In a busy School Committee meeting on October 3, after approximately two and half hours of discussions about the NPS reading curriculum and Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) policy recommendations, the School Committee turned to voting on the 2022-2023 System Wide Goals. The motion to approve the Goals passed with a vote of 5 Yes, 3 No, and 1 Abstention. Previous drafts of the goals were debated by the School Committee during the August 8 and September 7 meetings, and those meetings covered earlier by Fig City News.
The final Goals voted on October 3 were materially unchanged from the September 7 draft, excepting the addition of “Select Reports on Progress”, which were added to each Goal subsection. The documents listed for Select Reports were items that the administration was already planning to provide to the School Committee, such as the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the Enrollment Analysis.
The School Committee members appeared to divide between those who felt passing the Goals was a somewhat routine, administrative task and those who felt the Goals were meaningful directives to the NPS administration and a signal to the community regarding the priorities of the district. The latter group, encompassing the 3 No votes — Rajeev Parliker (Ward 1), Chris Brezski (Ward 2), Paul Levy (Ward 6), as well as Anping Shen (Ward 3) who abstained — re-emphasized points they had made in prior meetings regarding the lack of quantifiable metrics in the Goals and the apparent lack of focus on higher-end academic achievement.
The five Yes votes were Tamika Olszewski (Ward 4, Chair), Emily Prenner (Ward 5), Kathy Shields (Ward 7), Cove Davis (Ward 8), and Mayor Fuller. The Yes votes tended to emphasize the ongoing, future revision to these Goals, the inability to significantly change them from prior years given NPS presently has an interim superintendent, and the imperative to pass some form of Goals so the district leadership has some strategic direction. Ms. Prenner noted her background as a business consultant who formulated metrics for financial firms and how difficult it can be to devise meaningful ones.
The School Committee debate and vote can be viewed here on NewTV, at approximately the 2:30 time mark.
