What does Malespina and her slate think of Dr. Ramos?
This is an important point because anger+confrontation =gridlock and, while this may be mildly entertaining when it happens in Washington, D.C., it is a condition no school district can afford.
I remember that outburst, and I thought it was in very bad taste and based on only the most superficial research. There are nine candidates running in this election. Some bring board experience, some bring thoughtful, positive solutions and a history of community service, and some, unfortunately, bring mostly negativity and complaints, coupled with old solutions to todays problems. Oh, yes, and the teachers union endorsement, which I find even more troubling given the ticket's history of negativity, especially toward a Superintendent who had not yet spent day 1 on the job.
While I fully respect the wonderful individual teachers in our district, I don't think I want an explicitly pro-union, anti-Superintendent slate getting seats on the Board. We need to give the new administration a fair chance to implement its priorities and evaluate them without attacking the very legitimacy of the new Super before he's had a chance to do anything in SOMA.
Re: the OP's question, I'm sure one could simply ask her in lieu of posting an open-ended question to the sky here.
Her team does seem to respond on this board. But ok: Could someone please ask this at the last debate? I'm not able to make it. Or perhaps on her Facebook page? It would be helpful to know before casting a vote for any of them. Thank you.
This seems an odd response here, unless one of the other log-in handles here also belongs to you...
springgreen2 said:
I don't know her, nor do I live in.SOMA
I don't know Malespina, lest your opinions of me, personally, are coloring your views of this candidate.
susan1014 said:
This seems an odd response here, unless one of the other log-in handles here also belongs to you...
springgreen2 said:
I don't know her, nor do I live in.SOMA
I thought the same thing.
Johngillam189 said:
Her team does seem to respond on this board. But ok: Could someone please ask this at the last debate? I'm not able to make it. Or perhaps on her Facebook page? It would be helpful to know before casting a vote for any of them. Thank you.
@sac. I was simply trying to say that I am not part of "her team." Can you understand that?
springgreen2 said:
Johngillam189 said:@sac. I was simply trying to say that I am not part of "her team." Can you understand that?
Her team does seem to respond on this board. But ok: Could someone please ask this at the last debate? I'm not able to make it. Or perhaps on her Facebook page? It would be helpful to know before casting a vote for any of them. Thank you.
I get that, but it was your first post in the thread, so I didn't understand what it was earlier in the conversation that you were responding to or why the response was even needed.
Yes, well I was not going to participate in this thread, but referring to "her team" being on MOL, I didn't want her policies or positions to be muddled with mine, or mine with hers.
Side observation, but wasn't it interesting that all 8 board members (with one recusal I think) voted in favor of the new Superintendent? For all our disagreements, at least we can unify on some things.
springgreen2 said:
Yes, well I was not going to participate in this thread, but referring to "her team" being on MOL, I didn't want her policies or positions to be muddled with mine, or mine with hers.
Got it. Thank you for the clarification. I don't think anyone was actually referring to you, FWIW.
None of the posters here really sounded quite like you, but any time there is a poster who has had multiple identities over time (as you have alluded to), my antennae are up.
springgreen2 said:
Johngillam189 said:@sac. I was simply trying to say that I am not part of "her team." Can you understand that?
Her team does seem to respond on this board. But ok: Could someone please ask this at the last debate? I'm not able to make it. Or perhaps on her Facebook page? It would be helpful to know before casting a vote for any of them. Thank you.
Why on earth would anyone think you were? V
Nope -- I was just factually sharing my thinking, and actually thanking you for clarification. If you've read more into it, my apologies. My aim was clarity.
If I decide to insult you, I promise to do a clear job of it. OK?
springgreen2 said:
That's not insulting?
OK thanks, and I was responding to Ctrzaska also, who does write in a demeaning tone to me.
@springgreen2, do we know you? I had no idea who you were but it sounds like you're someone who has been on this board and/or in real life debate on these issues before? Confused.
deborahg said:
@springgreen2, do we know you? I had no idea who you were but it sounds like you're someone who has been on this board and/or in real life debate on these issues before? Confused.
It's irrelevant.
http://www.maplewoodian.com/ asked ALL the candidates the following question about the new superintendent:
What is your opinion of Dr. John Ramos and did you support his hiring?
Elissa Malespina's response:
I am cautiously optimistic. It is very early to judge, but I have been happy with some of the things I am hearing Dr. Ramos say. I like his focus on getting back to the basics - something I have been advocating for- and I am very happy that communicating more effectively with parents seems to be a real priority.
Based on his previous record, I was not initially in favor of hiring Dr. Ramos and expressed my concerns before the Board during public comments. Many of my issues were directed at the board which did not conduct an open and transparent search as it had promised. I did not and still do not feel that all stakeholders were involved in the process like they should have been. Hiring a superintendent is one of the most important jobs that the Board of Education has. It was a great opportunity to unite the community in the decision making process but unfortunately that did not happen.
That said, I am excited to have him as part of the SOMSD community and look forward to working with him and seeing what we can accomplish together.
Marian Raab's response:
I want our new superintendent to succeed in his goal to turn this school district from good to great. So far I’ve been impressed with Dr. Ramos’ willingness to meet with parents and organize an educational summit in November. It is clear that he understands the importance of improving district communications.
I was critical of the lack of transparency in the final hiring process employed by the current board earlier this year as well as the length of superintendent contract—five years. A hiring decision this important should have had more stakeholder input in the final decision and more flexibility in its terms for both the district and the new superintendent. Other school districts release the name of the final two or three candidates for superintendent before announcing a decision.
If elected to the Board of Education, I would look forward to working closely with Dr. Ramos, and the rest of the board, to move this district into a more transparent era where parents, teachers and the administration can work together productively for the benefit of our children.
Shannel Roberts' response:
It is too early to know really. When the board hired Dr. John Ramos, I was excited about the diversity. My experiences with the past two superintendents were not good ones, and the cultural disconnect was even greater. I was disturbed about how the process for choosing the superintendent was not as transparent as I would have liked.
I did get a chance to meet him at Columbia High School last month, and I look forward to the education summit in November. As parents and stakeholders of the town, we need to attend this summit. I believe it will provide him with more opportunities to learn about our issues.
As a community, we are excited about the possibilities but tired of pressing the restart button. We want continuity without the lip service. Our children are at risk and for many it is already too late.
Thank you cel. Helpful to know Ms. Malespina is keeping an open mind. I am still bothered by her attack on the Board members that night. Her assumption seemed to be that board members were either in bad faith, that they didn't understand the importance of this decision for the community, and/or that they didn't bother to do due diligence (or even Google!) in their research. I will assume, unless there are other stories out there, that her outburst at that Public Speaks was not characteristic.
Johngillam189 said:
I will assume, unless there are other stories out there, that her outburst at that Public Speaks was not characteristic.
At last month's public speak, Ms. Malespina berated the BOE for re-examining the free trial of "Let's Talk" software against her previous recommendation.
I feel it would have been more productive to instead provide solution-focused thinking, a priori, about how to assess if the Let's Talk software was fulfilling a need, what other needs she thought needed to be filled, and how to examine if it was improving any communication issues (or other issues) at the desired levels, during the free trial period of the software.
(The BOE later voted to implement the free trial of the software, against her recommendation not to).
Johngillam189 said:
I am still wondering about Ms. Malespina's current view of the new superintendent. I was very surprised at the meeting when the Board announced his appointment and Ms. Malespina spoke out against him in rather angry terms. No one else spoke out that night in this way, as I assume most were waiting to learn more about the context for the Board's decision. I would like to know whether Ms. Malespina regrets this outburst, and also what she thinks of Dr. Ramos now. This seems to me to be a critical issue as the new board will have work with Dr. Ramos to get anything positive done.
The video of this is available at the 3:32 mark here:
http://somatv.pegcentral.com/player.php?video=fb86e74a6c17b469c39f1adecc8c92bf
I just watched the segment you referred to michaelgoldberg, and I would hardly describe it as an "angry" outburst. Ms. Malespina, who is the former librarian at the South Orange Middle School and currently a librarian in the Sommerville school district begins her comments by THANKING the board for allowing children who opted out of PARCC to be able to read a book and not "sit and stare" during the many hours of PARCC testing last spring.
She then noted what surprised A LOT members of our community (and is still surprising people when they learn about it) that our new superintendent was fired by the Bridgeport School Board in 2011 and the state of Connecticut then took over his failing district. Here's how the Connecticut Post reported the news:
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Bridgeport-school-board-votes-to-fire-2214799.php
Bridgeport school board votes to fire superintendent
BRIDGEPORT -- Superintendent of Schools John Ramos, whose six-year reign over the cash-starved district culminated with the unprecedented replacement of the school board this summer, has been fired, effective Jan. 1.
Board chairman Robert Trefry, said it was a difficult decision, but the best thing he and the board could do for 20,000 students in the district.
Trefry insisted the replacement of the school superintendent was not part of his charge and was not a foregone conclusion.
"It was our responsibility to evaluate the superintendent ... after a lot of discussion and soul searching we felt this was an appropriate thing to do," he said.
The board, which was hand picked by the state, voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of the termination.
The action caps a tumultuous four months for the district, which has some of the worst test scores in the state and is still without a balanced 2011-12 operating budget.
"We felt, in our estimate, it was time for a change, a new leader," said Trefry.
The board -- whose very existence is being challenged before the state Supreme Court later this month -- will name a search committee and outline the replacement process at its Oct. 24 board meeting.
Ramos will collect a full year's salary -- $229,204 -- when he leaves the district, plus paid health insurance for him and his wife until he reaches the age of 65. He is now 59.
Ramos, who a week ago indicated he still wanted to keep his job, said he had confidence in the new board.
"I am sure this body will do the right thing for our children," he said, reading from a prepared statement.
Ramos acknowledged several times this summer that his job was not secure.
During his tenure, more than 20 schools in the district were failing by federal achievement standards. The district also struggled with an operating budget that hadn't seen an increase in four years, pushing the district to consider laying off hundreds of employees.
The issue came to a head in June when Ramos convinced the board to delay passing a budget. The lack of a budget was then used as evidence by state officials of the board's inability to function effectively and the need to appoint a new board.
Critics said Ramos was a lackluster leader who had lofty goals but didn't have a handle on finances nor could execute effective change.
I know several of the people running on this slate and like both of them. Unfortunately I could NEVER support any one of them in this election.
Wendy Lauter
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I am still wondering about Ms. Malespina's current view of the new superintendent. I was very surprised at the meeting when the Board announced his appointment and Ms. Malespina spoke out against him in rather angry terms. No one else spoke out that night in this way, as I assume most were waiting to learn more about the context for the Board's decision. I would like to know whether Ms. Malespina regrets this outburst, and also what she thinks of Dr. Ramos now. This seems to me to be a critical issue as the new board will have work with Dr. Ramos to get anything positive done.