LONGMEADOW – In a unanimous decision, the Longmeadow School Committee voted at their Feb. 14 meeting to extend Superintendent Dr. Martin O’Shea’s contract for an additional two years, with his term ending on June 30, 2021.

Getting Up to Speed

On Nov. 14, 2018, the Longmeadow School Committee, once comprised of Chair Beth Barron, Vice Chair Kerrin Morrin, Stephanie Jasmin, Melanie Rothstein, Ryan Kelly, Bronwyn Monahan and Armand Wray, voted to not renew O’Shea’s contract in a four to three vote. Since that decision, a substantial amount of Longmeadow citizens, school faculty members and parents began attending School Committee meetings sharing their concerns for the district’s direction. Despite this, the School Committee began to move forward in the search for a new superintendent to be hired on July 1 of this year.

The Town of Longmeadow hosted a Special Town Meeting on Jan. 17, with hundreds of residents filling the High School gymnasium to vote on whether or not the town’s Home Rule Charter would be amended to grant registered voters the power to recall elected officials in Longmeadow. This was speculated to be in response of some residents desire to recall the individuals who voted against the renewal of O’Shea’s contract. Ultimately, Longmeadow residents voted to pass the article at Town Meeting.

On Jan. 23, Barron, Morrin, Jasmin and Rothstein submitted letters of resignation to the Town Clerk, stepping away from their positions on the School Committee, leaving the Committee with three remaining members: Wray, Monahan and Kelly.

In a joint meeting with the Select Board, the Board and the School Committee voted to fill a fourth seat on the Committee so it could continue as a quorum. The chosen member of several applicants was Susan Bell, who will operate as a School Committee member up until formal interviews for the remaining vacant seats take place on Feb. 25.

At the Feb. 5 School Committee meeting, the Committee voted to suspend the superintendent search indefinitely.

The Feb. 14 Meeting

School Committee Chair Armand Wray began the meeting explaining to the public the role of the Committee, which, in his words, is “really simple.”

“We are responsible for the budget, responsible for the policy, and responsible for hiring and evaluating the superintendent. Basically, those are the three things we do,” he noted. “I’ve seen some parents who have emailed the School Committee in regard to issues that are outside of our jurisdiction or purview.”

Wray continued to encourage parents and community members that the proper escalation of any kind of student-related matter should begin with the students teacher or the principal, and eventually with O’Shea should it need to be escalated.

“The School Committee does not get involved in personal matters, privacy matters, in regard to things like that if it falls outside of policy, budget and managing the superintendent. It works better if the School Committee is not part of that process,” he stated.

Moving on in the meeting, the Committee approved the schools Fiscal Year 2020 School Department budget, which came in to $37,445,877.15 with a general fund allocation of $35,153,128.62. Governor Baker’s FY 20 Budget proposes an increase in Chapter 70 Aid to Longmeadow of 6.88 percent, which offers $361,804 above the FY 19 budget.

This budget will be submitted to Longmeadow Town Manager Stephen Crane for inclusion at the Annual Town Meeting on May 4. A full slideshow of the budget is available on the Longmeadow Public Schools website at https://www.longmeadow.k12.ma.us/.

Continuing on, O’Shea offered a lengthy presentation which was an update on his annual plan for the 2018–2019 school year. He shared with the School Committee that though he is working on all of the goals he set to achieve within the year, he is working along with a team of individuals to meet said goals.

“To the extent that I make progress on those goals, it’s a team effort. It’s a reflection of the combined work of us as an administrative team along with the involvement of the teachers and the staff as well,” he stated.

O’Shea noted that there are three components of his annual plan: professional practice goals, student learning goals, and the district improvement plan. With each component, O’Shea provided a slide that displayed steps he has taken, events he has organized, or plans that are in the works to build upon and achieve his goals, along with the specific dates that the achievements took place. To learn more about the specifics in O’Shea’s annual plan, head to Longmeadow TV’s livestream at https://livestream.com/longmeadow.

During the School Committee’s comments on O’Shea’s plan, Wray admitted that he had once been a skeptic of it.

“I thought it was overly ambitious and unachievable, and you proved me wrong, and happily so. Either stuff that’s completed and or underway, and there are distinct plans in place to get it done, so I would like to say I was wrong,” Wray chuckled. “Just in this one instance. I totally appreciate everything you’ve done Dr. O’Shea since I’ve been back. Well done, and we look forward to the, as you said, the forward momentum.”

Closing out the discussion of O’Shea’s goals, the Committee moved on to discussion and a subsequent vote on whether or not to extend O’Shea’s contract as superintendent of the Longmeadow Public Schools. Monahan moved that the School Committee extend O’Shea’s contract for an additional two years through June 30, 2021. The motion was made, seconded, and voted for unanimously by the four members of the Committee.

Wray stated, “The communication has been great, it is regular, it is informative, and the boundaries are set that are appropriate between School Committee and administration and understanding those boundaries, and everyone understanding their role within the system is very good for norms of a School Committee.”

Following the vote, numerous individuals in the audience stood and applauded.

Moving forward, the School Committee will be hosting interviews to fill the remaining School Committee seats on Feb. 25. Additionally, Wray shared there are plans in the works to have a School Committee and Administrative Team Retreat in an effort to rebuild trust with the administration and staff of Longmeadow Public Schools.