Debate and Uncertainty over the draft 2022-2023 District Goals for NPS

At the August 8 School Committee meeting, the members discussed with the NPS administration the draft NPS Systemic Goals for the academic year 2022-2023. The Systemic Goals are in three categories: Educational Goals, Family and Community Communication Goals, and Operational Goals. Educational Goals are subdivided into Academic Excellence, Educational Equity, and Social Emotional Wellbeing. Of note, the Academic Excellence section as presently drafted does not address student achievement or proficiency; rather it focuses on professional development and student inclusion.

School Committee Members Chris Brezski (Ward 2), Anping Shen (Ward 3), Emily Prenner (Ward 5), and Cove Davis (Ward 8) commented on the vagueness of the goals and how they are measured, the lack of detailed implementation steps, and the need to connect the goals to activities happening in the individual schools. Assistant Superintendents Toby Romer and Ayesha Farag replied that the goals are still in draft form, and that the final goals are used to inform grade-specific initiatives.

Paul Levy (Ward 6) expressed that the draft goals are not sufficiently detailed to enable the School Committee to communicate to the voters what the District is hoping to accomplish or how it would be measured. He drew a comparison with Needham Public Schools Portrait of a Graduate as an example of another district’s articulation to its community of what its goals are intended to achieve.

Chris Brezski followed up on the Community Communication Goals portion of the draft goals to emphasize the damage the NPS school closures during 2020-2021 did to community connectedness, and he noted that many NPS families who are not considered historically underrepresented also require robust re-engagement, a point not present in the draft goals.

Interim Superintendent Kathleen Smith generally agreed with the School Committee members that more work is needed to refine the goals. She cited the Dover-Sherborn district, her previous district, as having spent a year debating their goals. Further, she agreed with Paul Levy that individual School Councils comprised of community members, as required by state law, should be reconstituted. Chair Tamika Olszewski (Ward 4) also agreed with reinvigorating the School Councils, citing her own experience on the Burr School Council.

The Committee’s discussion of Systemic Goals can be found on NewTV replay, during minutes 22:00 – 1:00:00.