Superintendent Rates High in School Committee Evaluation

By Adam Swift

It was exemplary marks across the board for Superintendent of Schools Lisa Howard as the School Committee approved her performance review at last week’s meeting.

Due to the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and efforts to get students back in classrooms, the performance evaluation, which is mandated by the state, covered most of the past two school years.

“Although here 2021-22 goals were developed at the start of the 21-22 school year, they were not officially voted on by the committee until February of ‘22, due to the focus of us meeting to prioritize other things, such as in-person learning and getting kids back to school,” said School Committee member Julie Barry, who headed up and helped organize the review process.

As a result, the committee voted to hold off on the performance evaluation until the 22-23 school year, voting to extend the approved 21-22 goals and add a few new areas of focus.

“The School Committee evaluates Superintendent Howard using the Department of Education Superintendent Administrative Rubric,” said Barry. “It provides a reflection of her leadership practices as it relates to the standards of instructional practice, management and operations, family and communication engagement, and professional culture.”

Each of the seven School Committee members rated Howard on a scale from unsatisfactory to exemplary in each of those four categories, with the majority of the scores from the committee members coming back as exemplary in each category.

“The 21-22 school year presented many challenges as we opened the schools for the first year of in-person learning since the start of the pandemic,” said Barry, reading from the summary of the evaluation. “The return to school required significant operational adjustment related to teacher shortages, as well as having to kick off contract negotiations with seven different bargaining groups. In addition, there were multiple changes in state guidance and mandates, and children post pandemic presented with new and more challenging learning and emotional needs.”

Barry said the emotional wellbeing of students and staff post pandemic was a priority for the school district.

“Ms. Howard was steadfast in her focus on student learning with implementing and maximizing funds to mitigate learning loss and to support the social and emotional wellbeing of students and staff,” said Barry. “With grant allocations, focus was put on improving the safety of school buildings, technology, and curriculum enhancement and proper staffing for each school building.”

Barry said Howard showed tremendous fortitude in her work to successfully ratify several contracts and build a ground-up budget that aligned with the district’s strategic plan.

“She is a strong leader who enhances a positive and inclusive culture within the Winthrop Public Schools,” said Barry. “Ms. Howard is a high-performing leader who has demonstrated resilience and professionalism in her ability to lead the district out of the pandemic. She provides active listening and a relentless commitment to the students, staff, and mission of the Winthrop Public Schools.”

Howard thanked the School Committee for its evaluation and feedback, as well as for its willingness to delay the evaluation to focus on other issues in the district.

“My appreciation in allowing that to happen and putting students before me speaks to everything that I’m about, having students come first,” said Howard.