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"I was reading through your policy and understand any anonymous <br /> communications cannot be considered by your committee. I decided to come to <br /> the meeting tonight and speak to you directly. <br /> As you the School Committee begins the evaluation process of Dr. Doherty, I <br /> wanted to share a few comments. In the most recent local election on April 3, the <br /> voters in Reading turned out in an overwhelming and record breaking number <br /> 43%. The voters (almost 9000) decided they best trusted the composition of this <br /> committee to conduct an honest, truthful,fair and comprehensive evaluation of <br /> our Superintendent. <br /> In my professional life the evaluations that have helped me grow have been the <br /> ones that laid out my areas of strength and the areas which I needed to grow in <br /> and provided me with specific goals and a time frame to achieve them. Glowing <br /> evaluations are flattering, but hinder growth just as mean-spirited ones hinder <br /> growth. Evaluations are instruments intended to provide constructive feedback to <br /> the recipient in a fair, honest and constructive professional manner. <br /> I trust this committee will reflect upon this past year, the many successes, the <br /> mistakes, the challenges, the solutions..... ALL concerns and praise from all <br /> representatives of our community...... and come back to our Superintendent with <br /> an evaluation that will allow him to grow as a professional and be clear on what <br /> areas you expect him to focus on and what the timeline is for him to follow. By <br /> doing that you will be coming back to our community and moving us forward in a <br /> way in which we can understand. We will know what you expect, and we will <br /> know what we should expect. <br /> As a district we are finally positioned with the recent passage of the override to <br /> move forward. One narrative being shared that special education is broken is not <br /> true. Special education has some serious problems that are very, very deserving <br /> of attention, but is it also comprised of many students with varying disabilities <br /> who are progressing. The narrative being shared by some that our schools are <br /> failing is not true. We have some phenomenal teachers, leaders and many <br /> students who are thriving. We have new senior staff joining our district with <br /> valuable skill, experience and knowledge. AND we have areas in need of attention <br /> and improvement. <br /> Every student who goes through the RPS will have their own unique experience as <br /> does every parent of every child. I am the mother of three RPS students and each <br /> of their experiences has been different and my experience has varied with each of <br /> their teachers and teams. I fully expect those differences to continue and change <br /> as our children move through the RPS <br /> All positive and negative experiences are equally important, and I would ask as a <br /> committee you consider each experience that has been shared with you as <br /> individuals and as a committee during public comment, office hours, emails, <br /> conversations and open meeting. Then, evaluate our Superintendent as you are <br /> charged to do. There are only six people who have that authority, and I along <br /> with the overwhelming majority of the voting public place my faith and confidence <br /> that you will carry out your sworn duty. <br /> Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight. <br /> Page 1 2 <br />