Following a challenging first year as head of Waltham public schools, Superintendent Peter Azar prepared for a much-needed vacation yesterday.
Sitting in his office working on filling staff positions for next year, Azar reflected on the challenges and changes he's experienced over the last 11 months.
"I think the major change has been a very positive one and it's a real spirit of collaboration within the district," he said. "With that collaboration as a foundation, we've been able to build discussions and with those changes, I think we can focus on helping the children of these schools."
A former Winchendon superintendent, Azar came to Waltham in August 2008, filling the shoes of former Superintendent Susan Parrella, who headed the district for a decade.
Since starting the job, Azar said he's sensed a change across his administration in the way school officials and parents communicate.
Azar said communication was a key concern expressed in a focus group report after a series of community meetings to gather feedback on what parents, teachers and administrators wanted in a new superintendent.
When he first came on the job, Azar outlined goals he hoped to accomplish in order to meet the expectations expressed in the report.
"The first goal was focusing on using existing media to bring public attention to the accomplishments of the district. I've been able to reach out to the community through newspaper articles I've participated in and TV shows we've created," he said. "The fact that we've developed four TV shows for (Waltham High School's public access television station) WE-TV and one on WCAC-TV, it's a very significant change to how parents received information in the past."
Another communication-related goal was to meet parents in small groups, he said.
"I wanted to include parents in discussions that would help provide me with background information as well as perspectives on various topics," he said. "I think it's something that's been welcomed by parents and the community."
Azar is also a co-chairman at citywide PTO meetings, an opportunity he said has offered him valuable feedback in shaping decisions about the district.
"Having those face-to-face meetings were very helpful to us this year," he said. "In addition we'll be adding two more meetings with an identified group of parents who will review the district improvement plans and there also will be a group of people I can gather some info from as I review the budget."
Azar said the most difficult challenge he faced was the district's operating budget for the next school year, which the School Committee approved after a drawn-out process and several revisions by Azar.
Fearing cuts to state local aid, Azar had originally ordered the layoffs of 163 non-tenured teachers. The City Council has since been able to restore funding to the district's budget and Azar was able to hire back 133 of those positions.
About 15 teachers weren't hired back because of job performance issues, Azar said.
"Sending out 163 notices of intent to lay people off is very difficult. Each one of those letters has a face and a family. It's very hard to do," he said. "Even though we went through tough decisions the budget has been restored. Unfortunately, we still had to go through the angst related to making those decisions."
Azar, like many other school administrators in the state, also had to deal with a unique problem in the national outbreak of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu.
"The fears people had and the concern they had for their children and their children's safety in the building required us to communicate regularly and multiple times a day with state and local health departments and then communicate across the district to staff and the community at large," he said.
Azar said he hopes to address several areas of concern during the 2009-10 school year.
One is reorganizing the structure of his administration. During school budget talks, Azar discussed some potential changes in the roles of academic directors.
"One area clearly is an administrative reorganization," Azar said. "It would be important to continue those discussions next year for a presentation in fall of 2010."
Another area of concern is redistricting. Azar said he will be gathering feedback from parents and others to determine the best way to draw new district lines.
"The lines that currently determine one school's district to another needs to be redrawn," he said. "While other schools are near capacity some have smaller student populations."
Azar said the budget will continue to be a concern.
"The budget is not going to be a one-year issue," he said. "I think we have to look clearly at what the budget revenue sources are going to be. I think we will have a second year of tough decisions around the budget."
Azar said one major change parents and students can expect in the coming school year is at middle school, where Azar has called for shorter periods and more class options for students.
Under changes that go into effect in September, students will have seven classes a day running 48 minutes each, instead of six classes a day running 57 minutes each. The added period will allow students to take electives such as music, drama and world languages, Azar said.
Parents, teachers and students will also see a change in schools' directors.
"I think the changes you'll see are some in the staffing. That will be a significant change," he said. "Many administrators have retired this year. We will be filling several directors' positions for math, science, reading (English language learners), music and art. Just with the changes to new people, you will find some new changes as to how those departments will be operating."
Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or jgilbrid@cnc.com
