LYNN — All goals that Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patrick Tutwiler will be working towards this school year fall in two categories: student learning goals and district improvement goals.
Tutwiler will work on improving students’ achievements, building better partnerships with parents, and hiring more staff members of color in the 2021-22 school year, according to the goals that the School Committee reviewed, finalized and approved at a meeting last Thursday.
To increase achievement for all students, Tutwiler will focus on attendance, literacy acceleration, and increasing English-language proficiency.
The district has vowed to maintain at least a 90 percent attendance rate daily, in addition to decreasing district-wide chronic absenteeism by at least two percentage points (excluding COVID-19 related absences).
The Lynn Public Schools will work toward increasing the percentage of English learners making progress toward English fluency to at least 49 percent. Tutwiler said that this number was at 44 percent across the commonwealth in 2019.
To improve the district, Tutwiler has committed to expanding opportunities in instructional leadership training among principals, department chairs, and aspiring new leaders among teachers. Instructional leadership prioritizes students’ learning over any other managerial responsibilities belonging to school faculty.
Moreover, the district set a goal to increase and retain racial and linguistic diversity among its staff. The district is looking to grow its staff of color by at least 1 percent each year for the next five years.
Further improvements in the district include building a stronger connection and partnership with the families. The district is going to survey parents, form a focus group, and develop school-based positions for parent liaisons.
Tutwiler also presented an entirely new goal on Thursday, at the recommendation of committee member Jared Nicholson. As the district goes through an eligibility process with the Massachusetts School Building Authority for a grant to construct a new Pickering Middle School, Tutwiler announced he will develop and present a community-engagement plan. The plan will include ways in which the general public will be able to access information about the project and get questions answered. The superintendent will also determine points in time suitable for community meetings, forums, or webinars.
“So that the entire community feels part of this process to the extent they want to be,” said Tutwiler.
The plan will also lay out frequency of communication. Tutwiler expects to present the plan some time before the end of January when the eligibility phase with MSBA comes to end and the project will progress to the feasibility phase.
Tutwiler also said that Lynn schools will be switching to a new student-management software system, called PowerSchool. It will run in combination with the current system, E-school, this year until the switch is complete.
