Schools tap Canton native to lead GMS

After breathing new life into a struggling Randolph High School in only three years’ time, Dr. William Conard, a man described by Canton Superintendent Jeff Granatino as an “educational visionary,” has accepted an offer to become the new principal of Galvin Middle School.

Dr. William Conard

Pending successful contract negotiations, Conard, a Canton native, will take over for retiring principal Tom LaLiberte on July 1.

Granatino announced the hiring at last Thursday’s School Committee meeting, noting that while the search process was “comprehensive and thorough,” Conard was clearly the top candidate and was in fact the only finalist recommended by the 10-member search committee from a pool of ten semifinalists.

“We had tremendous candidates, but there was one that really shined above the rest,” Granatino said on Thursday.

He also commended the search team, headed by curriculum director Jen Henderson, for conducting a very organized and careful search.

As for Conard, Granatino said he comes to the Galvin with a “wealth of experience in turning around educational programs,” most notably in Randolph, where he has overseen dramatic improvements in academic performance and extracurricular participation. The gains were so substantial, in fact, that the New England Association of Schools and Colleges — which had placed RHS on probation due to deficiencies in curriculum, instruction, and community resources — voted recently to remove the school from probation and continue its NEASC accreditation.

Canton High School, coincidentally, is in the beginning stages of a “self study” for the purpose of obtaining reaccreditation through NEASC – a process that occurs every ten years.

Meanwhile, the Galvin Middle School has struggled for years to raise its MCAS scores with respect to certain “subgroups” of the student population. While the school’s overall scores are rated “high” and “very high” compared to other middle schools in the state, its inability to show improvement in the scores of special education students and other subgroups has resulted in the school being placed on a form of state probation, known as an “accountability status.” Currently, the Galvin is in the second year of the “improvement” status for English language arts and the second year of the more severe “restructuring” status for math.

While it remains to be seen whether Conard will be able to effect changes in these areas, school leaders have been steadfast in their support for LaLiberte and consider him to be an excellent principal. LaLiberte, who is in his ninth year as Galvin principal and 37^th overall as an educator, is highly regarded by students and staff and by all accounts will be sorely missed.

At the same time, Granatino and others are excited to have Dr. Conard aboard and have full confidence in his ability to raise the bar at Galvin to new heights.

“Dr. Conard welcomes the challenges that we have as a district,” Granatino said in a statement, “and he is excited to be a part of the dedicated and talented team of educators at the Galvin Middle School that will move the middle school and our district forward.”

The move to Galvin also represents a homecoming of sorts for Conard, who graduated from Canton High in 1986 and still lives in the town with his wife and children.

In other School Committee news last week:

Granatino provided a detailed overview of his proposed FY 2012 operating budget, which calls for a 4 percent increase in total spending from FY11, including a little under $350,000 in recommended “enhancements.”

Three of these proposed enhancements — two new special education programs at the elementary level ($144,000) and an expansion of the autism spectrum program at the high school ($72,000) — could actually save the district money in the long run by reducing the number of students placed into costly outside programs.

The remaining “new spending” would go toward a part-time art position at GMS and a part-time educational assistant position at the Rodman preschool; stipends for afternoon supervision at the middle and high schools; additional training to help with phase two of the new elementary ELA curriculum; and state-mandated obligations to transport homeless students.

School Committee members agreed that all of these expenditures – save for the middle school art position — were either necessary or critically important. However, even without the enhancements, the superintendent said the budget is currently $1 million greater than the target figure established by the town, and as a result, they will likely have to entertain at least some cuts in the absence of more funding.

“We don’t want to cut any of these programs for our children,” Granatino said, “but I also understand the reality of our fiscal situation — townwide, statewide, nationwide.”

The reason for the deficit, he said, is that the schools received slightly over $1 million in one-time funding that will be “missing from the picture” next year, including $365,000 in federal stimulus dollars and $440,000 from the town’s free cash reserves.

Still, Granatino indicated that it would be possible to fund the new programs while making only a few actual cuts, but that would depend on the schools hitting some of their rosier projections, including an estimated $600,000 in special education savings.

To close the rest of the deficit, Granatino suggested a variety of possibilities: charging a bus fee to elementary students who live between one and two miles from their school; charging the Recreation Department a building rental fee for use of school gymnasiums; raising the athletic user fee and eliminating certain CHS sports; and, in a worst-case scenario, cutting custodian and teacher positions.

Committee members engaged in preliminary discussions about each of these proposals, and in some cases, such as with the building rental proposal, they voiced a variety of concerns. They ultimately agreed to continue the discussions in more detail at their next few meetings and to reach out to both Jeff Kaylor at the Recreation Department and CHS athletic director Danny Erickson in the coming weeks.

They also have an upcoming date with the Finance Committee to discuss both the budget and their proposed town meeting articles at some point in mid March.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Feb 24 2011. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.