Superintendent receives raise based on Committee evaluation
The School Committee gave Superintendent Kimberly Shaver-Hood a passing grade – and a 2 percent raise – at its meeting Wednesday night.
The raise, enacted retroactively, brings Shaver-Hood's salary to $156,060. The Committee’s report was based on three general areas: how well she did on meeting her outlined goals and objectives, as well as the importance of those goals and objectives; her impact on student learning; and her four general areas of responsibilities, which include increasing leadership, increasing student growth percentiles, creating a supported learning community, and creating a community that collaborates well.
The issues the Committee found with Shaver-Hood were few. All comments were read by Chairman Geoff Swett, and kept anonymous. One Committee member stated that she had areas of strength, and areas of weakness, including the flat MCAS scores from the most recent rounds of testing, released in late September – one of Shaver-Hood’s failed goals.
“‘That goal specified “that adequate supports and resources would increase the 2015 overall aggregate student percentages by 7 percent.” That did not happen,’” Swett read. “‘The MCAS scores were flat with little growth. I think this was a lofty goal.’”
But the Committee’s comments about Shaver-Hood’s leadership in the past year were mostly positive. One Committee member said Shaver-Hood did a good job of overcoming major obstacles at the beginning of her tenure, including a large debt left by her predecessor.
“Her responses have been innovative, creative, and thinking-outside-the box, in order to secure other means of funding,” Swett read.
Another Committee member said Shaver-Hood has shown “several positive examples of staff empowerment and leadership development.”
Based on the report, the Committee voted to give Shaver-Hood a raise of between 1 percent and 3 percent. Though Shaver-Hood ultimately got a 2 percent raise, two Committee members, Cliff Sylvia and Melvin Lazarus, said they thought she should get a smaller raise.
“We have not given more than 1 percent [in the past] – I would like to maintain that,” Lazarus said.
The full evaluation will be available online. The Committee also heard a brief financial report from Business Manager Michael MacMillan.