District/School Administration Administration
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Update: Randolph Public Schools

Background

In November 2007, the Board voted to designate the Randolph Public School District as an underperforming district. The Board further directed the Department to conduct a review of current leadership within the school community to determine whether the capacity to address identified problems and improve the quality of educational services to Randolph students was present. To that end, a team of three educational consultants appointed by the Commissioner visited the district in December, where they reviewed data and documents provided by the Department and by the district and conducted a series of interviews with individuals and groups across the community.

The team prepared a District Leadership Evaluation Report, which we presented to the Board at the February 2008 meeting. As a result, the Board took the following actions:

• The Board voted to defer action on the question of chronic underperformance and state receivership for the district for a period of 120 days in order to allow district leaders, School Committee members and the Board of Selectmen to prepare a focused Turnaround Plan to guide next steps. This plan must have the demonstrated support of all the parties and must be submitted to the Department no later than May 30, 2008.

• The Commissioner appointed a District Support Team to assist the parties noted above in their efforts to define priority actions to be taken during the next 24 months, and in the community-wide, consensus-building effort that is needed in order to create the conditions for positive change and collaboration.

Update

Following the Board's vote at the February meeting, I appointed a District Support Team:

• Joan Connolly (Chairperson), retired superintendent of the Malden Public Schools
• Erline Belton, consultant
• Michael Contompasis, retired superintendent of the Boston Public Schools
• Ron Walker, consultant and principal in DWJ Solutions, LLC

In late February, Department staff convened the Randolph District Support Team to set out the objectives of the assignment and share pertinent information. Since that time, the Team has been engaged in a variety of activities in the district. Team Chairperson Joan Connolly has prepared a brief progress report for the Board's information. That report is enclosed.

It is important to note that on April 1, 2008, the voters in Randolph approved an override to the municipal budget, directing an additional $5.5 million dollars to be allocated to the school district to restore previously eliminated instructional and support services.

Associate Commissioner Juliane Dow and Lynda Foisy will be at our meeting on May 20th to respond to any questions Board members might have about the work of our District Support Team in Randolph. Representatives from Randolph will be expected to present their Turnaround Plan to the Board at its June 24, 2008 meeting.

Enclosure: Progress Report - Randolph District Support Team