In general, the district needs to communicate better to the parents and public. Although the school committee agendas are posted to the Medford School District web site, they do not arrive until late on Friday, and the information is too scant to understand the nature of the issue to be addressed.
Major issues need to be brought before the community well in advance of the scheduled school committee meeting, so that parents and other interested parties have a chance to research the issue, discuss it within the PTO and school communities, and provide input to school committee members. Currently, only those who have contacts amongst school district personnel learn of major decisions prior to the school committee meeting.
If elected, I will propose a motion that superintendent and the school committee provide ample time to inform the community about upcoming major decisions and solicit feedback before discussing and voting at a formal meeting. Naturally, an exception would be made for those urgent decisions for which time is truly of the essence.
Regarding hiring, the district needs to be more proactive and less reactive. Many cities and towns run advertisements in early spring advertising interviews in anticipation of upcoming openings. Although Medford occasionally runs ads in the metropolitan papers, they seem to be only when a specific position is difficult to fill. Medford waits until an opening has occurred before beginning the search process, by which time prime candidates have already accepted positions in other districts.
Second, a school team should be maintained to review applicants and monitor the process by which both teachers and major staff are hired. The team should consist of parents, teachers, and administrators, similar to the teams which were put together recently for the hiring of the Andrews Middle School principal.
Finally, the individual schools should keep parents informed in a timely manner about pending staff changes, including when teachers have left the system, when new positions have become available, and when teachers have been reassigned or positions filled or eliminated.
