Week of July 10-July 13, 2008

Sunday, July 13, 2008
If a first goal for regional collaboration is shared special education programs, why not let the first program be a regional early childhood program at North Parish School? If other districts used this program, they'd save program costs. Building costs would be shared, reducing Greenfield's facility burden (the reason the building is closing). It would likely take a year to see if other districts want to or could collaborate. All towns need this program for at least a few children and this is a very comprehensive program, fully staffed. Perhaps regionalization planners would pay North Parish's facility operation costs for 2008-2009. If a regional model worked out during 2008-2009, NP could stay open in the future, serving the region.

Someone sent a suggested picture to use for linking to my 2008-2009 page.

Saturday, July 12, 2008
Read a report titled: CREATING A SUSTAINABLE AND QUALITY EDUCATION SYSTEM IN FRANKLIN COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL. It states that the MA DOE is studying consolidation to cut costs. "The decline in adequate state revenues coupled with increasing reporting mandates reduces the resources available for investing in quality learning." Hmmm. Why not reduce the amount of state reporting mandates and let more of a community's hard-earned tax dollars apply to teaching children? Why do state reporting mandates have to keep increasing, reducing a community's resources?

Friday, July 11, 2008
Spoke to the business administrator who sounded well. Calls and mail are coming in faster than can be handled. Perhaps some opportunities to speak to groups would help.

The morning was spent touring rooms at Newton and Federal Street schools with a city administrator. We spoke to custodial and maintenance staff who seem very well-versed in building needs and care. The city is collaborative and helpful, getting Newton and Federal Street upgraded for next year, including replacement carpets and tile up to $56,000, trimming trees, fixing water pooling outside an entry door. This is wonderful.

Before leaving the admin building at closing time, a colleague told me the building was haunted and there have been ghost sightings of a long-ago principal who died here the day of her retirement. Okay (I thought), I'll make sure to leave the building before dark. At 9:30 p.m. when I closed up, I admit wondering if I'd meet the friendly ghost in the dark hallway.

Thursday, July 10, 2008
Today and yesterday I spent considerable time interviewing for a special education administrator. It would be good if more than one administrator had this specialization. The financial impact of this department is very significant on the overall budget--dialogue among multiple experienced special education administrators would be good. I'm worried about summer special education costs and the possibility that the district, due to summer requirements without enough funding, will start the year $120,000 behind.

School Committee meeting tonight at 7:00 p.m. A petition with 58 parent signatures was submitted asking that the Four Corners Elementary School not be closed. Several people spoke about their grieving that this is happening and that many parents are not even aware of this neighborhood school's closure. Although this is a trying time, people have been respectful, offering assistance.

Several teachers spoke with appreciation for the decision to keep grade 3 with grade 2 and to split grade 1 into 5 classes. The decision choices are very difficult.
Introduction to the Superintendent's Journal
I began as Interim Superintendent for Greenfield, Massachusetts, on July 1st, 2008. I took a position few superintendents would want. After seeing that Greenfield’s problems were happening all over the country, however, I considered this a challenging and interesting leadership opportunity.

On July 1st, there was no K-12 principal (all had resigned). There was no business manager. There was no curriculum and grants coordinator (resigned) and the special education administrator was leaving in a few days. Sixty-one teachers had been pink-slipped (and there was no completely accurate list, not that it mattered right then). Two schools with award-winning programs had been closed (and the parents and faculty were, of course, grieving and outraged that this could have happened without notice). The entire configuration of the school district had changed with grades moving here and there, decisions made quickly with good intentions to try to accommodate the city’s limited financial allocation for the next year. These reconfiguration decisions made the system more chaotic. There was no approved budget or even plan, really, just a sum of money to run the schools that following year (voted by the city council) but no plan how this would work with 2-3 million less than what the out-going superintendent had requested ($17+ million vs. $14.6 million).

The phone was ringing off the hook with people wanting to say hello and meet, parents and faculty who were incredulous and needing clarification, people in the business office with imperative paperwork to sign, state officials requiring I leave the district to meet with them and explain one thing or another (within days of arriving).

I am not the journal type but I started to just keep notes of what I was doing for myself. I could not talk, phone, or meet (would take up whole days sometimes) and also figure out and do the work with less than 12 weeks before schools opened. I receive and try to answer dozens, sometimes, of emails daily. Frankly, I appreciate the level of interest from community members.

With help, the district website was cleared to post a message about change coming (what else could happen, actually), and on July 10th, my first journal posting was on the website. At first no one knew the postings were there, and that was fine. But word started to spread. After one month there had been more than 15,000 hits. Every once in a while, as with the Appalachian Trail, someone will write and say “I made it from the beginning!”

I try to end each day, usually late at night, by generating an entry capturing something that happened during the day. There is no way to explain everything that happens. I’ve tried to also explain how schools are run, details about programs I uncover as I learn about them, and how budgets and programs are put together. My early one paragraph posts have turned into one page entries.

I haven’t quite found the right blend of technical detail and narrative. And I’m not sure if I can have humor under such dire circumstances when so many people have been displaced. I will keep the journal going until it no longer serves a purpose.

And that’s how the journal began. For the record, I am the least likely person to have a journal, and have never understood why anyone would want to put what they do every day in a public journal. Live and learn.

I want to thank Carol Holzberg, Ph.D., Information Technology Administrator, for not leaving the district and for helping me with journal each day (and night).

Susan Hollins, Ph.D.
Interim Superintendent for Greenfield, MA, 2008-2009
Determined to Rebuild the System

Page last updated on: August 23, 2008

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