setting and on making a strategic plan and um so we talked to the the community for hours and hours. We went out to the community. Uh we had people helping us
to go out to athletic games and out to the community center and really listen to the people of the community and then listening to the principles, to the school committee, to the staff and to to really synthesize like what is the
vision? What are the goals? What are the values um that as a district you hold you hold dear? And then from that vision, the strategic plan was born. So I do I do know that you're you know the strategic plan that you have now um has
a lot on curriculum, student supports, infrastructure and it's to 2028 which will be here before you know it. It'll be very very quick. So, you know, it would be great to look at that strategic plan and see if if any of you have
changed your mind or or what's grown from that or what's changed from that and then to sit and it's to look at the top, you know, if you look at what your individual goals are as a school committee and try to synthesize that
into a school committee goal. And then that would go down to the superintendent and and what the superintendent goals are with that district team. And so then you go from there down to the principles and the buildings. And a lot of that has
to do with transparency. Um and I think that when you're goal setting, you you do want to say where where do we want to be? You know, it's kind of like when you do UDL in the classroom, when you're when you teach with the ending in mind. Um, you want to
plan your goals with the ending in mind. So, I would come in and ask a ton of questions. What What do you want to see Greenfield, you know, the Greenfield public schools in 20 years? What would be the perfect Nothing's perfect, but
what would be the perfect educational experience of a student um for Greenfield? And so you need to hear from all of you about what that is. And then I agree, you have to talk to a lot of students and see what their voice is. um
because they will tell you and they do know and they may articulate it differently um depending on their age or their life experiences or whether they've been here since prek or whether they came in as a 10th grader. Um they may have a different perspective on
things. Um but they're going to tell you like it is. And so, you know, you want to look at that from from an equity lens. Um you want to look at that from how the world is going to change. So you need to look at you know how is AI going
to change uh the way we teach and how is the you know what DESIE is looking for us going to change things how is the curriculum that you've adopted going to change things and so you need to look at all of that and say what is our vision
vision of a learner when somebody looks back and says says I had a great educational experience in Greenfield because I got to do this this and this. Um, and so you want to have that vision and you want to have that insight, but
then the the nitty-gritty of doing goals is to sit around the room and talk about it and sit around the room and and we've done it, you know, we've done some brainstorming and some activities. We've done some research into best practices
and the research and so I understand how difficult it is but I do believe you wouldn't be here if you didn't want the best for the kids. So if you start what's best for the students and then right after that what's best for the families and right after that
what's best for um the staff then I think that's the common ground that you work from and but it also has to be the goals have to be lofty but doable and then they have to
have action plans under those goals and they have to be measurable. So then you have to do the monitoring of them. So you know there is a reason they put the strategic plan you know by 2026 by 2028 because you if you just write it and it
sits on a shelf and it's not alive and it's not talked about um then it it doesn't mean anything. So, you need you need to go you need to sort of go back up and down those goals from the top to the bottom um and then back up again to
see are they working? Do they need to be adjusted? Um has the world changed. So, I do think I can help um with goals. I think I can help with vision. Um, I would start kind of what I started today listening
to a lot of great, you know, I got to hear from a couple good kids. They were talking about um, the Groundhog Day and I walked in and I I thought maybe I I spilled the beans about six more weeks of winter, but they had heard, they knew. Um, and you know, I I at the
parent, we did have a couple kids come at the public forum and they were talking about some things that they would like to see. you know, they were talking about I mean, you do you hear about it. They don't want to sit too much. Um, they want more project-based
learning, you know, and um it was just a couple kids, but I am sure that when you talk to them, you know, they will tell you they want real life skills. They want to leave Greenfield public schools um with a vision, with a passion. Now,
as we all know, that vision and passion could change a hundred times as they grow older, but they still have it. And so, that's what we need to do. We need to inspire the kids. We need to help them set goals, and we need to help them achieve that. Um, so I know it can be a
daunting process, but I think once you get the structure and process in place, it becomes easier and easier, but it has to be monitored. It has to breathe life. Um, and you have to be willing to
have an open mind and you have to be willing to keep asking questions and that's what I would do and I would help in any way and when we would as a group get those goals um I would do everything in my power to um make sure they get
accomplished, make sure they are monitored, make sure that the larger community knows what the goals are and that they stand behind the goals. So I do think that's important. >> Thank you so much. >> Really appreciate it. That is the end of the formal interview that we have for
you and the formal set of questions. Really appreciate your time and your willingness to come and and do the whirl run whirlwind tour of all of our buildings. >> It was great. I thank you. >> So thank you. Um, members, I would love for us to take about five minutes, do a bio break, gather your thoughts, and
then come back here ready to deliberate since we can we can move ahead. >> All right. Yeah. >> Thank you very much. I appreciate it. I know it's been a long day for you all. So, thank you very much. >> Great. >> All right. >> Yeah. Five minutes.
a public deliberation and a vote to offer the position to one of the one of the candidates. Um, I did believe that one of our members would like to make a motion though. >> I would like to move to add to the agenda a second public comment period
before deliberations. So moved. >> All right. So we have a motion by member child's and a second by member Deniv. Any discussion on that? >> All right. Ready for a vote? All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? I think
it is unanimous. Um so with that then we will reopen public comment. Um, so if there are members of the public in the audience right now that would like to come up and give their thoughts for three minutes about what you've just heard, or if there's anyone online, please put your
name in the chat or raise your virtual hand. Um, indicate in some way that you would like to give a comment. Now is the time. All right. So, if you will please state your name and your address for the record. Uh, and then you'll have three
minutes. And if you'll actually give me just a moment to pull up my timer. Timer. >> Okay. It's um Doug Selwin. Sl 38 Forest Avenue in Greenfield. >> Great. And I've got timers on.
>> I'm sorry. >> Go for it. >> Okay. Um, obviously wasn't prepared. Um, first of all, I really appreciate the process and I think that it's really hard to see somebody for half an hour, 40 minutes in
this setting to have a a larger picture of who they are. Um, but the focus on who the children are and listening seems to me to be at the top of the list that I hope you consider. um as you're as you're thinking through the candidates
um recognizing that Greenfield can't solve its issues alone and that really recognizing and thinking about who the person you choose will be willing and able to reach out to work with other
districts and others who are facing similar situations. I hope that's part of your consideration because again we can't do it alone. Um and a lot of the change that we need is what schools all across the state need. And so thinking
about the larger picture I hope is also part of the of the equation. And um you know I'm just going to stop there. I have way more that I could say but I don't. So you can put your timer to sleep.
>> Thank you. >> Thanks for asking. >> All right. Any other members of the public? Great. >> And again, same rigor, if you could say your name and spell it for our recording secretary and also your address. Thank
you. You can tell I'm new at this. Jan mayor, J an M- ah e r 38 Forest Avenue. Um and I also was not expecting to be up here. So, uh um I I'm just going to
share my sort of instinctive um gut level feelings at this point, which is that um and and can I be overtly in favor of somebody here? >> Yeah, it's public. >> This the second candidate to me grew on
me. um seemed to grow in her answers through the the hour that uh or slightly less than an hour. So at the end of it as a retired educator myself, but thinking about, you know, all the issues that have been on
the table here, I felt like she was the one I would really want to meet right away and start that conversation with. And it's it's I can't tell you like a logical set of why why why but it was it was just the feeling that I had. Uh I
think part of it was how often she mentioned centering the students and listening to the students. Um and then she mentioned particular curriculum approaches and and and I liked her wide range of experience with uh the
behavioral issues that grew out of COVID. um seemed like she really learned a lot and got a handle on those and um so I trusted that she would be somebody who could really help help that settling
down continue to happen. Uh so that's if I were if I were voting I would cast my vote for the second candidate. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, I'd like to make another call for anyone online who might want to
contribute public comment. Um, I actually think the best way for us to be able to hear you is for you to come off mute and say your name. >> Jennifer Vernon. Uh, yeah. >> All right. Um, if you could please say
your name again and spell at least your last name for our recording secretary. uh and also give us your address for our for our note takingaking purposes. Um and then I'll start a timer for three minutes. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. Uh Jennifer
Vernon, uh 17 Sunset Square, Greenfield. Um Vernon, V as in Victor, E R N O N, first name Jennifer. >> Okay, thank you. >> Oh, beautiful. Thank you. Okay, so um watched both interviews. I have been
part of the district for 18 years as a parent. Um seen a lot, been through a lot, just kind of on the outskirts mostly. Um didn't expect to have um a a superintendent search, but we are here
and um after watching both of those interviews, the second um the second person uh made me excited. Um she gave me hope. Um, I do have a little bit of knowledge of of her, not firsthand at
all, but of of some of the stuff that she has done um throughout her career. And um I I am excited about the possibility um of her actually just joining her team here and um helping to
do the best that we can for our community. Thank you so much for everything that you guys have done. I really sincerely appreciate all of the hard work you guys put in to our community and our school system. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you so much. Anyone Anyone
else online for public comment? >> Uh yes. >> All right. >> Hi, uh Andrea Michael. >> Great. And if you could just say your address. Yeah, my last name is M I C H A L and my address is 24 James Street.
>> Great. Thank you so much. >> Um yeah, I I went to um most of the meet and greet today and then I was there for some of the interviews. Um I I stayed for what I could. I thought both candidates are strong. I can see why
they got to the the the final round. Um I agree with what I heard at the other public comment that um I think the second candidate um seemed to me like a better fit for Greenfield. I think um again both seem very capable and
probably good at their jobs, but but something about the way that the second candidate um spoke and uh carried herself and also maybe the fact that she in Chikap and understands some of the Western Mass um
challenges um made me really feel like she was the stronger candidate for us as a community. Um, I I also liked the way she talked about um centering on the student and um and some of the other things she said about the way that she
would collaborate with the community um both for the city as well as the community I thought spoke well of her also. Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Any other folks online or any other
folks in person? Public comment going once. If you would like to make one, you can come off mute and say your name. Public comment going twice. I want to give as much opportunity as possible. Yeah. >> All right. Public comment going three
times. And we are done with public with the second public comment of the evening. Uh thank you member Childs for for bringing that motion forward and thank you member Denny for seconding it to put it on the table. Um with that uh I would love for us to transition now to
the deliberation. Um I would I would like to make a motion to suspend Robert's rules of order to enable enable us to have uh just more of a discussion. >> Seconded. >> Okay. Any discussion?
All right. All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? >> Any abstensions? Okay. Passes unanimously. So, we are in open discussion. Um, for now, I would love to hear, let me cancel it. I would love to um go around and hear from
members, you know, what you thought some of the strengths of each candidate were. What were the things that really stood out to you about each candidate? um and to get a sense of if you if you have a leaning right now to get a sense of where folks are are at in terms of which candidate they would rather uh that they
plan to support. Um we can do this popcorn style. Does anyone want to share their thoughts? >> I'll go. >> All right. So, Mayor Dorger, then member Childs. >> Um well, I'm so thank you for the so grateful for people chiming in. I
thought that was wonderful. But my um I would support the second candidate. Um I agreed with some of the things that our citizens said. I thought she was very focused on the children.
She also spoke about special needs and about the elementary schools which we hadn't really heard of. Um, and I also wanted to share I got a I I got a phone call a week from Saturday, which I didn't call anybody and say, from Joe
Cmerford, who strongly recommended Carol. Um, and I asked her if I could call people and she said yes, I could. And then I thought, well, if I called everyone, that would be an a what do you call a violation of open meeting law. So
that's the first time that I said that. she um and her wife knew her personally and spoke about her work ethic, dedication, and her interest in being here and many other glowing things that I can't remember all of which so I don't
want to paraphrase um a quote, you know, incorrectly. So, I'm for the second candidate, but I thought they were both wonderful and very qualified. I was on the initial worked wonderfully. It was great working
with Ian and Stacy. >> Thank you. Got member childs next and then >> Okay, >> then member Deny. >> For the first one, the ones that stood out the most was I really liked the way she talked about how she collaborated
with other city departments in building a budget. Um, I really liked the stress she put on finding the pain points of whatever she was doing to figure out how to fix and especially the growth mindset uh part that she talked about at the
end. For the second one, what I really liked best about her interview is how specific she was in answering questions. Her examples were very real, not theoretical, and of course, the student focus. I would be
comfortable with either of these women as superintendent. They struck me as very knowledgeable, experienced, educated, good people. And I think we are incredibly lucky that our choices between awesome and awesome. >> Okay. Thank you, member Deniv. And then
member one, >> I think that they were both eminently qualified and we would be in good hands with either of them. I am team Carol though because she did
her homework. She knew about Greenfield. She knew about our particular struggles. She came prepared to discuss us and what we needed. Um she's watched city council meetings. She knew a little bit about
us. Uh, I also talked to MASC and they put a little bug in my ear about Carol. So, I was excited to hear from her. I feel like she will really click with the
town and the citizens. Um, and I really appreciate that she always centered the students first and talked about concrete ways that we could improve their outcomes, which is the point of our us being here. Um, I also
think Sharon would be great. Um, I just think that Carol has a certain Western Massachusetts quality that I think really will endear her to us. And I hope that I hope that we choose her, frankly.
>> Okay, I have member Webb and then member Goodwin. >> Um, so I wrote down some things that I really liked about the first candidate and one thing that um, she did say was setting up budget boundaries um, to support the climate if we want it. Um
and also just having like listening sessions, being consistent with budgets. Uh not having um answers prior to asking people for opinions. Um these are just some of the notes I jotted down. Um how
she took a chance and she walked in as a superintendent during COVID. Um, and then the things that stood out for me for the second person, Carol, was um just how she took the chance on the
yonder pouches and, you know, she wasn't sure if she was going to have good feedback or not. I know it sounds like a weird thing, but as a parent, I'm not a huge Yonder pouch supporter. Um, but my child doesn't have a cell phone. Um, she's just a stable leader. I agree with member Deniv saying
she did her homework on us. um she comes from a place that has 15 schools. So she comes from a district rather than a regional school. So that for me was also something and her longevity when I look at her resume in
the same district and working her way up the ladder which I know is something um we do value or I value as a person. >> Thank you. member Goodwin, then member Nitton.
>> When I walked in here tonight, I could have gone either way. I've spent hours reading about two amazing educators, looking at what they've done, where they've been. And I had one concern, and
it came from my love for literacy. Um, because I was really hoping we would have somebody who, you know, had promoted literacywide. But then I looked at team Carol as a licensed she is a licensed superintendent and a
licensed special educator which means she has literacy because that is what you do. She also has um her undergrad degree because they're both very strong science people. Her undergrad degree is in
English language arts. So, as an educator for 40 some odd years, she impressed me off the charts. She knows what she's talking about. It to walk into um postcoavid and say we're
putting all your cell phones away was as she said a career breaker. She could have lost her job. She stood behind the teachers. She listened to them and that she could have lost her job. She made a choice to stand for the teachers and the
children because she believed it was the right thing to do. So, hands down, I am team Carol. >> Member Diamond. >> Uh it it sounds like uh there's a great deal of agreement in the room. Um I I I agree that we are blessed to have
interviewed two highly qualified candidates. Um looking at both of their records of accomplishment, there's a lot of things to admire about these candidates. Um the impression that I get is that um Sharon
Kunwir uh has been working in a district with a rather high achieving school, the Eio Smith school um with a very good record of uh sending students to higher ed. And um this is a candidate who would
be likely to bring um a higher level of rigor to our schools. Um and and has a great deal of other advantages that she would bring. Um, however, when I think about who's the
best fit for Greenfield, I'm also just drawn to Carol Cruiser because um because she did her homework, because um she seems to care about Greenfield and understand what a city like Greenfield is like. Um because of her accomplishments
um in if you if you look at the numbers uh what she was able to accomplish in decreasing suspensions for students with disabilities, the numbers are really impressive. 2014 it was 24.5% and in 2021 it was 12.8%. Roughly half. Um and and then I agree
that the the Yonder Pouch move and these other specific examples of um policy decisions that were courageous um they demonstrate a bold leader who is also um capable of finding consensus. I think that this is the candidate we need.
>> Okay. And I'll take a moment to also share um some of my thoughts. Uh coming into this um interview, I I was also in like a I don't think we can lose. You know, I think that either of these candidates would do an admirable
job and are are perfectly qualified for the role. Um and so it was a matter of thinking who is the best fit for our district, for our community, for the folks who are around us. And um you know towards the end of these interviews I also was finding myself drawn towards
Carol Cruiser um primarily because of the way that she not only discussed but also demonstrated just like a very clear and open way of communicating. I did feel like this was someone who would tell me not what I wanted to hear but
what I needed to hear. Um and that I think is is something that we need. I also really appreciated the focus on creating lasting systems and structures. I imagine that some of the some of the structures that she's been creating in Chapi will live even if she's not there
and that that really matters to me. um someone who is interested in building something that they might not see the fruits of even. Um and so you know that as well as the way that she talked about restorative practices. Um
that is something that we have been working toward in our district and I think that it would be really great if we could have a leader who has some experience there and who is also committed to you know getting that to be something that what did what was the phrase getting our schools to row in the same direction on that I think is
another feature of what I appreciated about how she spoke of the work. Um I really I did what I did really enjoy about um our first candidate Sharon Conoyer um was the discussion about building a budget across multiple towns and the complexity that's involved in
there. I thought that that would have, you know, that is another thing that we've talked about on this committee of really wanting a budget that feels transparent and that involves everybody in it and that is like really planfully um made, articulated, discussed, that
agreement is is there. Um and I feel that while that is a plus for Sharon, I don't think that Carol couldn't do that. You know, I think that with the right team, I think that that you know that Carol could also do that
work. Um so that's those are some of the reasons why I intend to support the second candidate. Um it seems like we're approaching kind of a consensus here. Um there were a couple of people who didn't specifically say who they might be well you said who you might be voting for but
I don't think you did. Um doesn't really matter. Do we think just based on what we've heard would we like to have more discussion? Is there more to say? Does anyone have other comments that they've got or other thoughts and reflections? Yes, member Webb. >> Um, I just want to thank the I know this
is not related, but I want to thank the interview, everyone who participated in the first interview process and the people who gave tours today and just everyone in Greenfield who I'm sure opened their arms for the places our candidates did visit. I too am also in
favor of um our second person, Carol. >> All right, have a good one. I not only want to thank you, but I just feel like this has been a more transparent process than we've ever seen our school committee in Greenfield
actually use. So, bravo. Just I I think um involving our union, which thank you for being here. public comment. I mean, all of it, I think, is um
part of what our city needs to do across all avenues is involve everybody. So, thank you for doing that. >> Child, >> if we're thanking people, we also have to thank Judy from Nestec, the consultant who guided us through this.
She was wonderful. lots of expertise, advice, and we were very well supported in this process. And I would like to give a special shout out to our food service folks for provisioning us uh for the first round
interviews, making sure that all of the people in the screening committee had food and hot beverage um for the evening. Um so really appreciate them. Thanks, Terry. And I would also like to give a special shout out to our facilities folks who made sure everything looked so good for when these candidates came and did their
walkthroughs of the buildings. Um, and especially when they were coming in for the interviews in the library and for also helping one of our candidates find their phone. Um, so again, yeah, special shout out to those folks who really are, you know, they make they make our schools go around and I a special like
really thank you to the other folks who were part of that um small team pulling all of this process together. It was a lot of work. Um, we're really thankful. So, with all of that, it sounds like we have come to a consensus and I would
love to hear a motion from a member uh to appoint uh the candidate. >> Um, I I will make a motion. >> Yeah. >> That we extend the offer of the superintendency
to Carol Cruiser. >> Second. >> Second. >> All right. We've got a motion from member Den and a second from member Goodwin. Any more discussion? All right. Um >> I I think if you would like to I would love to get this on a roll call. Yeah,
just do it. >> Member Deniv. >> Yes. >> Mayor Disorg Disorger. >> Yes. >> Member Dyman. >> Yes. >> Member Goodwin. >> Yes. >> Chair Ston. >> Yes. >> Secretary Webb, I am a yes. Vice Chair Child.
>> Yes. >> And the vote passes unanimously. >> Thank you all so much. We have just voted to extend an offer to Carol Cruiser for our superintendency. >> Um, >> is she here still? >> I believe she she went home. Um, okay.
>> But we will we will give the phone call um and let her know and then begin the formal process of entering into a contract negotiation which will we'll revisit that as a group later. So, we'll need an executive session to do that. Yes. >> Yes. >> Do we have a
draft contract? Have we made Have we set a time for executive session to do this? >> My intention was to put it at next week's meeting. >> Okay. >> Yep. Um but that also Yeah. So, we'll we'll need to do some back and forth with the candidate as well
>> or I guess within now. >> Well, we have to do the executive session first and then back and forth with the candidate and then the final public vote. Yes. >> Okay. >> Yep. So, that will be our process, but thank you all so much for sticking with it, for being here. Um really appreciate
all of you showing up and and being part of this and and your um thoughtful deliberations and comments. And thank you to the public again. Um with that, I would seek a motion to adjurnn. >> So, second. >> All right. We've got a motion from Mayor Dorger and a second from member Goodwin.
This has to be a roll call vote, >> I think. Member Deniv. >> Yes. Mayor Disorger, >> yes. >> Member Dyman, >> yes. >> Chair Ston, >> yes. >> Member Goodwin, >> yes. >> Myself, Secretary Webb, I'm a yes. Vice
Chair Childs, >> yes. >> All right, we are adjourned at >> passed unanimously. Imagine that. >> At 9:27 p.m.