This is a message from Board Chairman Glenn Iannacone. In a separate email to me, he gave the names of the site visit committee members: 2 board members, Erin Halsey & Sue Hamilton, 1 Principal, Ivette Ellis, 1 Teacher, Susan Daignault & 1 parent, Catherine Williams. They will leave Wed. the 24th and return Thursday the 25th.
Mr. Iannacone said the Board interviewed eight candidates, in total.
Superintendent Search Update
The Norwalk Board of Education hosted a two-day visit with Dr. Susan Marks, finalist for the position of Superintendent of Schools. The Board would like to extend its appreciation to parents, staff and members of the community who met with our candidate and provided their input.
Our next step in the process will be to send a delegation to Dr. Mark’s school district to conduct a site visit. The delegation will consist of two Board members, an administrator, teacher and parent. The site visit will take place on March 25. The Board hopes to make a final decision and act on Dr. Mark’s candidacy following the site visit.
Dr. Marks is currently the associate superintendent for the Office of Human Resources for the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Rockville, Maryland. In her current role, Dr. Marks ensures the compliance and implementation of all personnel processes including recruiting, selecting, and evaluating teachers, administrators and support professionals. She has worked in public education for over 30 years, most of her experience has been in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), and however she has worked in two other public school systems and on the college level. With 200 schools, MCPS is the 16th largest and one of the most successful school system’s in the United States.
Dr. Marks entered the field of education as a speech and language pathologist and received her certification as a special education teacher. For over 15 years, she was school based as a teacher, assistant principal and principal. As a principal, she led two elementary schools and implemented innovative and successful instructional programs.
As the interim Chief Information Officer she led the development of the technology plan that included both the vision for instructional technology and business and operations systems. She also has successful experience in sound fiscal practices and management of district resources. As a community superintendent, Dr. Marks led an area comprised of 30 schools serving over 26,000 students. She was responsible for supervising all principals and monitoring the instructional programs and ensuring academic results.
I would like to thank everyone that completed the input forms made available after they met with Dr. Marks. The Board is in the process of reviewing them.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
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How long has Ivette been an administrator in the Norwalk school system?
ReplyDeleteThis coming June, she will have completed her 2nd year as principal of Silvermine Elementary School.
ReplyDeletePoor choice of administrator. I am not commenting on her as an individual, this is not a criticism of her at all. She has not completed two years in Norwalk yet. She is a newbee. How could she possibly know who to choose as a new superintendent. Hand picked for this purpose?
ReplyDeleteCan someone tell me more about the teacher choice? How many years in Norwalk? Specialty? Level of instruction (elementary, middle or high school)?
When will the new Superintendent's contract be made public for comment and review? As we look towards future year's budgets, I want to be sure we are not contracting for another multi-year, million dollar insurance policy at the taxpayer's expense.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher is a Naramake kindergarten teacher-- fairly independent, from what I've heard-- had more than her share of battles w/ their old principal. Pretty sure she's been teaching for over 15 years and that she grew up in Norwalk.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone tell me who the parent is and how she was picked?
Well, with the little information given on the teacher, I am hopeful that she will be independent enough to seek the truth in her site visit. I am encouraged that she had battles with her old principal. He was a tough principal....enough said.
ReplyDeleteCan we find out how many of the eight interviewed were seriously considered? It seems very strange that it came down to one finalist for this position. At the very least, the search should have continued until it produced a few more choices. Telling us that eight people were interviewed
ReplyDeletereally tells us nothing, Mr. Iannacone, but thanks for the input. Some of us are still very skeptical of a candidate that appears shy of experience in the mainstream instructional arena. SPED and HR issues, though important, are not the most pressing matters in this district. We should be seeking someone with a proven record of closing the instructional achievement gap in a demographically similar district, and one not afraid to kick some butt to get results. Perhaps no one like that surfaced during the search. If so, that is unfortunate. Dr. Marks hails from one of the most affluent school systems in the country, where an overwhelming majority of parents are college graduates--not exactly a match for us. Her meet-and-greet in Norwalk was like an article from Educational Leadership magazine. All the buzzwords in all the right places. The visiting team will be wowed with Montgomery County, but they have to be sure that all the glitz can be duplicated in Norwalk, CT. Perhaps she is the real deal, and the concerns are for naught, but if there is shread of doubt, we have to remember our kids are at stake here. Recent history has not been good to us. It's unfortunate that it is only a one day trip. To be really effective, a few days of random visits in various schools could offer a wealth of information. Good luck to the visiting team, and remember to keep an open mind. This doesn't have to be a coronation.
just because principal ellis is in the district only 2 years, she has had other administrative experience. move on...you folks are never satisfied and always feel there is a hidden agenda. this individual is a very season administrator and has worked hard in 2 years to being moving that school in the right direction. The team picked seems to be very capable, and very independent thinkers.
ReplyDeletethere is always a negative tone on any decisions made in norwalk if it doesn't please a certain few.
5:28, I resent your comments. Being in a district less than two years does NOT give this principal a history of this specific district. It does NOT allow a person to know what has worked and what has definitely not worked in Norwalk. This is not about a negative tone. This is a serious final decision about to be made by a few people. We can disagree, but I stand firm in the right to say that she was a poor choice for the interview team.
ReplyDeletethat is your opinion. and yes you are entitled as I am.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 5:28 - I'm tired of all the negativity of a few people who will never be pleased. It's getting old.
ReplyDelete4:28, I didn't know that the people who agree with everything here are the only 'right' ones. It appears that you are one of those self righteous people who feel the need to instill your beliefs on others. I hope you are not a teacher. I wouldn't want you as a teacher for my kids!
ReplyDeleteYawn....
ReplyDeleteUnprofessional... not an unexpected response from you.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else feel confidence in the board?
ReplyDeleteAnyone else feel like the board is desperate and will take anyone that walks through the door?
I feel comfortable with Steve and Sue and sympathize with the challenges that they face.
ReplyDeleteSusan, Jody, and the new guy Glen?
Cartoon network. The clueless duo increasing illiteracy at the speed of a locomotive, able to leap - frog over common sense.
Glen, the firemen, called in on a 911 and quickly trying to lay hose and extinguish the flames of outrage by parents.
Glen, your gonna need more hose, alot more hoses.
Susan and Jody have been and are responsible for letting our ship run aground.
Confidence in the boards competence, collectively? Absolutely not.
We get one announcement, one candidate and the board declares they found "The One".
Marks has similar experince as Friedlander.
That worked well didn't it.
How much in legal fees did Friedlander rack up in only a year?
We really want more of the same?
Friedlander is the poster child for, "leave every kid behind" and anyone not liking it can kiss her rear.
Marks is not a good pick for Norwalk.
Cmon board, you can do this.
If the head hunters, (CABE), are unable to produce candidates that fit the critical skills sets that Norwalk needs, that the community spoke loud and clear, than we need to replace CABE and get a refund. And do it yesterday.
This is a extremely vital decision, the most critical decision you will make in your life for thousands upon thousands of children.
Dr. Nast is doing excellent.
Lets ensure we get this one right.
Stakes couldn't be higher.
Just wondering how impartial it would look to send a delegation of 5 men to check out a male candidate's place of employment in this day and age. Seems odd to me that all five are women and the candidate is a female. Men and women often see things from different perspectives. Why were no men sent when this is so important? Probably because they really didn't care about the visit - it was just a formality to placate Norwalk citizens and spend more money. Really, who were they going to meet with down there? She ran Human Resources. "Oh, were you happy with your recruitment and interview process?" It's not like she has daily contact with teachers or administrators or has input in any curriculum decisions. I would imagine parents don't know her and students don't know her. Does she even know anything about budgeting? That could be a huge problem if they didn't ask that question.
ReplyDeleteThe visit is just to placate the taxpayers. The decision has already been made. Don't think otherwise.
ReplyDelete