District/School Administration Administration
The Massachusetts Board of Education

Gill-Montague Regional School District Turn-Around Plan

Background

In January 2007, the Board determined that the Gill-Montague Regional School District (GMRSD) was underperforming and in need of formal state intervention. As a result of this determination, the Department assigned a three-member team of independent evaluators to examine the district's leadership capacity and governance practices. The Team visited the district in October 2007 and engaged district and community leaders, parents, teachers and others in interviews and focus group discussions. The resulting District Leadership Evaluation report was reviewed by the Board at the November 2007 meeting and district leaders were encouraged to use the findings of the report, along with other information, to guide the development of a district Turn-Around Plan. The Turn-Around Plan was submitted to the Department by the appointed deadline of January 30, 2008 and was presented for your review at the Board's March meeting.

Current Information

Interim Superintendent Kenneth Rocke and Principal Robert Wood attended the March Board meeting and presented the highlights of the Turn-Around Plan. In addition to identifying a number of areas where the district must improve, including curriculum coordination, alignment with state standards and coordinated professional development efforts, the Turn-Around Plan pointed out a number of areas in which district and town leaders have begun to advance: developing a process and a plan for consolidating elementary schools, joining the GIC health insurance plan, exploring the possibilities of collaborative regional fiscal planning, and developing initiatives to address some of the educational deficiencies noted in the EQA report.

The Turn-Around Plan also listed areas where current resource levels make it difficult for the district to move forward, largely focused on additional personnel needs. Although this is important information that helps us to understand the context within which district leaders operate and make decisions, the purpose of the Turn-Around Plan is to provide the Board with a plan that establishes clearly the priority needs that the district intends to address within the two-year life of the Plan. The Plan should also set out the specific strategies the district intends to put in place in order to address the priority concerns and lead to a "turn-around" in student performance. The Board is then expected to make a judgment as to the reasonableness of the district's goals and the likelihood that the selected strategies can be implemented and will lead to improved student performance.

To that end, Superintendent Rocke has revised the GMRSD Turn-Around Plan and sharpened its focus by highlighting the goals the district has set and intends to pursue notwithstanding the fiscal situation. The revised Turn-Around Plan sets out the specific actions to be taken, grounding the proposed actions within the limits of the actual budget.

The Plan also sets out next steps the district intends to take if new resources are made available to support the improvement work. The Department will continue to support efforts to improve instructional leadership in the district by providing NISL training and coaching. Once appropriations for next year are determined, the Department will decide what other resources can be made available to support the priorities set out in the district's plan.

I am recommending that the Board approve the GMRSD Turn-Around Plan and direct district and school leaders and staff to move forward with implementation of the improvement initiatives set out in the Plan.

Enclosure:
   Gill-Montague Regional School District Turn-Around Plan