Superintendent Brian Osborne

January 7, 2009, Columbia High School Library

Thank you all of you for coming tonight after what I hope was a joyful and rejuvenating holiday season.  It’s heartening to see so many of you here.  Your ongoing support of our mission to provide a world class education to every single student in this diverse community is a great strength of South Orange and Maplewood.  It continues to be an honor and privilege to work with you in building a strong future for our students, our community, and this country by making the road together to excellent, equitable, and innovative public schools. 

I was in one of our fifth grade classrooms for an extended period of time about a month before the break.  Whenever possible, I ask our students what they are working on and how they know whether their work is good.  Children’s answers to these simple questions give a lot of insight into their involvement in their own learning.  This was such a fantastic visit because the students had goal-driven responses. 

The students explained to me that they were in writers' workshop, writing historical fiction pieces from the point of view of a child their age growing up during World War II.  They explained to me that they were following a writing process that they had learned in an earlier grade and have carried through to this grade, and that they were now in the stage of writing a first draft after having created a graphic organizer of their thoughts during the prewriting stage.  When I asked how they know whether their work is good enough, they took me over to the classroom wall where a rubric was posted that was specific to historical fiction writing.  They talked me through all the various elements on the rubric that it took for the piece of writing to earn a “4” which the students said meant exceeding expectations.  The elements included creating a historically accurate setting, including dates and references to major historical events and details that were synchronistic with the time.  To do that, the students said, they had to get information from books and the Internet that helped them learn things like what kind of cars people had at the time and what they were hearing about the war on the radio at different given dates.  They also had a map and timeline of historical events and, although they weren’t exactly sure yet how to reference the geography in their stories, they were confident that they would figure it out.  Other elements included what you might expect in a fictional story, including an engaging plot and character development, as well as use of correct conventions such as spelling, grammar, sentence structure, use of paragraphs, and varied sentence structure to hold the reader's interest.  They told me that they would know that their work was good enough if they could prove that their story demonstrated the various elements on the rubric.  The teacher was the ultimate judge, but the students told me that part of the writing process was peer editing and they used that stage to try to prove to one another that the work was a “4” before they handed in something called a final draft.

These students were working diligently and independently, on a fairly complex task with a high degree of likelihood of success because the goals were spelled out in advance and had clear measurable indicators of success.

Like with students, adults and organizations rise to the level of expectations when goals are clearly defined and measured against concrete indicators of success. 

Tonight’s state of the district reports out to the community on progress against four district goals that we’ve been working with for the past 14 months. 

The goals were first adopted in October 2007.  They reflected the work of the Community Planning Process that many of you participated in which resulted in a document called Vision 2010: Rigor, Relationships, and Resources.  We kept intact the basic framework that reflected the collective aspiration of the hundreds of people that had participated in that process, updated some of the content, and added measurable indicators over a five year period.  The resulting document forms the basis of an agreement between the board of education and district administration, with the superintendent being publicly accountable for outcomes.  We’ve chosen to work in this way so that we all have the same answers to those basic questions that our students should be able to answer in every one of their classes:  what are you working on and how do you know whether your work is good enough? 

Tonight I’d like to outline the goals, some highlights of where we are and where we need to go.  The state of the district report itself provides a mountain of information and data organized around each of the goals, objectives, and indicators.  At 120 pages, it’s probably the most comprehensive release of information about the state of any school district in New Jersey, and I’m grateful to the key leaders on the senior team and their very small staffs for once again publishing such a transparent and comprehensive report.  What you have with you now is the 24 page executive summary, and there are 96 pages of more detailed appendices now posted on our district website.

It is important to note that the goals will be revised annually by the Board of Education in public sessions starting in May, with a formal adoption scheduled for the August meeting.  Once the goals are readopted, they serve as marching orders for the system.  The Board and I will be working to increase stakeholder engagement in the revision process in April and May, with opportunities for any interested person or group to provide input or make proposals. 

The four goals are 1) to promote the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical growth of all students; 2) to develop and maintain a world-class professional staff; 3) to promote effective communication and partnership within the schools and throughout the greater community; and 4) to manage fiscal and facilities resources effectively and efficiently. The four goals taken together will help move the district from a place where we have islands of excellence to an excellent, equitable, and innovative system. 

Within each goal area we have made some strides since October 2007 when the goals were first adopted, and within each area we have a lot of work ahead of us. 

The first goal appropriately focuses on student learning, encompassing high academic achievement for all students, a rigorous standards-aligned curriculum, an elimination of variations in achievement correlated to demographic characteristics, and improvements in school climate.

Thanks to the hard work of our staff and students, there is a lot to celebrate in our students and their accomplishments.  A look at some of what our students are doing as they prepare to leave us is a good reflection on what this system and this community are producing.

In 2008, for the first time since the state began measuring Annual Yearly Progress under the federal No Child Left Behind, Columbia High School has met AYP in every single one of the 41 indicators.  Kudos to the staff and students for taking seriously the accountability to support all students and achieving AYP status for every subgroup in the school for the first time, and to Dr. Lilly for her gracious leadership. 

One of the most impressive trends you’ll see anywhere is the growth in Advanced Placement scholarship.  Over the past twelve years, the number of students taking AP tests has increased from 104 to 270 and the number of AP tests that they took more than tripled from 191 to 585, and, impressively, the percentage of tests scored at a three or better increased over that time from 72% to 77%.  Most recently, there has been a 14% increase in the number of students taking an advanced placement course since June of 2007.  This is an incredible accomplishment on the part of the system and shows that it is possible to increase access to high level courses while increasing rigor and the quality of student learning.  We’re proud of our 21 AP class offerings, and we need to open more sections and encourage even more students to participate. 

At Dr. Lilly’s initiative, Columbia High School held the first annual scholars breakfast to recognize 35 current students who have already attained Merit or AP Scholar status in their first three years of high school.  Altogether, we had 93 CHS students receive Advance Placement (AP) Scholar Awards – six National AP Scholars (which means a four or five on  eight exams!), 37 AP scholars with distinction, and 22 AP scholars with honors.  Columbia was one of only three high schools in the state to have  three or more National Achievement Scholars and Columbia was one of 26 high schools to have  six or more Merit Semifinalists.  The awards for scholarship and the school’s action in celebrating these accomplishments are a testament to shared value of supporting outstanding achievement.

The attractiveness of our graduates to colleges and universities was especially evident last year as students were accepted early admissions to over 30 institutions of higher learning, including the likes of Duke, Columbia, Smith and Vassar. 

Across all our secondary schools, the tone and climate is becoming increasingly safe, orderly, and conducive to learning.  Incidents of violence and vandalism fell 26% last year and, so far this year, suspensions are down significantly over prior years. I am thankful to building leaders, teachers and counselors for their efforts to more positively and proactively address student behavior at every level. 

And, in conjunction with the scholastic achievements and improved school climate, school spirit is on an upswing, especially at Columbia High School, with a student-led Cougar Nation club pushing for and securing the first Homecoming Pep Assembly that the school has had in over  four years to honor and cheer its scholar athletes on every team. 

Our students excelled outside the classroom as well, with award winners in community service and race relations, film and animation, regional Emmy Awards, and the Shakesperience festival.  A student was published in Women in Engineering.  Eight of our students were invited to perform in the NJ Elementary and Middle School Chorus. 

The Columbia High School music department won a 2008 GRAMMY Signature School Award, one of 14 schools in the country and the only one in New Jersey.  Students were named to the North Jersey Honors Bands, the All North Jersey Junior Region Band, All North Jersey Region Jazz Ensemble, and the NJ All State Jazz Ensemble.  We held the 16^th annual Music Marathon with over 1,200 students performing – what a great level of participation in the arts.  Thank you to Nick Santoro for your leadership and especially to all our teachers who go above and beyond for all of these events.  Their love and appreciation of the arts is an integral part of our school system’s culture and our students' school experience.  By the way, have you had the chance to visit the CHS Domareki Art Gallery?  Taking in one of the outstanding exhibits of art work by our very talented students and staff is always a way to restore faith in what we do.

Our teams are excelling as well, and athletics continues to be a valued and important part of our students' growth and development. TheCHS Girls Fencing Team won the state championship for the   ninth time in 11 years and the Boys Fencing Team placed third in the state. The CHS Ultimate Frisbee Boys Team won the Eastern Championship title, which is especially exciting since Ultimate Frisbee was invented at Columbia High School.

The CHS Girls Track Team Won the IHC, County and State Sectional Championships; the CHS Girls Basketball Team reached the Group IV, Section II state finals; and Columbia’s Boys Soccer Team won the State Sectional Championship.

Our swimmers also made great strides. Three CHS student swimmers qualified for the NJSIAA Meet of Champions; a student broke the CHS boys 100 yd. butterfly record; the Girls Swim Team has three new team records – 200 Medley Relay, 100 Butterfly and 100 Backstroke; and the CHS Boys Swim Team won top awards in the Iron Hills All-Conference and placed  third in the county championships. 

Now, to get a little more technical, several of the objectives in the first goal area are framed in terms of measurable outcomes on standardized tests because these are the most comparable, reliable, and valid measures available.  It’s important to note that even with a greater scrutiny on scores, we’ve maintained a broad and enriched curriculum that values areas that the state doesn’t assess on its annual tests: world languages, physical fitness, health, history, geography, science, music, art, and character building. 

We’re proud that in third, fourth, and fifth grade English Language Arts, we have a larger percentage of students scoring advanced proficient than our District Factor Group.  The number of third graders passing the state ELA assessment has increased by 10 percentage points since 2006, from 82% to 92% of our third graders scoring proficient or better.  This is an accomplishment worth celebrating, and I salute our elementary school teachers and students for their hard work.

We’re looking to enhance, deepen, and sustain this success through a strategic approach to curriculum, assessment, and professional development.  Our objective to ensuring high quality curriculum is moving forward as well.  The English Language Arts audit completed last spring has provided a roadmap for curriculum work.  We’ve begun the process of updating all our curriculum guides, of inventorying all our materials, and we’ve secured partnerships with leaders in the field to help guide the process and provide a critical eye.  And we’ll extend the audit process to mathematics this year, to review our approach K-12 in the same thorough and objective way we reviewed English Language Arts.

This approach to curriculum, of auditing and then building, is intentionally deliberate.  Many may call for the purchasing of a packaged program to replace what we have and bemoan the pace of our curriculum development efforts.  But, our deliberate efforts reflect a respect for the craft that many have developed and a desire to preserve and learn from the “islands of excellence” that have resulted from individual teachers and groups of teachers investing in their growth and importing best practices into their classrooms.  Our new English Language Arts curriculum will reflect the principles of balanced literacy, be specifically tailored to the needs of our district, incorporate the suggestions and input of our teaching staff, and be checked for quality by independent, outside reviewers.  I thank Rosetta Wilson, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, for her leadership in this area and the some sixty teachers that have volunteered to be part of the effort.

As we work toward a tighter, more aligned curriculum, we’ve also been phasing in some additional assessments for several reasons.  A primary challenge for us is to create a cohesive system out of the many islands of excellence in individual classrooms or in clusters of classrooms where teachers have formed formal or informal communities of practice to learn and grow together.  Assessment use is one piece of a comprehensive strategy including curriculum development, training, monitoring, and strong evaluation practices, which can help reduce unproductive disparities in what is taught across classrooms.  Common assessments, like the common midterm and finals that we’re creating in grades 6 – 10, can help to foster common learning objectives from classroom to classroom.  These assessments were created by teachers for their own use and provided an opportunity for rich discussion about what we want our students to know and be able to do as a result of every course. 

The data contained in our state of the district report also shows ongoing and unacceptable gaps in course taking and test scores correlated to student demographics.  You’ll see in the report itself that we’ve disaggregated every data point that we could, and some of the disparities are stark.  We are squarely facing the challenge of meeting the needs of all students in our diverse community. 

Research consistently shows children’s early exposure to literature and robust vocabulary correlates to socioeconomic status.  As a result, one of the district’s core values is investment in early childhood education, and we’re proud that we were able to offer full day kindergarten on a large scale this year for the first time.  Previously, with five-year old children from families with means able to secure educational and nurturing full day activities for their children from private settings, the absence of full day kindergarten served to exacerbate the gap in readiness for first grade.  I’m grateful to the board of education and the elected officials of the town and village for recognizing that this structural equity must end, and to the entire community for resourcing our full day kindergarten.  Last year, there were 60 students in full day, and this year there are 376 students in full day.  We’ve hired a truly fantastic and enthusiastic cohort of teachers for kindergarten as well.  So, I’m very pleased to announce today that, starting in September, kindergarten will be universal – full day for every student, and I remind families to check the district website for information on how to register for kindergarten.  We are also investigating opportunities to create a prekindergarten program.  The Governor has communicated a strong commitment to supporting preschool and we’re eagerly waiting to see whether the funding will be in place. 

We’ve also created opportunities for students to be supported in their efforts to take more rigorous classes.  Step-up classes, offered during the summer, were piloted last year in mathematics and science to provide students with extra support and the opportunity to successfully transition into higher level classes.  The results were encouraging and we’ll look to expand these opportunities.

We also expanded our Bridge to Success program, which provides summer classes to students entering the ninth grade who need additional academic and study skills support to ensure their success in high school.  This effort was a great labor of love for those who championed it, and I would especially like to thank Hope Taylor for her leadership and teachers Carolyn Johnson, Scott Stornetta, and Nicole Bradley, as well as Amanda Picone and the staff at the Loft for giving so much of their dedication and talent to our students over the summer. 

And, as part of our curriculum development, we’re looking to revamp academic intervention services for all students who need it so that our approach accelerates their learning and gets them on grade level as efficiently and quickly as possible. 

And, as many of you are intensely aware, we are also analyzing how we assign students to classes.  After initial conversations, reviews of the literature, and conversations with and visits to other districts, we’re finding that this issue is deeply charged and incredibly complex.  While research suggests that widening access to rigorous coursework is a key strategy to improving outcomes for all students while narrowing achievement gaps across groups, research also strongly suggests that schools and districts take a cautious, slow, gradual approach, well supported by curriculum reforms and sustained professional development in differentiated instruction.  In the coming months, we will form a multi-stakeholder group of teachers, students, parents and administrators to bring together divergent views, analyze our options, and further educate and prepare ourselves so that as a system we ensure that any changes are successful.  Given the results we’re getting, we’re going to have to try some new things as a community, while preserving and enhancing the levels of superlative achievement of so many of our students.  Our actions must serve to maximize the potential of every student.

So, as for goal one:  our students are growing in the classroom, on the stage, on the field, and in the studio.  Our children’s great achievements in so many areas are a result of the incredible competence and dedication of their teachers and counselors, and the support this community has for its young people and the school system. 

The second goal is to build a world-class professional staff, encompassing district efforts to recruit, hire, and retain diverse high-quality professional staff, ensure processes that help district faculty to become the best of the best, and link a performance evaluation and compensation system to student learning and school and district goals. 

Our professional staff is demonstrating leadership here as well as on a state and national level.  Our supervisor of physical education, health and nursing, Judy LoBianco, was inducted as president of the NJ Association of Health, PE, Recreation and Dance; the principal of Marshall school, Dr. Angelica Allen, was honored at the 11^th Annual “40-Under-Forty" Achievement Awards dinner;  CHS teacher Ms. Catherine Politi was accepted by the Montclair State University Center for Pedagogy in its ’08 Leadership Associates Program; two of our coaches – Carly Orpurt (boys swimming) and Johanna Wright (girls basketball) – were named Top Essex County Coaches of the Year; and Boys Soccer Coach Eugene Chyzowych was inducted into the Soccer Hall of Fame.  Congratulations!  And two key administrators launched career advancements and, although we’re sad to see them go, we’re proud that Ellen Bass, in-house counsel, will become an Administrative Law Judge, and that principal Kris Harrison has become Superintendent of Schools in another district. 

We’re growing the competence of our professional staff at all levels.  Administrators are becoming an instructional leadership team, focused on classrooms and learning together how best to support our teachers by directly visiting classrooms in teams and looking at strategies to improve student engagement.  To their credit, the teachers have welcomed these focused school visits, and I want to make very public my appreciation for the open doors.  We are a learning organization, and we’ve been reflecting on what we’ve seen by asking ourselves key questions about how our work as instructional leaders needs to grow and improve.  We’re building a clear and common understanding of what good instruction is and what the leaders need to do to support it. 

We’re also supporting the development of our teaching staff.  We’ve partnered with the education association on two important initiatives, and I’m grateful to SOMEA’s leadership for their partnership and support.  The first is to encourage teachers to become National Board Certified Teachers who are highly accomplished educators who meet high and rigorous national standards.  Like board-certified doctors and accountants, teachers who achieve National Board Certification have met rigorous standards through intensive study, expert evaluation, self-assessment and peer review.  We currently have 10 teachers going through this intensely rigorous and self-reflective process. 

We’ve also partnered with SOMEA to offer an enhanced mentorship program for our newest teachers – pairing them with some of our strongest experienced teachers so that they have someone to turn to and rely on as they work on improving their craft, with 40 teachers participating.

To improve our recruitment and hiring efforts, we’ve introduced an online application process for all those seeking employment in our system, so that we can better track the diversity of our applicant pool and the impact of various recruitment efforts. 

We’re moving toward a robust evaluation of teaching practice based on the work of Charlotte Danielson, a respected authority on teacher development and practice.  We’ll work with teachers and administrators for the remainder of this year, with the new evaluation instrument going into place next year, which will more clearly delineate the expected behaviors and competencies of exemplary performance. 

Our leadership is getting stronger as well, with new leaders in top positions, including Rosetta Wilson as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction; Paul Roth as chief information officer; Gary Pankiewicz as supervisor of English Language Arts; and Terry Woolard as supervisor of media and technology.  And our two newest principals – Patricia O’Neill at Clinton Elementary and Jeff Truppo at Maplewood Middle – are proud graduates of our own South Orange-Maplewood public schools.

Technology is increasingly becoming more important in the work that we do throughout the district. It is very encouraging that more and more staff are using technology to foster learning communities within their classes, to network with one another and professional organizations, and to enhance home-school connection.  Kudos to all those who have taken this leap.  In my opening day speech this year I encouraged teachers to “digitize something” and become the kind of tech-savvy educators that our students need them to be, and the response has been tremendous.  While so many teachers are doing such wonderful things that I am reluctant to point any out, I am grateful to Katie Simpson at South Orange Middle School who took the time to show me her class blog where her English Language Learners digitally upload  recordings of themselves speaking in English for their classmates to hear and critique.  Or Dr. Scott Stornetta, math teacher at the high school, who is building a library of digital tutorials, many of them done by his students, that students can access using handheld devices or computers.  His theory is that through the most thoughtful use of technology, he can get as close as possible to the experience of one-to-one tutoring for every one of his students.  Or Carly Orput whose use of webcasting allowed a student on extended medical leave to continue participating in real time in her English class.  Or Ira Cohen, who partnered with UMDMJ to use technology to teach genetics.  Or Dr. Janet Bustrin who emailed me to say that she had digitized all the photoslides that she has been using for years with her students.  Danielle Perotta, a fifth grade teacher in her first year with us, started an online blog for fifth grade teachers to facilitate their learning, sharing and supporting of one another.  I could go on and on.  As I visit classrooms on a daily basis, I’ve been impressed and appreciative of how frequently I see the teacher’s website url or email address posted for students to use from home.  I know not everyone is there yet, but there is a critical mass of early adopters who are paving the way, and I salute all of you and thank you for your efforts.  We’ve added a helpdesk to provide direct technical support and responsiveness to our staff and we’re looking to enhance our technology infrastructure, including a fiber optic ring to increase bandwidth and wireless access in our secondary schools, so that these great pioneers can do more and others will be able to join their ranks. 

And, despite all these great efforts, both systemic and individual, we need to do a whole lot more to build capacity and make sure that every single practitioner is learning and growing in their craft.  We are looking for ways to fund and onboard content specialists, lead teachers, and instructional coaches at all levels, so that we have the capacity to provide all teachers with the best possible support for their own learning.

The third goal is to improve district communications and develop strong partnerships with parents, local businesses, and community organizations

We’ve made some significant strides in better communicating with our community.  The district website has a look-and-feel that reflects our school district.  With Cougar colors and constant postings of news and notes from around the district, the website has become more effective and its use has increased. We also have a monthly e-newsletter that anyone can sign up to receive simply by registering on the district website.  We use the e-newsletter to communicate major announcements and release information to the community.  A fall survey of website users gave us additional information to help improve the functionality and organization of the website. Work has begun to implement these changes. 

Board meetings have been televised live for the first time so that the community can tune in in real time, and the Board of Education appointed a student representative, Jackson Huemer, to serve on the Board.

We’re grateful for the amazing partnership and generosity of the community as a whole.  Three organizations merit special mention:

South Orange Maplewood Education Fund which does such incredible work in supporting teacher innovation through its teacher grants.  Because of your support for SOMEF, teachers like Jennifer Smalletz, Donna Grohman and Bebe Greenberg have been able to attend workshops at Columbia University in New York City. Others, like Beth Johnson, have been able to bring high school students to institutes for youth leadership in diversity.  The list is tremendous, and I could go on, with 43 grants awarded this year, and over 396 grants awarded over the past nine years.  These grants support teachers who have a great idea and want to try it out, which is the spark needed to encourage innovation.  Thank you to SOMEF executive director Deborah Prinz for your leadership, to the SOMEF board for your service, and to all community members who donated or somehow sponsored SOMEF’s work. 

SOMEF also funds and runs the ACHIEVE tutoring program.  During the 2007-2008 school year, ACHIEVE had 200 adult and teen volunteers who provided over 2,750 hours of free tutoring to 275 students, K-12.  This is really tremendously important work, as the ACHIEVE tutoring is sometimes the one key support that makes that critical difference for a student.  Thank you to Lindsay Scott, ACHIEVE Program Coordinator, for your leadership, and to all the volunteers, many of them Columbia High Students, for dedicating your time to a child who needs your assistance, and to those who donate to support this important work.

Over the past years, The Parenting Center has been very supportive of the families in our district. In collaboration with the PTA’s, it presents nationally-known speakers, provides special topic workshops targeted to help support and  educate our parents, and organizes an annual massive toy drive to bring holiday cheer to our needy families to name just a few of  its many projects.  Last year, the Parenting Center organized the Elementors, a CHS club whose members spend time in each of our district elementary schools to serve as mentors and role models for the younger students. Through a recent grant from SOMEF, The Parenting Center is working with each elementary school to create a kindergarten parent-outreach program.

In addition, the school Parent Teacher and Home School Associations have made invaluable contributions in so many ways.  Contributing with sweat equity and financial donations, the PTAs and HSAs have continually made the South Orange-Maplewood public schools places that are fun and attractive for our kids.  Congratulations to Clinton School PTA for the National PTA Grant you won as a result of your efforts.  Parent organizations regularly make enormous and unsung contributions to our school system, donating entire playgrounds, helping improve the aesthetics of our facilities, supporting teacher initiatives, and providing some discretionary funding to building principals.  Thank you so very much for your support and your leadership. 

Other partnerships regularly strengthen our district.  Like the one between the South Orange Village President, SOMEF, the Parenting Center, SOMS, and SOMEA, which raised over $17,000 for after school programs for our middle school students.  That such an event could be so successful even in the midst of a national economic crisis says a tremendous amount about the priorities and values of this community and its support for public schools.

There are also a number of value-add school specific partnerships.  Jefferson School has developed a special professional development partnership with Seton Hall University, which brings student teacher interns into the classroom to offer additional strategies and support for its learners. Another partnership at Jefferson is with a program called CATCH, Coordinated Approach To Child Health, to bring the school, the family and the community together to develop healthy lifestyles.  Seth Boyden School received a grant from the Garden State Arts Foundation, which brought the South Orange-based Lydia Johnson Dance Company to the school to enhance the fourth grade's physical education dance program. South Mountain School has been partnering with Exxon Mobil/G&V Car Care, Inc. of South Orange for the last few years to receive a grant which funds a fifth-grade team-building camping trip each spring. South Orange Middle School received support from the community to host an inaugural program entitled Respect, Reflect and Remember. The day-long event provided students with opportunities to hear personal narratives of individuals who have overcome great challenges and obstacles.  There are more examples than I can name.

And yet we need to do much more to engage the community and foster stronger partnerships.  This spring, we’ll be releasing a stakeholder satisfaction survey to get input and collect perspectives from parents and community members about how well our schools our doing.  These satisfaction surveys will inform how we think about our goals and our strategies and will provide a barometer for how we are doing.  Please be on the lookout for them.

The Board and I will be revising the district goals starting in May this year, rather than over the summer, and will be enhancing our outreach and engagement process so that more people and groups can have a voice in the process.  And to ensure that our teaching staff has a greater and more direct part in the process, over the course of the next semester, I’ll be meeting with groups of staff members in grade level meetings, department meetings, or one of the after-school weekly staff meetings to enter into direct dialogue about the goals and how together we can accelerate our progress.

The fourth goal involves managing resources effectively and efficiently, encompassing a transparent, efficient budget aligned with district goals, and facilities that are updated and well-maintained. 

Let’s start with the budget.  This year, by examining every expenditure carefully and tightening where we could, we were able to preserve programs, expand full day Kindergarten, and onboard a chief information officer, all while keeping the overall budget increase at one of its lowest level in nine years at an increase of 4.96%. 

We also created a user-friendly, plain-English detailed account of where every dollar was being spent, so that funding choices would be transparent to everyone in the community.  Our budget expressed a commitment to continued excellence by preserving programs such as music, the arts, athletics, fitness, enrichment programs, and student services, all while maintaining class sizes and our enhanced graduation standards.  Through aligning the budget to the goals, we were able to add an AP statistics section, assistance to oversee facilities, step-up classes, and expand the bridge to success program.  I thank Karla Milanette and her team for this, as some of the cost savings measures put into place in prior years are helping keep the district solvent. 

Our facilities are being transformed.  If you haven’t done so already, visit Cougar Café and be surprised that you’re eating, and enjoying, school food.  And Underhill Field – what a glorious community effort done on behalf of our young people.  The Columbia High School Alumni Association, and especially the organizers of its Ever Upward Campaign – wow.  What a visionary effort.  Many said it couldn’t be done, or done so quickly, but with the tenacity of galvanizers like Beth Daugherty, Fred Profeta, and Charlie Tamayo, the field is now a reality.  And last month, the Cougar Football Team demonstrated that the turf works as they begin their new winning streak.  We’re grateful that our teams’ winning scores will be posted on scoreboards donated by town businesses, booster clubs, alumni associations, and individuals. 

And, our long range facilities plan is improving our learning environments.  We now have improved lighting, exterior doors, window shades.  We’re taking steps to control our energy costs and improve comfort by installing mechanical upgrades to distribute heat in four schools.  We’ve replaced the roof and a furnace at South Orange Middle School, making that school more energy efficient.

So, our goals are ambitious and our children deserve no less.  Anyone who knows the students in South Orange and Maplewood knows that they deserve a system that makes good on all these goals, and that they deserve to have a board of education that takes seriously its mission to provide an excellent education to every student regardless of race, parent income, family structure, address, prior academic performance or time in the district.  As I’ve continued to get to know the staff better over the past year, I have become increasingly confident that we have the know-how we need right here - we are fortunate to have deeply dedicated  teachers and staff, and I know we have the talent base to bring the district to the new heights articulated in the district goals. 

Now, I don’t know whether those fifth graders got a “4” on their historical fiction piece or not, and in the end it’s the learning and growing that matter more than the grade.  We’ll all make some mistakes along the way. 

What I do know is that those fifth graders are in a good place, a special place, supported by a progressive community and outstanding educators that care deeply about them, their growth and well-being.  They will face tremendous challenges in a world that is changing at an accelerating pace. 

For them, I thank you for your intense involvement and support, and for them I ask you to keep believing, keep working and keep pushing so that every one of our students can be all that they can be.

Thank you.