BCAT News

The Burlington School Committee was briefed on Superintendent Eric Conti’s goals for the year that will be used during his evaluation in the spring. 

Conti said that under state regulations each superintendent must come up with two to four SMART goals each year. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. 

Conti said this year he had come up with three goals:

– A district improvement goal of leading Burlington Schools through the pandemic. 

– A student learning goal to “continue student progress through the pandemic.” 

– A professional practice or district operations goal to “continue progress and district operations and communication.” 

For the first goal, Conti said he has focused on “health and wellness and has been monitoring and communicating information from state officials, healthcare professionals and the local board of health to ensure that a safe environment is maintained throughout the schools.”

The second goal is the one he felt most aligned with his background though the pandemic made everyone feel like they were new on the teaching scene.  

“It felt like we were all first year teachers and superintendents,” he said. “We had to spend time moderating both teacher and student expectations. Our class time is somewhat limited so we had to modify expectations in terms of the process we would normally make. That being said I think we’re making a lot of progress.”

In the third goal, Conti said he is focusing on fiscal responsibility and working with the town administration,Ways & Means and the School Committee to create, support and manage a FY22 budget that “supports the needs of our educational community while also dealing with the likely restrictions from the financial recover from COVID-19.”

He explained that while doing this they are working to keep up with existing projects, including the high school HVAC and renovation project and seeking state aid for a new building at the Fox Hill location. This goal also touches on regular communication with teachers, the committee and the community. 

Though this session was not the formal evaluation, members of the committee weighed in on how they thought Superintendent Conti was doing in regards to these goals. 

Member Tom Murphy stated by pointing out that when it comes to the goals related to the pandemic it is difficult to draw comparison since nobody there had been through such a situation before. However, he concluded that he thought the district was being well run during a difficult time. 

“I’m impressed by the efforts of the superintendent and everyone else in the School Department,” he said. “It’s a group effort and everyone is pulling their weight.”

Member Martha Simon said she also thought the district was doing as well as it could during a pandemic. 

“I want to say the pandemic created this situation where we can’t have the type of education we’d like,” she said. “Our students and families are struggling but we continue to have our eye on the prize. I think everyone is focused on improving our instructional practices to  be able to provide the best possible academic expectations to maintain the integrity of the curriculum we’re teaching to the best of our ability.”

Chair Christine Monaco plainly stated her thoughts. 

“I think you’ve done a great job,” she said. 

The full evaluation based on these goals will be conducted during a School Committee meeting in May or June.