District/School Administration Administration
Board in Brief

Wednesday, March 11, 1998

This is "Board in Brief," issued at the request of Interim Commissioner Frank W. Haydu III, to bring you up to date on Massachusetts Board of Education matters. The following is a report on the meeting held Tuesday, March 10, 1998, at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Malden.

Comments from the Chairman

Chairman of the Board John Silber welcomed Frank Haydu to his first Board meeting as Interim Commissioner of Education. He noted that the Department and the Board of Education would be served well by Mr. Haydu, who, as a former member of the Board of Education, has a long and distinguished history of public service.

Chairman Silber reported that the search process for a permanent Commissioner is continuing. On the Chairman's recommendation, the Board agreed to extend the deadline for submission of applications to April 15.

Chairman Silber reported that he and former Commissioner Antonucci testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the proposed FY 99 budget for education. He emphasized the importance of funding early childhood education programs, and requested that $169 million be added to the budget to fund more early education programs. Additionally, Chairman Silber urged the Legislature to pass a special education reform bill that would incorporate the federal standard, and to increase the number of charter schools to at least 5% of the total number of public schools in the state.

Comments from the Interim Commissioner

This was the first Board meeting for Interim Commissioner Frank W. Haydu III. Mr. Haydu stated his pleasure at the warm welcome he received from the staff of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. He said he has already begun meeting with individual members of the Board, education leaders, the Legislature and the press. He stated, "I am committed to listening very closely to everyone who has an interest in public education policy. I believe that we all have a lot to learn from the Department's senior staff, who have strong backgrounds on the important issues, and whose advice we should enlist."

Noting the need for fuller discussion by the Board and Department staff on key policy issues, Interim Commissioner Haydu and the Board agreed to hold a series of special meetings to be held on the evening prior to each regular monthly Board meeting. The first special meeting will focus on student assessment, and will take place on Wednesday evening, April 8. Subsequent evening meetings will be held in May (teacher testing) and June (school and district performance standards).

Interim Commissioner Haydu presented to the Board his priorities for the next three to six months, which include: recruiting a top-flight Commissioner; implementing the new teacher certification exam and addressing other issues related to teacher quality; completing revisions on the foreign languages, health and arts curriculum frameworks, and planning the revision process for the math and science frameworks; conducting the grade 3 reading test and the MCAS tests in grades 4, 8 and 10, and addressing related issues such as public outreach and standard setting; and developing and implementing an audit and accountability system to analyze the impact of education reform in classrooms, schools and districts. Haydu stated he believes Education Reform will move forward effectively if these priorities are the focus during this interim period. In that context, the Board agreed to postpone its consideration of proposed legislation to amend the Racial Imbalance Law. That discussion, originally scheduled for April, will be deferred until sometime in the next school year.

Mr. Haydu notified the Board that Associate Commissioner Nick Fischer will be leaving the Department at the end of the month to become Superintendent of Schools in Christina, Delaware. He served in the Department since September 1993, as Associate Commissioner for Finance and Accountability.

State Plan for Professional Development Discussed

Deputy Commissioner David Driscoll presented to the Board the draft State Plan for Professional Development. The Education Reform Act requires the Commissioner to develop an annual state plan for professional development. Deputy Commissioner Driscoll noted that the Board of Higher Education will review this draft, and the final document will be revised based on their suggestions.

Board member Stanley Koplik stated that the final document should include more emphasis on the content knowledge and learning standards of the curriculum frameworks. Board member Jim Peyser agreed, noting that the final draft should also have a greater emphasis on the role of the principal in guiding staff development.

Chairman Silber said that he has asked Board members Ed Delattre and Roberta Schaefer to serve as the subcommittee to work with the Deputy Commissioner to revise the draft. The revised plan will be presented to the Board for approval later this spring, after which it will be filed with the Legislature and distributed to schools.

Update on the Lawrence Public Schools

Deputy Commissioner David Driscoll, who is leading the state's efforts in Lawrence under the nine-point state agreement with the Lawrence School Committee, reported on recent developments in the school system. He said that great strides have been made in analyzing student attendance and suspension data and in gaining a clearer understanding of the district's budget and personnel matters, including certification.

He reported on three issues of high priority: (1) the search for a new superintendent is continuing, and the deadline will likely be extended to encourage more interest; (2) several other key leadership positions will become vacant in June; and (3) the district needs to address the condition of school building facilities, which he described as "intolerable." Driscoll said, "The district is over capacity by 1300 students at the elementary level, and many of the schools are over 100 years old. A building plan needs to be developed as soon as possible."

Grants for Educational Technology Approved

The Board awarded a total of $584,000 in grants under the federal Technology Literacy Challenge program to five school districts: Boston, Douglas, Hudson, Springfield and Watertown.

Next Meeting

Each spring, it is traditional for the student member of the Board to host a Board meeting at the student's high school. Student member Micah Silver will host the next regular meeting of the Board of Education at his high school, the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School, 507 Main Street, in Orange, on Thursday, April 9, at 9:00 a.m.