Linda Dwight speaks to a room of parents, teachers, and other interested residents at a public forum about her candidacy for superintendent of the Harvard Public Schools. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Review of Hildreth Eelementary School Principal Linda Dwight’s candidacy for the vacant position of Harvard schools superintendent continued this week with interviews before both the School Committee and a public forum.
School Committee Chairwoman SusanMary Redinger went straight to basics Monday night as the committee interviewed Dwight. Redinger asked Dwight to state her core personal values as they apply to the superintendent’s position.
“I believe in a leader really being a servant,” Dwight answered. “There isn’t any job that I would ask people to do that I haven’t done myself and am willing to do.” In working with teachers, Dwight said, “I don’t consider myself out front leading, I consider that I lead alongside them. . . . I get obstacles out of their way.” Dwight added that she can make hard decisions and stick by them, but she believes in being collaborative whenever possible.
Decision by Monday
Redinger said that the School Committee will make a decision on Dwight’s candidacy for superintendent either in a special meeting scheduled for 9 a.m. this Saturday at Town Hall or, at the latest, in their 6 p.m. meeting on Monday, Sept. 16.
The School Committee interview was the second public meeting of the evening at which Dwight fielded questions about how she would handle the job of superintendent, if the School Committee were to hire her for the position. In an earlier meeting in the Bromfield School library, about 40 people attended a public forum and asked about topics ranging from bullying to how to communicate better with parents.
The first question at that meeting allowed Dwight to address what may be the biggest question mark about her candidacy. Harvard Schools Trust Co-President Debbie Kaegebein asked Dwight what was her biggest weakness.
“I don’t have central office experience,” Dwight said directly. She said she would take advantage of current interim Superintendent Joe Connelly’s presence in the district for the remainder of this school year. “I intend to glean every bit of information possible from him while he is here,” she said.
Dwight stressed the value of Connelly’s mentorship several times, particularly in relationship to building a district-wide budget. “It’s a great advantage to be mentored by someone who has been as successful as Joe,” she said.
In Harvard for the long haul
Although she does not have experience as a superintendent or assistant superintendent, Dwight pointed out that her familiarity with the Harvard school district would give her a head start in many ways over someone coming into the system from outside.
At both the public forum and the School Committee interview, Dwight said she foresees staying in Harvard for the long term. When School Committee member Patricia Wenger asked Dwight about the effect of having her two sons in the school, Dwight said her own children were one of the reasons that she wants the district to be great. “I would like to see my kids graduate from Bromfield,” she said.
A man at the public forum asked Dwight specifically about her long-term plans, noting that in a small town like Harvard can sometimes be seen just as a stepping stone on the way to a larger system.
“I’m not planning to go anywhere,” Dwight said, explaining that she had been in her previous district for 15 years. She also said that one of her educational heroes was the superintendent she worked for in Pennsylvania, who had stayed in the same district for 20 years. The important thing, Dwight noted, was to find a good match between the district and the administrator.
On the other hand, Dwight said she was aware that she would be giving up some security in moving from principal to superintendent. “I have a safer position right now,” she said, “getting lots of hugs every day and seeing my kids in school.”
Finding a successor for HES
That topic segued neatly into another concern from a parent at the public forum. A woman asked about finding a new principal for HES. She said she hoped her younger child, who is about to enter kindergarten, would have more stability than her fourth-grader, who has had three principals in four years.
Dwight said three factors would be key in finding a good elementary principal to replace her if she moves up. The first is to start the search process early. The second is to choose someone with experience. And the third crucial factor is a site visit to the candidate’s school. Dwight noted that former Superintendent Tom Jefferson and current associate principal Gretchen Henry had visited Dwight’s former school in Pennsylvania, to see if what they saw there matched what she had said in her interviews in Harvard. Henry and Jefferson had been able to observe the atmosphere of the school and talk privately with teachers they had chosen.
Wenger also asked Dwight about community concerns that “one school would get preferential treatment” if she became superintendent.
“It is just one system, and I would see it that way,” Dwight replied. “I’ll most likely spend more time at Bromfield because there is more for me to learn there. . . . But fairness will be fairness.” She added that the new leader at HES would need space to develop his or her own style of leadership.
Looking ahead
Many questions focused on what Dwight sees ahead for the Harvard School District. One important topic is “all the state initiatives that are coming fast and furious,” Dwight said. “What you don’t want to do as an educator is say, ‘Oh, the state has done this to us. How are we going to do this?’ and throw your hands up. We need to glean the benefits from those state changes. We have to do them. There’s no choice . . . . The challenge is, how do you make that work for the Harvard public schools and specifically for students in the most beneficial way?”
Dwight pointed out that the district will be formulating a new strategic plan covering the next five years, as well as a district plan for the next three years. She said they must be based on a vision that teachers, parents, and taxpayers all share. “We are a great small school system,” she said. “How do we maintain what is great about being small but not get left behind?”
Thinking back to one of the things that struck her as unique about Harvard when she first visited, Dwight recalled, “I came for an interview and got served by a chef! Wow!”
Devens representative Maureen Babcock asked Dwight how she felt about the Devens contract. “I think it is really beneficial to the school system,” Dwight said. “[The Devens students] are already a part of our Harvard system. . . . It seems very natural. I don’t even know which students at school are Devens students or not.” After reading the opinion surveys from Devens parents, Dwight said, “It seems like a reciprocally good relationship.”
School Committee member Keith Cheveralls asked Dwight how she sees the relationship between a superintendent and the School Committee.
“I didn’t go into this blind,” Dwight responded, saying that she had asked others in the educational community why the relationship was a difficult one in many towns, often leading superintendents to move on after three to five years. She said she sees her job as presenting the educators’ views on issues, while the School Committee presents the community’s views. But she expressed confidence that she and the School Committee would work well together.
‘What you value is what I value’
“I feel comfortable, having spent two years here, that what you value, and what the community values, is what I value. But it won’t always be smooth sailing–I get that,” she said.
Redinger asked Dwight if she is daunted by the “massive pile of things to do in the next year” in the Harvard district–including upcoming contract negotiations, developing a new strategic plan, implementing the state-mandated educator evaluations, aligning curriculum with the Common Core standards, responding to the NEASC criticisms of the Bromfield School, and planning for declining enrollment.
“All I can assure you is that I work hard and that I put in a lot of hours and that I am eager to learn. . . . You take a risk with bringing me into that position, I understand that. But I will minimize the risk by spending the dedicated time and recognizing what I don’t know and being very willing to ask questions. . . .I can tell you that I am a fast learner, and I can work with any group of people,” Dwight said.
Dwight’s background includes 12 years as a building principal, first in a rural district in Lancaster County, Penn., and then at HES since 2010. She holds a doctoral degree in educational leadership from the University of Delaware. Before moving into administration, she taught at several elementary grades and was a finalist for Teacher of the Year in Pennsylvania in 2002.
