Harvard Elementary School (HES) Principal Mary Beth Banios has agreed to conduct a survey by September in an effort to satisfy School Committee members who want to know more about morale and other issues at the school.
Some School Committee members had stated previously that they wanted Banios to perform a so-called “climate survey” similar to the survey that was recently conducted at the Bromfield School. However, Banios indicated at the committee’s June 29 meeting that such a survey could not be conducted quickly.
Elementary-school parents and teachers, drawn by the prospect of a discussion on HES morale, made up much of the audience at the meeting.
Kristen Wright, a parent on the council, noted that her group had considered performing a climate survey, but rejected the idea after receiving a letter from HES teachers asking the council to “step back.” Deborah Barton, a parent co-chair of the council, added that the teachers had told the council, “We are all surveyed out.” HES recently completed the Teachers Learning and Leading Survey.
As a result, the council recently completed a different survey—one that focused on improving communication between parents and the school.
Wright expressed her impression that the climate at HES is less positive today than it was 10 or 11 years ago, when her oldest child attended the school. “It is a very different feeling today,” she said. “I’m concerned.”
Schools Superintendent Thomas Jefferson, who had stated at the previous meeting that morale was the best he had seen at HES, qualified his earlier statement, noting that he had been in Harvard only four years, and during one of which teachers had been “working to rule” in a contract dispute.
School Committee members Piali De and Pat Wenger both stated their desire for a climate survey at HES. But member Stu Sklar argued that the Massachusetts Education Reform Act limits what the School Committee can demand. “This committee is crossing the line on site-based management,” he asserted, saying that the decision was in the hands of the School Council.
Banios told the committee, “The decision not to do a survey was made thoughtfully and consciously.”
Nevertheless, Banios expressed a willingness to meet the committee’s concerns. She supported conducting a survey that is designed for highly successful schools, in particular one that is fact-based rather than based on perceptions. Banios told the committee that she expects to find a survey that meets those criteria and can be conducted in September at the latest.
Both Banios and Jefferson noted that moving the elementary school toward accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) might be useful for taking an in-depth look at the school’s issues. Banios noted that having a full-day kindergarten grant requires HES to become accredited eventually, and she considers the NEASC process to be preferable to the alternative process.
De and Wenger urged Banios to collaborate with the School Council in any survey effort, while Banios saw the council’s role as advisory. De also wanted parents included in any survey, perhaps one adapted for use on the internet. However, Banios countered that she could respond more quickly to the School Committee’s request by using an existing survey, which the school would not be free to adapt because of copyright protection.
Near the close of the meeting, the committee turned again to the process of formulating its own goals for the upcoming academic year. The group briefly discussed a draft list of goals, based on lists submitted by members.
Jefferson expressed concern about “goal creep,” which might dilute the focus on the school system’s strategic plan. Sklar concurred, quoting an article from a recent journal that urged school committees, “Don’t let your strategic plan gather dust on a shelf.” The committee expects to put their goals in final form at a meeting next week.