Extensive goal-setting at CBRSD

HINSDALE – Some members of the Central Berkshire Regional School District (CBRSD) School Committee called Superintendent William J. Cameron’s goals “inadequate” at a recent meeting.

The superintendent’s goals (as eventually approved by the school committee at the same meeting) are: developing better MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) preparation, integrating a more effective teacher evaluation system and introducing broader use of electronic technology in the district.

“Those three goals align with the commonwealth,” Dr. Cameron said.

The concern over his goals was raised by School Committee Member Richard E. Lacatell and echoed by other members, including John B. Conner.

Mr. Lacatell thought the superintendent should include ways to address the district’s declining enrollment in his goals.

“Declining enrollment has been a persistent problem,” he said. “The superintendent is uniquely qualified to address this… I think the superintendent could add another goal to this list.”

Mr. Conner agreed and called Dr. Cameron’s proposed goals “incomplete.”

School committee members John J. Les and Sean T. Nyhan said the goal of addressing declining enrollment is a larger problem and should not rest with the superintendent alone.

“Declining enrollment is a bigger issue…for the school committee to address,” Mr. Les said.

The committee approved Dr. Cameron’s goals, with only Mr. Lacatell, Mr. Conner and Richard J. Wagner voting against the approval.

“There are other issues facing the future of districts in Berkshire County,” Dr. Cameron said in response to the concerns of Mr. Lacatell and Mr. Conner. “These goals are not the only thing I’m going to do.”

District and school goals presented

Dr. Cameron and Assistant Superintendent Robert R. Putnam also presented the school committee with detailed improvement plans for the district and all six schools. One of the six “strategic goals” for the district is “to have a student enrollment greater than the number of school-age students in the district by retaining in-district students and attracting out-of-district students.”

The inclusion of this district-wide goal seemed to ease some of the worry brought up by Mr. Lacatell.

Other district and school goals include efforts to build and maintain positive school culture, aligning with the Common Core and increased community involvement through programs in and out of the schools.

“Proficient” superintendent

Despite any issues with the superintendent’s goal-setting, the results of the school committee’s evaluation of Dr. Cameron labeled the work he’s done over his first 14 months in the role as “proficient” in all 20 indicators, according to School Committee Chairman Shawn A. Armacost.

He added some members of the committee even gave him “exemplary” marks in certain categories.

Technology presentation

Kittredge Principal Deborah A. White gave a presentation to the school committee on the integration of technology into the school’s classrooms. Teachers and students at Kittredge use netbooks, smart boards (interactive white boards), desktop computers and iPads to aid in the learning process.

“We’re pretty well set up,” Principal White said.

At Kittredge, there is one iPad per class and an additional four that can be checked out by teachers for classroom use. The principal said teachers and students use the iPads for video-journaling, writing, research and educational games.

“They are taking what you know and setting it up differently,” Principal White said. “It’s really been very useful. We’ve come a long way in three years.”

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on October 18, 2012. Filed under Education News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry