Saugus School Committee debates, OKs superintendent evaluation plan

SAUGUS – The Saugus School Committee voted to temporarily accept Superintendent Richard Langlois? new annual performance plan Thursday night after a lively, hour-long debate about the new evaluation.School Committee Chairman Wendy Reed and committee member Arthur Grabowski both said they didn?t see enough measurable goals. Reed described the new evaluation as “impersonal.”?These are all great action steps, but it just seems to take out that portion we?re so used to in the other areas the superintendent has authority over,” said Reed. “I?m not exactly sure, reading some of these, how I as a School Committee member can even grade on it.”Grabowski used one benchmark, which measures collaboration between district staff, as an example of how he doesn?t see how some of the goals are measurable.?I want to see something hard and concrete,” said Grabowski. “This is kind of nebulous. It?s interpretation.”Grabowski pointed to another portion discussing “interpretation” of MCAS results, noting he would rather see a numerical goal for MCAS scores. Grabowski also said he would like to the see the statement of interest for a new high school and relationship with the School Committee added to the goals.?You can achieve and be proficient in all your goals, but the school could slide backwards,” said Grabowski.Langlois said collaboration is key to a successful district and described his goals as “global” in nature.?I don?t want to be argumentative,” said Langlois. “I think I have wonderful goals and they capture everything we want to do in this district. I don?t think I?m saying anything different from what you?re saying, I?m just not throwing out a number. My job is to provide the opportunity, the resources, the direction ?”Reed urged the committee to approve the plan temporarily for a three-month span to see how it works. The committee will then revisit the goals.?This is new and anything new is getting used to it,” said Reed. “It?s a new way of developing goals and assessing goals.”In other business, Langlois said the school district will be receiving an additional $20,000 in education assistance after the recent MCAS scores dropped the district to a level three.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].