Norfolk Going Own Way … For Now

The Norfolk School Committee has backed off the idea of sharing a superin­tendent with King Philip, and the com­mittee plans to hire an interim superin­tendent to replace Don LeClerc when he retires June 30. So is the shared superintendent idea dead? It hasn’t been mortally wounded, but it has been hit by a stun gun. King Philip officials are planning to move ahead with hiring a new permanent superintendent this spring for the region­al grades-7-through-12 school district, and Norfolk’s elementary school system is officially not on board. The Norfolk School Committee made the announcement this past Wednesday night that it wouldn’t commit to hiring the new King Philip superintendent start­ing

July 1, during a joint meeting between the two school committees.

But committee members haven’t giv­en up the idea, either. The annual town election in May could go a long way to­ward

determining whether the shared-superintendent plan goes forward, since the School Committee figures to get two new members. The committee split 3-2 in favor of the idea in January, and one member from each side (Marie Zullo in favor and Beth Gilbert against) is plan­ning to leave the committee in May. As supporters originally envisioned it, the plan was supposed to work in phases: King Philip would hire a new superinten­dent

to start this coming July, and then Norfolk would transition toward hiring the same person as superintendent of Norfolk’s elementary schools once the contract of the current superintendent, Don LeClerc, ran out June 30, 2011. Supporters say the two school districts would be able to save enough money to hire an assistant superintendent for cur­riculum, a position neither school district has currently, and that it would enable school officials to form a more cohesive educational program from kindergarten through 12th grade.

“I think what underlies our discus­sion … was the recognition that there is value in articulating and in fact sharing our educational goals and objectives, that because each of the elementary systems feeds into the King Philip system that it would make sense for us to have articulation on a K-to-12 basis, preferably, as we have dis­cussed in the larger committee, across the board with all three individual elementary dis­tricts, but Norfolk was the only one coming forward at the time,” said Pat Francomano, a mem­ber

of the King Philip School Committee from Plainville, during the joint meeting this past Wednesday night.

But a lot has changed during the past couple of months. LeClerc announced in January he is planning to retire this coming June 30, a year earlier than expected. (LeClerc had opposed sharing a superintendent with King Philip, say­ing Norfolk wouldn’t get the attention it needs, and he also cited past disagreements with the School Committee over educational vision.) Then the Norfolk School Committee came under heavy fire during a meeting February 3 from some parents and other residents wor­ried that Norfolk’s forthcoming school build­ing project and teachers contract negotiations would get short shrift from a superintendent more concerned about the regional school dis­trict. Most opponents said it’s the timing rather than the concept they have trouble with.

Thus, an idea that drew applause at a can­didates’ night forum two years ago drew sharp criticism at a public hearing a month ago.

Supporters, surprised both at LeClerc’s de­parture and the opposition from the town’s se­lectmen and some residents, have decided it’s too soon to try to share a superintendent with King Philip come July.

Beth Gilbert, chairman of the Norfolk School Committee, said the committee dis­cussed the topic within the past week. “Although we didn’t take a formal vote at that time, the consensus was that we aren’t ready to try to make any agreement by this July 1st, that we feel there are too many un­answered questions and too many things that we would have to hammer out,” Gilbert said during the joint school committee meeting this past Wednesday night. But King Philip School Committee members appeared to leave the door open for Norfolk. Francomano, of the King Philip School Committee, said he’d be happy to take into ac­count concerns that the Norfolk School Com­mittee may have when selecting a new super­intendent for King Philip.

“I don’t think it is possible for us to hire any­one other than a King Philip superintendent at this point, but with that said … I think it would behoove us as the King Philip School Commit­tee to keep in the back of our minds that this is a possibility, and if I’m going to hire somebody, maybe I want to make sure I’m that I’m hir­ing somebody that could be put into that role if that person agreed and if Norfolk were still interested in going ahead,” Francomano said. The King Philip screening committee is planning to meet several times in mid-March to consider candidates to replace King Philip’s current superintendent, Richard Robbat, who retired last June and has been serving on a temporary basis for this current school year.

Gilbert read a sentence from the brochure King Philip officials are using to recruit candi­dates for superintendent:

“Candidates are advised that the King Phil­ip Regional School District is exploring the feasibility of sharing services with the Norfolk elementary school district, including the posi­tions of superintendent and assistant superin­tendent for student learning.” There are limits to the accommodations that King Philip officials will make, though. Norfolk’s elementary school building project is a key issue for Norfolk skeptics of sharing a superintendent with King Philip, but Franco­mano

made it clear that Norfolk’s project can’t determine King Philip’s agenda.

“As far as the screening committee is con­cerned, I don’t want them hiring a superin­tendent for purposes of overseeing Norfolk’s building project. … I’m hiring a superinten­dent, right now, to take care of King Philip,” Francomano said. “That’s my concern, absent some other communication.”

Without a commitment from Norfolk, King Philip officials can’t put in place the original strategy of formally phasing Norfolk into a shared superintendent arrangement.

“The idea would be you’re hiring some­body under a three-year contract, that contract would say very specifically year one would be King Philip only, year two and three would be that transition into shared services with Nor­folk.

I think that’s the part of it that’s changed, because you’re not in a position to do that at this point,” Francomano said. “… So it will have to be an after-the-fact kind of thing. … It certainly still can be done.”

Later in the evening, the Norfolk School Committee voted 4-1 to pursue an interim su­perintendent to replace LeClerc on July 1.

An interim superintendent is typically a re­tired superintendent willing to work for a year or less for a salary over and above a pension. Interim superintendents hired under this sce­nario typically have significant experience run­ning other school districts, but their commit­ment to the new school district is temporary. LeClerc said there are pluses and minuses to each approach. “There are some for an interim where you are getting a very experienced administrator who’s had building experience, and I think that’s going to be important, because in a dis­trict as small as Norfolk, you can’t delegate that to anyone. You have to be the person driving those decisions and pulling the groups togeth­er and attending all those meetings,” LeClerc said. “So you don’t have an assistant superin­tendent or a curriculum director or anyone else really to delegate that to. So that part of it, hav­ing someone who can come in with the experi­ence, is very beneficial. And they may also be very beneficial in your negotiations.”

“… On the flip side, if you bring in a super­intendent over the next three years, the real good part about that is they will see your build­ing through to fruition, and an opening. So there are arguments to both sides. Again, I’m not able to say one’s much better than the other,” LeClerc said.

The Norfolk School Committee could have tried to hire a permanent superintendent for a longer-term deal (the usual length is three years), but Gilbert said it’s so late in the hiring process that a consultant for the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Jim Hardy, suggested it might be hard to get good candi­dates. John Olivieri was the lone dissenting voice, arguing that Norfolk needs a superintendent who is willing to commit to the school district and especially its building project. “One historical argument is, we don’t want to run any post mortems on the school to see what happens to a new school. That’s hap­pened, in many cases, of the old schools. So by having a fellow who’s on board, a person’s who’s on board, we can avoid post mortems that we seem to findtime for later on,” Olivieri said. “No post mortems. Do it right.”

But School Committee member Linda An­drews argued that hiring in a hurry is a bad idea.

“Rushing at this point to find a full-time superintendent, with changes in the School Committee and other changes going on, is not a good idea, because that’s when you’re not thinking straight, you’re not really thinking it out. You need time to think this out, you need time to pull a few things together. I think your option is to go with an interim so you can give yourself time to think, and then move forward from there,” Andrews said. Going with an interim also leaves open the possibility of proceeding with sharing a super­intendent with King Philip in July 2011, since the interim superintendent in Norfolk would be expected to leave at that point, anyway.