The Shah Family Foundation on Tuesday launched the primary episodes of a limited-series podcast that features interviews with outgoing Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius and a few of her predecessors concerning the seek for a brand new superintendent.
Called “Last Night at School Committee: The Search for A New Boston Superintendent” the podcast collection consists of interviews with Cassellius, Laura Perille, Tommy Chang, John McDonough, Carol Johnson and Michael Contompasis concerning the alternatives and challenges of the job, and their recommendation for the following superintendent.
“As Boston embarks on a search for a new school superintendent, there’s a citywide conversation happening about the future of Boston Public Schools, so we invited key stakeholders from across the city to share their thoughts on what will make a successful district leader,” mentioned Ross Wilson, govt director of the Shah Family Foundation.
“We put it all together into a special series of our ‘Last Night at School Committee’ podcast, with insights from nearly two dozen leaders,” Wilson mentioned. “We hope the collection helps elevate this necessary dialog about our college students’ future, and we hope our listeners get pleasure from it as a lot as we did.
In her interview for the collection, Cassellius mentioned she was “extremely excited” to return to Boston from Minnesota, the place she was commissioner of training. But she additionally heard that politics had a means of seeping into the Hub’s faculty district, partly as a result of the superintendent was appointed by the mayor, who was Martin J. Walsh on the time and is Michelle Wu now.
Within weeks of being sworn in, Wu got here to a “mutual agreement” with Cassellius that the superintendent would step down on June 30 after solely three years on the job. The break got here with prices of $314,000 in severance, in addition to $75,000 to rent a search agency to seek out her alternative.
One of the teachings Cassellius mentioned she discovered was that as superintendent, “you try to take what’s good and make it better.”
When she arrived on the job, she discovered that the situations of amenities have been deplorable,” she discovered that the majority colleges had no playgrounds or libraries, issues she hopes her successor will proceed her work on.
Cassellius additionally mentioned she had issues about “autonomous” colleges, one among which – the Mission Hill School – is closing in June due to allegations of students-on-student bullying and sexual abuse.
Former Superintendent Chang mentioned folks want to offer the brand new superintendent time, in order that s/he can create the precise staff after which delegate sure tasks to every of them.
Laura Perille, who served as interim superintendent after Chang left and earlier than Cassellius arrived, mentioned the position is to “stabilize and keep the good things going,” to problem-solve each the recognized and the unpredictable and to attempt to transfer the district ahead.
A brand new episode of the podcast is being added each day to https://www.bostonsuperintendent.com.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”