SWAMPSCOTT – School officials at their annual retreat on Tuesday stressed trust and continuing to improve communication among the School Committee, administrators, and teachers in order to ensure that school concerns are properly addressed without any one group overstepping their roles.”I think that as the year evolved, there have been more questions and our meetings have become more dynamic,” said School Committee Chair Jacqueline Kinney in the retreat’s morning session. “But I know that’s hard for administrators to get used to.”Lyle Kirtman, president of Future Management Systems consultants, led the annual day-long meeting among members of the School Committee and Superintendent Lynne Celli. The meeting focused on goals for the upcoming school year and building a partnership among administrators and the committee. Kirtman said that he had done a similar presentation for school principals and Celli earlier in the summer.”The idea is that if everybody’s working on the same issues and language rather than everybody working as individuals,” school systems can be most successful, Kirtman said.Much of the conversation included discussions of the 2010-2011 school year, including the controversial High School Chemical Health Policy, the administration’s negotiation of a new contract with the teacher’s union and the Stanley School’s loss of a popular new music teacher who was offered a part-time position at the high school.This spring, the high school was also sanctioned by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) for not meeting three out of the seven standards by which schools are evaluated.It was also Celli’s, as well as High School Principal Layne Millington’s, first year in Swampscott.Celli and School Committee members agreed that communication had improved throughout the year.There was also agreement that public discussions and debate about controversial issues had ultimately been positive.But all parties raised concerns as to how much school administrators should be involved in daily management of the schools.”We just don’t want to feel like we’re ineffective,” said School Committee member Marianne Speranza Hartmann. “The perception [in the community] is that if we don’t know [about something], then how are we doing something about it?”But Celli noted that as superintendent she was often “caught in the middle” between the school committee and community and the teachers and school leaders.”Some teachers have said it’s my job to keep you at bay,” she said.At the same time, however, Celli and Kirtman both noted that a superintendents’ delegating authority can lead to misperceptions that he or she is not engaged with the schools. On the other hand, Celli said she didn’t want to micromanage principals or teachers.She also said she was reluctant to present the committee with proposals that have not been fully thought out and investigated, even when seeking advice on a particular issue.But all agreed that more discussion should be encouraged rather than avoided.”The way I view this is that members of the School Committee have different perspectives and the superintendent has a different perspective,” said School Committee Member Rick Kraft. “With more of that cross communication we can be stronger and all can be more effective ? we can provide assistance and advice which isn’t taking over.”