The School Committee lauded Schools Superintendent Tom Jefferson as being “an educator who is interested in striving for the very best for our students” at its April 27 meeting. This assessment was part of the performance evaluation presented to Jefferson; it measured his accomplishments against eight goals established six months earlier.
Three of the five committee members said that the overall favorable performance review justified granting Jefferson’s request for an extension of his contract, from an end date of June 30, 2011, set in September 2008, to an end date of Aug. 21, 2012.
—School Committee’s assessment of Superintendent Tom Jeffferson
The eight areas against which Jefferson’s performance was evaluated included coordination of the implementation of the schools’ strategic plan, policy review and implementation, Devens, program review, budget and finance, the teachers’ contract, Special Education, and personal growth. The review rates the superintendent as having met the committee’s expectations in all areas, with the caveat that some goals had not been completed at the time of the review. For example, the first school year of the strategic plan implementation has not been completed and, notes the review, goal two—policy review and implementation—is a work in progress, as is goal four, program review, which is not expected to be completed until June.
However, the review states that the first year of the strategic plan is “off to a fantastic start.” It acknowledges that Jefferson “has supported the processes, teams, and initiatives that ensure progress throughout the organization. His championing of the plan ensures that it is a living document, not another study gathering dust on the shelf.” (The strategic plan can be viewed online at www.psharvard.org/superintendent/strategic_planning/strategic_plan_full.pdf.)
The review goes on to state that, with his “extensive knowledge of regulations,” Jefferson has “provided thoughtful guidance” to help the Policy Subcommittee revise and propose policy content and language.
With regard to Devens, the review observes that Jefferson has provided “helpful high-level context whenever Devens considerations pertain to future educational scenarios,” and has responded when asked to summarize the effect of growth in housing at Devens. Most important, the review says, Jefferson “led the charge to get the Devens contract … the sole reason we are able to have no override for fiscal 2010 and not lay off teachers.”
In their assessment, committee members credit Jefferson with being “resourceful and savvy” in a year where a faltering economy has resulted in revenue constraints and unpredictability in the budgeting process.
Relative to the teachers’ contract negotiations, the committee said in its evaluation that Jefferson’s role in the process was “appropriately advisory—providing budget details and impact of different scenarios proposed.”
The committee credits Jefferson with hiring “an excellent director of Special Education” and providing leadership during audits by the state and the town’s Special Education Task Force.
In the area of personal growth, the committee’s review says Jefferson “conducts himself well … is thoughtful and articulate.” It states that he has “always been gracious in public and private interactions with School Committee members,” despite being in “the unenviable situation of having a sharply divided School Committee.”
The summary of the School Committee’s assessment states that “Harvard has benefited from having Tom as our superintendent as he has guided us through some very challenging issues.”
The full text of Jefferson’s review is available at www.psharvard.org/Superintendent/Superintendent/Sup_Eval_09.pdf.
