Superintendent finalists vow to increase student achievement, find funds
The three candidates for Wareham Public Schools' superintendent position had much to say about increasing student achievement and finding more sources of revenue, during final interviews with the School Committee on Wednesday.
The finalists are: Dr. Elise Frangos, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction, and assessment for the Old Rochester Regional School District; Dr. Anthony Pope, an educational consultant and former superintendent of Marlborough Public Schools; Kimberly Shaver-Hood, superintendent of the Blackstone-Millville Regional School District, located in Blackstone, Mass., on the Rhode Island border.
The School Committee members asked general questions to all the candidates in individual interviews, as well as candidate-specific questions, and a few questions from the community.
The School Committee will discuss the finalists during a closed-to-the-public meeting on Tuesday, May 28. School Committee Chair Rhonda Veugen said a public meeting would be scheduled for Wednesday, May 29, and she hoped the committee could make a decision on the district's next superintendent at that time.
The finalists were chosen by an interview committee comprised of parents, Wareham Public Schools staff, community and business leaders, the town administrator, and representatives of the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee.
Superintendent Dr. Barry Rabinovitch, who has held the post for nearly four years, announced his retirement in December, saying that he perceived his annual evaluation, completed by the School Committee last fall, to be an "injustice." His retirement is effective July 31.
The following is a roundup of what the finalists had to say.
Dr. Elise Frangos
Assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction, and assessment for the Old Rochester Regional School District
In general:
"I'm your achievement candidate tonight. I have a track record of turning around schools."
"You need a superintendent who can look at the entire district across all schools and make sure that the continuum is very clear. ... I'm that person who can foster that teamwork"
"I consider myself a teacher of teachers and I'll consider myself your chief academic officer as well as your chief financial officer."
"This is the superintendency I've been waiting for. This is the position I've dreamed of," she said, adding that one of her aspirations is to "see Wareham become the school system that you're dreaming of."
"I'd work very hard to bring in the money, restore the faith in the public school system."
On funding:
"I'm someone who can find the money. ... One of the things that I'm very skillful with is writing grants. ... I also work very skillfully with vendors, so one of the things I can do is leverage our purchasing power" of equipment and supplies, she said, so "many of those supplies come without a price."
Noting that she has to prepare four budgets in her regional school district: "It's very important to be very strategic with all of those budgets. ... Budgets are shared with people on the Finance Committee, [and] town Selectmen on a repeated, iterative process. ... There are absolutely no surprises."
"We do look continuously" for donors for programming, corporate sponsorships, and grants. "These partnerships have been very, very fruitful. So if we can't find a way to support programs through the tax dollars, we look for other ways to make things happen."
"My outreach into the community is extensive. I live three miles from here. I have absolutely no shyness about putting my hand out and asking for the programming we need. ... We have to make sure [teachers] have all the tools to produce excellent teaching and learning."
On continuing to grow professionally:
"I'm someone who has been a lifelong learner. ... While being busy as a working mom, ... I decided at age 40 that I needed to learn more" about reading, she said. A professor at UMass Lowell recommended she pursue a doctorate in curriculum. "It took a long while, but I achieved my doctorate in my 50s..
"I'm someone who looks at the research. ... I'm constantly doing my homework on what are the best programs ... [and] opportunities for kids."
"I'm willing to do the hard studying and the homework throughout my life."
On organizing the district's curriculum to improve academic achievement:
Nobody will be "siloed with working exclusively in their own building," Frangos said, explaining that principals and the district's administrators will need to form a team to develop a "uniformed concept of what excellent teaching and learning look like."
"If you think about education, you really need to award team players. ... Observing, thinking and learning, making sure everyone knows their role. ... It's a team sport. There's no 'I.' ... I would be the [team] coach of the entire system, making sure that there are no solo players."
On whether it's unreasonable to expect students to pass all classes in order to participate in athletics:
"In a human endeavor, I think that every student needs to be looked at in a case-by-case example. ... Kids come to school for a variety of different reasons. ... Our chief mission is the academics and the academic rigor," she said, but noted: "The ultimate answer is ... look at the student. What kind of good faith effort is he or she demonstrating to move forward?"
On how her career has prepared her to deal with the financial differences and diversity in Wareham:
Frangos started her career at Jamaica Plain High School in Boston and moved on to Brookline High School, where more than 40 languages were spoken. She says she "worked very, very hard to make sure that our children" were able to access the same materials and field trips as students in more affluent districts.
"One of the things I do is help transform lives."
Dr. Anthony Pope
Educational consultant, former superintendent of Marlborough Public Schools
In general:
"Family is the most important thing to me," Pope said, noting that he is the father of three boys.
"I think I can bring a style to Wareham that gets things done. ... I've spent my entire career taking on challenges. ... If there are challenges, I'm seasoned to do it. ... My guess is, there's a lot of talented people here that can build whatever needs to be built."
On continuing to grow professionally:
"Not just as a superintendent, but as an educator, I consider myself a continuous learner. ... I think one of my talents is realizing that I don't have it all figured out. ... [I] try to surround myself with mentors who have done this before me. ... I think I've grown as a leader throughout my career. ... I think by listening, by participating ... if I'm going to be asking a teacher to be willing to do it, I should be willing to do it as superintendent as well."
On moving from one job to another:
From School Committee member Ken Fontes: "Your resume shows a path of constant moving, one job to another. Talk about that. What assurances can you give the Town of Wareham that this is a district where you want to end your career?"
"My goal has always been to be a superintendent," Pope explained. "What you see on my resume were opportunities for me to gain that experience to sit in that seat of superintendent."
"I was always in good standing in the jobs that I left. ... Some of the jobs, I didn't even apply for. Those were the types of opportunities that I felt fortunate to have."
"I'll just say very quickly, my wife didn't like Texas..." Pope said of a yearlong stint as executive director of curriculum and instruction for a district in Sugar Land, Texas. "My family is the most important thing to me."
"Some of my movement was about family. Some was about opportunity. ... I can take those experiences that I've had throughout my career and apply them to being a good superintendent."
School Committee member Geoff Swett also expressed concern, saying: "Your career has been marked by an inability to stay in a position for an extended period of time."
"It was me having opportunities to gain the experience to be a superintendent and it was also me leaving positions to accommodate what my family needed at the time," Pope said. "I left all my past jobs in pretty good standing. My last job was a little bit different. Politics played a role," he said in reference to his time as superintendent of Marlborough Public Schools.
"When you are charged with pushing a reform agenda, everybody's not happy, and you're going to have some people that are going to follow and go with the direction because they're part of the process ... but you are going to have some [who say], 'I'm staying right here,'" he said. "I'm always going back to, it has to be 'we.' It has to be 'us.'"
"My career has been marked by gaining as much experience as I can, and now, knocking on [age] 50's door ... I'm here to look for a long term commitment where I can try to make a difference."
On funding:
"I inherited a budget and it was discovered that there was a million dollar mistake in the special education fund," he said, referring to his time with Marlborough Public Schools. "I scheduled individual meetings with city council to try to understand" the issues.
On organizing the district's curriculum to improve academic achievement:
"I need to take some time understanding what's in place, what's working well, and what's not working well. ... I think the rubber hits the road at the school level. ... I think it has to be a collaborative effort. ... We have to come together. We have to engage the community. We have to engage parents, because who defines the values of Wareham? Not the superintendent."
"Everything focuses back to the instructional core."
On whether it's unreasonable to expect students to pass all classes in order to participate in athletics:
"I think when we look at the [Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association], they have set standards. They have been around for a long time. ... One thing I think is going to be important is to make sure we are in line with MIAA first, [and] not go below that standard."
"I think the standards should be higher than the MIAA, and I think that if we're going to allow our kids to play sports, [the standards] need to be" higher.
On his time as principal of Weymouth High School:
Pope said he was asked to be principal of Weymouth High when he was a finalist for an assistant superintendent position in that district.
"The probation status was removed from the work that we did when I was there," Pope said, noting that the school was at risk for losing its accreditation.
Kimberly Shaver-Hood
Superintendent of the Blackstone-Millville Regional School District
In general:
"Education is my passion. For me, being a superintendent is not an 8 to 5 job. It's a job that has no start time and no end time. I'm strongly committed to students first, academic rigor, improving school culture, and I'm committed to excellence for all students."
"It's my responsibility to communicate effectively with all stakeholders ... but also [to] listen to what stakeholders have to say."
"My number one priority is and will continue to be 'students first.'"
"If I am appointed as the superintendent, I will be moving to Wareham. ... That is a commitment that I will make."
"I truly believe in celebrations. I truly believe in small victories because small victories turn into large ones."
"I know that I have what it would take to move Wareham forward. I believe in public education. I understand the importance of building bridges in the district and also in the community."
On continuing to grow professionally:
"I'm a lifelong learner and I'm in the final stage of completing my doctorate. I'm in the dissertation-writing stage and I have to say I'm rather disappointed," Shaver-Hood said, noting that she enjoyed going to classes and having discussions with her fellow students.
"I'm always looking to better myself. I really do think we have a wealth of knowledge in our schools and tapping the knowledge of our teachers and our students, I learn something new every day."
On whether it's unreasonable to expect students to pass all classes in order to participate in athletics:
"Truth be known, I don't think any students should fail. I believe success breeds success."
"We are not in the business of pro-athletes, or even college athletes. We are in the business of educating students."
On organizing the district's curriculum to improve academic achievement:
"What we need to ensure is that our curriculum is flowing ... and that it moves so that our students are challenged when they move through the system."
"We have to be willing to break down the walls that exist between classrooms, between teachers, and we have to make sure that we work collaboratively."
"Everything we do has to match the vision. Everything we do has to match our goals."
"We need to ask hard questions. We need to be willing to listen to the answers. But more importantly, we need to be willing to support the teachers and our students."
On funding:
"I think what we need to do as educators is to be very frugal, to look at what we do, but also to be objective" when looking at the budget, she said.
"We're certainly looking at this as an investment in the community."
"We need to work together. When we budget, we certainly are very open about having communication with people, looking at where the resources are going, how we support education, answering any questions, and being able to say, 'This is why we're spending money, this is the outcome, and this is what we expect in return.'"
"I need to be able to show where the money is and how it's been spent over time. It needs to be transparent, it needs to be open, and we need to be able to say, 'here it is, this is what we have, and this is how we're spending it.'"
"We're all the time looking at, how do we increase our sources and our resources for our students, but at no cost. I think we have to be very creative that way."
On Blackstone-Millville's frugality:
"Is it frustrating and disheartening? Absolutely. ... Being a cheerleader for students, that really bothers me when I have to cut services for our kids," she said, noting that she has not chosen to leave the district because of that. Instead, she said, she sees Wareham as an opportunity.
"When I look at cuts ... my priority is to keep teachers in front of children. I look at everything I can possibly reduce."
"We've cut other people in central office because it kept teaching staff."
"If I can keep resources in front of students, that's my goal."
"It's a saying I have, 'we have to get on the balcony,' and we have to look at everything objectively and make sure we're making wise purchases and wise spending."
