School Committee - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening, everyone. I'll call to order a special meeting of the Salem School Committee of July 7th, 2026 at 6 p.m. This meeting is taking place in person at 29 Highland Avenue, room 227 in Salem. In person is the primary method of public access to this meeting. If technologically feasible, you can access via Salem Access TV or remotely using the Zoom link posted in the meeting agenda. The only item on our agenda for this evening is an interview with our superintendent finalist, Jorge Allen. We will begin with allowing you to OFFER A TWO TO THREE MINUTE OPENING STATEMENT IF YOU'D LIKE. THERE WILL BE A SERIES OF QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS. COMMITTEE MEMBERS, I WISH TO ASK A FOLLOW-UP QUESTION TO ANY OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WERE ASKED. PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND AND I'LL CALL ON FOLKS AND THEN WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE NEXT QUESTIONS. AND THEN AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE QUESTIONS, YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ANOTHER TWO TO THREE MINUTE CLOSING STATEMENT IF YOU'D LIKE.

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU.

OKAY. Well, with that, the floor is yours, Jorge.

Thank you. Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to be here. I would like to start by saying what really excites me about Salem. What really excites me about Salem is basically who the community is. Having almost more than 40% of families and students to be Hispanic. having one in every six students roughly to be English learners. Those are the things that are really exciting, but especially the fact that this is a community that is very intentional and deliberate in communicating their sense of belonging to all these members. And the most important thing is that the multiculturalism and the multilingualism of this community is not being seen as a challenge to be managed, but instead as an asset that enriches the community and should also enrich the educational experience of the students. Personally, as an immigrant myself, as a first-generation college educated in my family, as a descendant of Westinians that actually built the Panama Canal, I feel connected with this community. And I feel that the, I don't see Salem as a, basically a district where I see the families that represent also my family as well. Also because of the fact of me having to raise three African American boys in this community and having to navigate the school system as a parent in a language and a culture that was not actually my first, that also has given me a perspective that is not just imagined or learned from the book, but actually lived in every day of my experience as a parent. Two things that I would like to highlight tonight, and hopefully you'll be able to see that through line. is one, I truly feel and believe that Salem is not at the beginning of something. It's actually in the midst of extraordinary things that are happening. When I came to the site visit a few weeks ago, I was able to see from the early childhood center how the adults were excited about kids getting dirty in the community garden. I was able to see the dual language school be very proud about the teachers that they have brought from Brazil, from the Dominican Republic, and Spain. Then I was able to experience and have a conversation with a middle school principal that's actually very excited about the possibility that next year there will be the start of a dual language program at their school. And then also in my meeting with high school students, when I asked them what is one aspect of the Salem High School experience that they feel really proud, that they will be able to brag about. And the answers I got were two that really were very telling. One, one of the students mentioned that they were really proud of the special education program. It has been my first time in my educator life that actually students will actually highlight the special education program as a highlight of their educational experience. The second thing that also was shared by the students when I met with them was that they were really proud and really excited about the design of the high school that allows them to experience career and technology education opportunities and pathways. in addition to the regular high school curriculum. So those are the things that I describe by extraordinary. Those are the things that really make Salem, for me, an exciting place to be able to join as an educator. The second thing I would like to highlight, my second through line is, and it hopefully will make more sense later, is the concept of locally rooted, and globally ready. I feel and I believe that all and every single Salem Public School student deserves access to the core curriculum, and also they deserve to really learn about their language, about their culture, and about their local community. And those things and those elements should make them ready for basically be ready globally for career or any post-secondary opportunities that they might want to pursue. So those were my two through lines today and hopefully that will capture my vision. And again, thank you for the opportunity as I'm really honored to be here with you today.

Thank you, Mr. Allen. So our first question, equity often requires difficult choices. How do you approach decisions about allocating resources, opportunities, and supports across students, schools, and programs when needs exceed available resources?

Yeah, I think for me the first operating definition is to keep in mind that equity doesn't mean equal distribution of assets. So equity is not asking for every single school, every single student to have the same thing. It actually is asking us to be mindful about how distribution of assets is providing equal opportunity of access to opportunities. So there's always the dilemma that we're bound to face that needs always going to surpass resources. The question that I will have as a superintendent that actually has dictated my career is to always ask the question, what are the students or families that will be impacted by any budget decision? especially keeping in mind that we want to protect the families that are more vulnerable, the families that have been underrepresented or the students have not been achieving educationally as their peers. With those decisions, with those principles in mind, it's important to communicate those values when having budget considerations and conversations. I would like to offer an example. As a department head in a world language program, I had to make the decision about increasing the class size of the honors classes to be able to have enough staffing to support the college prep courses offered in my department. That was not a popular decision. That was not a decision that is in a way kind of intuitive. But the principle, the driving principle for that is that those students that are labeled as college prep versus honors, those are the students that in a world language program are the ones that are more vulnerable. They are the ones that don't see themselves as language learners. And those are the ones that will benefit from having a smaller class size in which that will provide more access to the teachers. Those kind of decisions are the ones that I use when I look at budgetary considerations. And what is more important is to keep in mind what will be the effect or the impact of those. So I was trying to protect the students that our program needed to highly support and the students that were actually underrepresented academically. But the most important thing is that that decision was owned by me. THE DECISION WAS UNDERSTOOD BY THE DEPARTMENT AND I DID NOT PASS THE NEGATIVITY THAT CAME WITH THE DECISION AND SPREAD TO THE REST OF THE STAFF. SO IN THE END, THE DRIVING DECISION IS ABOUT THE IMPACT. A BUDGET DOCUMENT BECOMES A DOCUMENT OF VALUES AND STATEMENTS. and it's not just a list of cuts and expenses, but actually it will show what a district, what a program or a school values.

Thank you. Follow-up questions from committee members? Member Cornell.

Thank you. I'm wondering if you can develop a little bit how you would use what metrics you would use to sort of assess how we allocate our resources equitably. You know, this is a concern for us going forward and equity is our guiding light in this district. So how would you think about being data informed at the same time that where it's, you know, being human about the way that we approach our high needs population. So just like what sort of metrics and data would you be looking for to make sure that we're appropriating our finances to the kids who need it the most?

Yeah, I think a key element for that analysis has to be desegregating the data. We have to understand what is the level of achievement, not necessarily as a district as a whole, but actually being able to be more nuanced and being able to understand are we actually closing the gaps between the different student subgroups. And then I will have to understand basically what is that connection between the of those subgroups where they mostly located or likely to be situated in the district operationally and also in the academic programming. So I think the metrics for me that I basically drive when I understand district decisions, it has to come to the segregated data and understanding what are the programs that are actually supporting those particular groups that are trailing the mainstream or trailing the average of the district and what are the programs that actually are helping to close that gap and to accelerate learning. And so in an environment which one is considering either right-sizing or sunsetting programs, that is kind of the metric that we're looking for, the educational outcomes for the particular groups that we're interested in protecting.

Thank you.

All right, no further follow-ups on that point? Member Cornell, you have the next question.

The next question is, Salem has worked hard to build a culture of high expectations for all students while also offering strong college and career pathways. How would you ensure students experience a coherent educational journey from elementary through high school and graduates prepared for success in college career and life? I'm sorry, and graduate prepared for success in college career and life?

Yeah. Thank you for the question. For me, the key term with that question is coherence. By coherence, I mean that when I think about a kindergarten student who might be starting in the fall in the Sarah Parker, Ramon School, for example, and when I think about high school, Salem High School student, are they experiencing educationally an alignment of opportunities? Or are we just a district that is basically a conglomerate of disparate experiences under the same name of Salem Public Schools? So it is important that I see the coherency reflected by what Salem already has done with the portrait of the graduate. And the question for me would be, how is that portrait of the graduate reflected vertically in all the levels? One should be able to see that unfolding and unpacking of those characteristics of the portrait of the graduate, like critical thinking, creative problem solving, collaboration, communication, self-awareness, and cultural competence. from the early stages, from kindergarten, elementary, middle school, and so forth. It should not start at ninth grade. It should actually start in our levels. And this alignment of experiences, It's important to be able to provide students with access to the core curriculum and high standards. And also going back to what I said about being able to experience, enrich locally, inform educational curriculum. and also to prepare them for the global economy and all the future readiness that we're asking students to be ready. So going back to the question, I mean, I think the key thing is coherence. We should be able to see that elements of that coherence throughout vertically in all the levels.

Follow-up questions? I'm just going to say yes every time. Okay.

So just to drill down a little bit more on that, I'm wondering if you could talk about how you will work with teachers to assess whether or not we are being coherent, right, with our expectations and our follow-through and also ensuring high standards while we're doing that. And I think that also goes back to the first question about our about equity and making sure that our most marginalized students are getting the most. How will you assess that and how will you work with teachers to kind of make sure we're on track?

Yeah, I think definitely with educational data that we have, that is to ensure that the educational programming is actually using the resources that we're looking for. For example, here in Salem, you know, it's remarkable the growth that we have seen with former English learners. Personally, in my current district, I participated in trying to introduce data-informed meetings regarding English learners in the sense of, you know, kind of a variation of multi-tier systems of support in which we're using data to inform our educational moves and instructional practices. It's not too much about remediation, a mindset of remediation with a mindset of what do we need to provide at the student at the right time, at the right moment. So that, the data-informed instructional decisions is something that I will be looking as a superintendent and hopefully in different spaces there will be evidence that educators, we are using that not as the only solution or the only aspect that is actually partially informing our decision aside from understanding the context of the different students. So I think going back to data and seeing every year how we're closing those gaps, for example, Salem has done remarkable in their student growth. You know, even though that our achievement levels have not caught up yet, we know that research shows that sustained increase in growth will actually pay off or show off with achievement. To your question about how we'll ensure that that is happening in classrooms and in schools, I think by having, by listening and observing conversations in which educators are using data to inform their conversations.

Member Abayas, you have the next question.

Hello, Jorge. So I'm going to be asking my question in Spanish, and I just want to thank the interpreter here for helping us tonight. Let me know when you guys are ready. Salem ve la educación como una misión comunitaria. ¿Cómo construirás asociaciones sólidas con las familias, el personal, los líderes de la ciudad y las organizaciones comunitarias? ¿Y cómo te asegurarás que las familias de todos los orígenes de Salem tengan oportunidades significativas para influir en las decisiones del distrito?

Primero, muchas gracias por la pregunta en español, por permitirme comunicar, expresar mis opiniones en el idioma que muchas familias entienden, y también gracias por la oportunidad de poderme yo personalmente comunicar en mi idioma natal. El primer paso para mí es respetar y reconocer que las familias no son grupos de interés que hay que gestionar. Que al contrario, debemos de ver a las familias como socios que nos ayudan con su experiencia y su conocimiento. Son expertos en lo que es la educación o la personalidad de sus estudiantes. El marco de trabajo que dicta o que me guía en esa colaboración con las familias es reconocer que muchas veces es necesario presentarse y reunirse con las familias en los espacios que son más cómodos para ellos en el idioma que ellos prefieran. También es importante que uno reconozca que el trabajo no termina simplemente con traducir documentos, sino también en establecer confianza por medio de comunicadores o intermediarios comunitarios que ayuden a diseminar la información y a crear esa rutina o esa frecuencia de comunicación con las familias. In closing, I would like to say this in English for everyone to have access to it. I think the goal is for Salem to be a district where everyone feels that they belong. Gracias.

Gracias.

Any follow-ups? No. Member Hoffman.

Tell us about your experience supporting students who face significant barriers to success, including students from marginalized communities and those at risk of disengagement. How would you ensure Salem's systems identify needs early and provide effective support?

Early identification is the name of the game. It's the most important aspect for me. In one of my previous districts, actually schools, educators had access to a system that via email, any educator in the team could actually communicate with the entire group when there was any reason for concern. It didn't have to be a crisis. It was just a concern. For example, in my case, as a language educator, if I had a concern about a particular student, I would just email the group of adults. This is what I'm seeing. This is what I'm wondering. Unlikely, the counselor, which is also part of that group, will reach out to me. will try to understand better what I have seen or heard from the student or regarding the student performance. And then they may share with me a little more context so I can understand what is the reality of the student and what could be the factors playing into that. That system might seem really small, but it's something that I have taken throughout my career in the sense that a concern, we should not let a concern become a crisis. And sometimes we formalize alert systems. Yes, they are designed to capture those moments, but if we could also normalize more frequent more less formal, in a way kind of informal way or letting other adults in the group and the team kind of know, we'll be able to kind of close that gap between a concern and a crisis. I think that when a student disengages in multiple disciplines, we have missed the mark. We should try to respond early and try to access and provide that support from the early stages.

member Cornell thank you I'm wondering if you could talk about how you will work with teachers you know the people who are really on the ground to ensure that we're not leaving students behind sort of what is your leadership look like in that regard or how do you expect to engage with teachers to kind of make sure that everybody is prioritizing the same things

Yeah. I mean, obviously, I mean, there are structures in schools, like student support teams, data meetings, also at the building level that might bring up some of those conversations. Personally, currently in my district, while we are working in what we call relationship mapping, which is basically just a tool in which we are trying to account for every student, making sure that they have at least a trusted adult. It's not too much on the student perception of having an adult, but actually matching the adult or the teacher perception of how they connect with a particular student. So we're trying to, in that way, kind of survey the landscape, identify where we had gaps, identify the students that have not been claimed by any adult, and then act as, okay, let's understand who can be that trusted adult so that the student is connected. A lot of times, those gaps or holes in my current practice, they happen to be new students, new transfer students that are new to the community. Also, when we look at the aggregate data in that kind of practice, it tells us a little bit about our practices and our internal biases regarding why students need connections and why students don't need connections. So that is a very, it's a small tool, that's a daily practice, but that is how currently we're trying to remind our staff members of the importance of connections, and hopefully those connections will allow us to have good identification, as I mentioned in my previous question, and then also be able to tackle a concern before it becomes a crisis.

Next question is mine. Dr. Allen, school districts across Massachusetts face significant fiscal challenges. Tell us about your approach to budgeting and resource allocation and share an example of how you've navigated a period of financial constraint.

Yeah, as I mentioned, I mean, budget is a value statement document. In my experience as a department head, as a district director, I had a situation in which, because of FTE reductions, we had to look at cuts in the high school programming. The cut could have impacted the Chinese language program in my particular setting. Two of the key drivers, going back to what I mentioned at the beginning about looking at budget, looking at finances, looking at impact from an equity lens, was to appreciate the fact that our middle schools offer Spanish and French, whereas the only exposure or access to Chinese was actually at the high school level. The Chinese language program in this particular district was a statement of value because it represented a significant portion of the demographic of the community. So that was one equity consideration. The second equity consideration was that for students that have not found success in French or Spanish at the middle school, having access to a different language, a very different language from the Romance languages of French and Spanish, actually offer an opportunity to try again to reset and not lose that confidence of them becoming language learners. The importance of small programs at the high school, for example, is that they tend to only have one teacher. So the students actually were exposed or actually working with one educator for four years. So it created a level of safety that we were not being able to provide with the larger language programs. Again, this is a decision that was not popular. It's not intuitive. And it's the kind of decisions that one has to make and one has to own and be able to also absorb the negativity that will come, that may come with the decision and not pass it to the rest of the team or the rest of the staff. Because I believe that that's part of being a servant leader to also be able to understand that there will be a price to be paid by decisions that have to be made. But as long as one is transparent about what is the guiding principle, in this case, the two equity considerations, at least there is an understanding, even though that people might not agree about the execution of the plan. When I scale out envisioning what happens at the district level, it's kind of the same, being led by the same principles. Understanding what will be the impact of the cut of the budget change, depending on the challenges of the budget. And to ask ourselves about, are there other ways to protect those vulnerable students and families? Are there other services that are comparable to that? And it's not just an exercise of balancing numbers, even though that is obviously going to be present in those discussions.

Now we're stopped.

Thank you. I had two quick questions, actually. The first question was, so the example that you provided with the Chinese language program, were you able to keep that program or did you have to no longer have that program in the district?

Yeah, so the specifics is that there were some retirements happening in Spanish. And also we had a teacher that could actually teach both languages, French and Spanish. So we were able to kind of like swing that person to support the not refilling or replacing the retirements in the Spanish program to be able to have enough FTEs to be able to maintain the Chinese language teacher at that moment. Obviously, by doing that, class sizes increase. You know, this expectation, like, why are you doing this? I mean, these are the most of our students are in Spanish and French. They are now being served by these decisions. But there was the equity consideration that I mentioned in my answer about this is the only space where a significant number of families see themselves reflected and also it's important because otherwise we will be narrowing the language options for students that may not have seen success at the middle school level.

Thank you for closing that loop for me. And then just a question about the budget communication in general. You know, it happens every year, right? We all know what's coming. So I'm curious as to what your philosophy is with communication of the budget to, you know, the different groups that we have. So staff, families, students even sometimes. Like how is that all, what's your philosophy of communicating that out and working with the other groups?

Yeah, I think it goes back to what I have said in some of the answers before. Just remind the community about the guiding principles. They are budget drivers, you know, that actually are more financial in nature, but also they should be a reminder to the community about the guiding principles so that when we start having discussions, the preemptively we have the we have shared with the community and with the stakeholders what will be the equity consideration that we'll be using for those decisions. I mean budgets I would assume it is similar to my previous districts. I mean they basically start early in the fall when we start looking at those anticipated sizes of revenues. We might anticipate any shortfall from the very beginning. We start asking programmatic questions at the academic council level, we call it, which is basically all the department heads and principals and directors. And then the equity question will be always the equity probe that those conversations will be used. is who are the families of students that will be impacted, how can we protect them, and are other alternatives where students can still have access to the same educational outcomes that we wanted to provide for these other programs. I think with staff, I think given the declining enrollment that we're having across the state and even in a way the country, I mean, that's a reality that communities are facing. We have to also be cognizant of the impact that immigration enforcement is having in a number of our communities as it's impacting our enrollment. So I think the more that we let people preemptively know what are the factors that are going to be at play, It's not going to alleviate the discomfort and the frustration, but at least will allow people to see transparently what was the framework and the thinking behind the decisions.

Thank you.

Any further follow-ups? Member Cornell.

As a body we really value our relationships with our collective bargaining units and you know that some teachers union is the biggest collective bargaining unit and is is the one most impacted when we have budget deficits and we rely on the the superintendent to be that bridge between the sound teachers union and the school committee both in the build up to the budget process and and And in the negotiation process as well, which is dependent on budgets, obviously. But so that, as you know, is an important job of the school committee, the superintendent. So I'm wondering how you'll negotiate that role of, you know, Being that liaison between us and the school committee or the teachers union, preparing them for potential deficits, you know, how do you see that relationship evolving as you get into the job?

That's a great question. And I have to admit that in my experience I have not seen the perfect way to do it. I mean, I just want to be honest about that. I think it's always hope that there will be some kind of anticipated communication that will avoid that sense of shock and frustration that comes. And at the same time, The sometimes the details of knowing exactly how a reduction will impact a specific employees or a specific number of FTEs is always a tricky act to navigate. I will say that. Bringing back everything I have said, I mean, I will assume that Salem, compared to other districts, will have routine conversations with leadership. I am currently part of those leadership, you know, once a month, every, you know, twice a month, communications and engagement. And one of the guiding principles is let's try to avoid surprises. Let's try to at least as much as we can you know giving our different roles To be able to kind of give a heads up and and try to also be open to to different perspectives. I think what I would hope if it's possible to bring is a space and a time where decisions are not being made and decisions can actually entertain multiple perspectives because budget can give you a sense of where the gaps are. Both the stories and perspectives are the ones that actually will inform you about the impact. So on the one hand, as I'm holding the kind of the primordial principle for me of understanding the impact and making sure that the impact is not falling on the most vulnerable to really be able to understand that impact requires engagement with the teacher association, with other, you know, units of the collective bargaining agreement because those are the stories that really inform what just the numbers are kind of like leading us to focus on.

member miranda how do you balance supporting principals and school leaders with holding them accountable when student outcomes school climate or equity goals are not being consistently met thank you for the question

I would like to start by saying that I don't see support and accountability as mutually exclusive propositions. I actually see them as basically the two halves of one situation. It is not fair to hold any educator accountable for goals that we have not spent the time explaining. and providing resources and coaching the educators to be able to execute that plan. When adults, you know, basically, adults are just grown-up students. So the same thing that we face sometimes in the classroom in being able to kind of manage changes, it also happens with adults. When adults tend to face or tend to react in a reactive way, an oppositional way, We have to be able to slow down and appreciate and assess if this is coming because of fear of not knowing how to do it. and fear that if I don't know how to do it, would I be fired, would I lose my job, would I lose my standing? So it's important that in the coaching of every leader, the superintendent is getting close to that building leader or that department leader or program leader to ensure that that leader understands what the goal is about, that that leader develops a sense of what kind of resources they might have to provide to their staff in order for the goal to be accomplished, and that they have time to believe in the goal. Personally, I bring it to the educator level, I had a situation with a couple of educators in which I feel that we provided coaching and support and resources for an extended period of time, and the educators were not able to meet those goals. It was not necessarily a lack of skills. It was not really a lack of resources. It came down to be a mismatch between THE DISTRICT BELIEFS AND THE PERSONAL BELIEFS OF THE EDUCATORS. I CONTINUE PROVIDING THE COACHING. THE EDUCATORS THEN COME TO THE POINT THAT THEY REALIZE THAT IT WAS NOT GOING TO BE A MATCH BETWEEN WHAT THEY BELIEVE AND THERE WAS NO WAY THEY COULD ACCESS THE DISTRICT GOALS. SO THEY IN BOTH CASES DECIDED TO SEPARATE THEMSELVES FROM THE POSITIONS. That's not really a failure of accountability. It's actually accountability providing a little dignity to allow professionals to come to that realization when there's no way that they can give up their personal beliefs in order to align them with the district beliefs. I view those cases as exceptions rather than the rules because educators normally come to education because they really want to make a difference in students and families. So I think the same kind of Part of that kind of works for our superintendent working with building levels, building leaders, in the sense of ensuring that when a building leader is not meeting the standard, is not achieving the goal, is not a question of what's wrong with the leader, but it's actually an introspective question for a superintendent to ask. What am I or what are we not providing the leader as far as coaching and support for them to continue with that growth? And I think it's important that building leaders, at the same time as the superintendent, we have the patience and the willingness to go through that journey, to go through that process, and that we can provide some grace to each other in that journey. And that it basically, because that's the same kind of modeling I would like for them to share with their staff when they're coaching classroom teachers as well.

Thank you. I really appreciated that sentiment about looking at yourself as the leader and saying what am I not providing, doing a little personal reflection that's important in leadership. So just to piggyback on that, I'm wondering what role or how I might not be saying this correctly because I'm not a teacher, but sort of how professional development can be used to help to support teachers, which is what it's for, but like how do you view professional development as a tool to help give our educators the support that they need? What would your approach be to professional development?

Thank you, I appreciate the question. I have maybe a little individual perspective on this. I believe the professional development at its best is when it's more about coaching. And the reason why I use those terms in a distinctive way is that sometimes professional development sounds to educators as a one shot, check a box, here we go. We taught it, you should do it. And the same analogy and extension of what I'm saying, like adults were just like grown-up students, is that there's a learning curve. And the question is, when I'm learning the new skill in order for the new task or goal that has been set for the district or for the school, Am I being able to share my failures and my small successes with someone? Am I able to get feedback, timely feedback, so I can know how to improve? And so I think for me, professional development that is really most effective is the one that resembles coaching. So it's like a sustained relationship. THROUGHOUT THE LEARNING, THE NEW LEARNING THAT EDUCATORS ARE BEING ASKED TO ACQUIRE RATHER THAN JUST ONE PRESENTATION, AN AFTER SCHOOL, ONE OR TWO HOUR SESSION.

THE NEXT QUESTION IS MEMBER

Thank you. Salem has a strong foundation and an ambitious future, including a transformative high school project that will impact the community for generations. What should Salem schools look like 10 years from now? And how can the superintendent ensure that long-term investments remain educationally sound, fiscally responsible, and responsive to community needs?

Yeah, thank you. The buildings and infrastructures, those are the easy part. I think the real core of the enterprise is actually the program and the vision inside the building. It's important that our capital investments or infrastructure investments are a reflection of our educational vision, not the other way around. It's important that we find ways to include the key school community members who are basically the educators and students, not just in the planning phase, but also in the implementation phase so that our initiatives have vibrancy and currency as we implement them. My job is to ensure that, for example, in the case of the future high school, that the future high school maintains the educational programming that Salem values and that is actually is a place where there's an ocean of opportunities for students. It is important that the three elements that I heard from the students when I met with them that they love about Salem High are preserve and actually better resource, the regular high school programming, their vocational pathways. And also something that I learned in talking to the high school principal is about your robust early college programming as well. So it's important to keep that currency that we are always asking ourselves if these investments are in service with educational vision. and that we constantly find ways for any capital improvement to actually reflect those educational goals and visions that we have set for the community.

Member Stott?

Thank you. I would love to unpack a little more, if you don't mind, the response about educators and students need to be involved in not just the implementation but the planning process and the before we get to the end part. How do you envision that happening or what has worked for you in the past with making sure those voices are heard?

Right. In any new construction, I'm focusing on the building of the new high school. I anticipate that with rising costs, with unanticipated challenges that the construction may face, that we have not been able to protect the forecast with the finances, that there will be decisions that will have to be made. So I think it's important with educators and students that the superintendent creates a list of the non-negotiables, of the most haves. And the other, second list of the, in case we need to cut something because of rising costs or any external challenges that we could live without. If the educational programming is one, let's say that fosters maker spaces and innovation or spaces where students can actually integrate a lot of the STEM knowledge and create projects, I mean, do we have those wide open spaces to allow that more agnostic space as opposed to just subject bound spaces? And I think in creating those master lists, of the, we're going to try to protect this at all costs, and these are the ones that if needed, that students and educators have been part of those conversations. Because I think the last thing that we want is to have a final product that the school community did not feel that their voices were represented or honored through the project.

member crown so we've we've had a lot to think about with regard to infrastructure in the past few years as I'm sure you probably know so we've you know with consolidated middle schools we've consolidated schools we've moved some some two programs into another school so going forward we have a lot to think about I think particularly around pre-k even though our enrollment numbers are good we're in good shape relative to other districts you know we do need to think about that birth rate cliff you know going forward so thinking about buildings is I don't think something that any of us love to think about but it's something we really have to think about so I'd love to know It is a day one job is really thinking about the infrastructure. So I'd like to know kind of what your approach would be to really thinking about what's in our portfolio of buildings and how we how do we how do we utilize them? You spoke to it a little bit, but there's also like there's a lot of practicality to it, you know, so I'm just wondering kind of like. how you would jump in and start thinking about literal buildings.

That's a great question, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to answer the question because I'm not knowing more the specifics.

There's a good chance I didn't ask it very well.

No, no, no, no, no. I guess it's a reflection more of my lack of knowledge already of the details and nuances that you might be expecting the superintendent to kind of know at this point.

So let me see if I can... My question may be, how are you going to get into it? Because we won't expect you to know on the first day, but kind of like, how are you going to jump into this and try to tackle it?

Ah, okay. In my experience, building conversations have always been multi-year, very long conversations. And I think it's important for a public school system to have a vision of not necessarily the decay of buildings, but we started getting the warning signs that the infrastructure might not be yielding a safe or educationally conducive environment. And in my experience, At the first signs of those things, that's when we, I guess, will partner with the mayor to try to understand what are the city's list of priorities and where would that stack up in their punchline of projects and things that they have to assess. For example, in my current community, there has been a lot of conversations about AC because of given the extreme weather that we have been experiencing, which is based on science, it's not going to get any better anytime soon. Those conversations are also multi-year conversations. So I think as a superintendent, the first thing one should do is to visit the sites and spend time in the sites. really get to walk the building from the principal perspective to understand where those infrastructure niches are already showing signs of distress. and then be able to start understanding the economic and financial relationship between the schools and the city to be able to understand where would they fall in the list of either repairs or replacement or new project if needed. So my short answer to the question at this point, I will say the superintendent needs to spend a lot of time visiting these sites and really spending time with the principals to understand what is happening in those schools.

The follow-ups on that question. I just have a quick one. So you talked about the future perspective of capital facilities and buildings, but zooming out 10 years down the road, what does the district look like from an achievement perspective or a culture perspective to your mind?

Yeah. I think 10 years from now, I would like to see Salem be a place where we have definitely moved the needle regarding achievement according to state benchmarks with MCAS proficiency and so forth. I will vision a district that is actually graduating students that have a strong three-prong approach. They have a solid high school, a regular high school curriculum exposure. They have a vibrant exposure to vocational and technical pathways. And also, students that have been able, if they so wish, to access early college opportunities. I would like to see a district like Salem really embracing their assets, being multicultural and multilingual in the sense of equipping the students to be ready globally. And by that I mean that every Salem student to graduate being proficient in at least two languages. We have a robust Spanish program and we have a dual language program. And I think that there's a lot of promise in those practices. And I would like to see how that could extend vertically on both ways. I mean, even I would like to understand more about the pre-K opportunities in dual language if we don't offer them yet. And how would that look like if we sustain the growth in secondary? I would like to see a student that feels that Salem prepared them to be effective contributors in anywhere around the globe because in Salem they experience diversity, they understand different stories that this community holds, and that the educational preparation have given them the tools to be effective in our economy.

Member Moran.

Describe a time when feedback from families, staff or community members caused you to rethink your initial approach to an issue. How did you communicate your decision and what did the experience teach you about leadership?

Yeah, I think that I'm going to offer an example because I think that trust needs to be earned, demonstrated, not just described. When I started in one of my previous districts, the World Language Program was undergoing a change in the middle school level. There was actually a consolidation from three languages to just one language. And then I was kind of thrown into this environment when I was hired. The language that was chosen for the middle school was Spanish, so the community was kind of upset when they saw me, a black Hispanic, coming as the World Language Department head. In their minds, they were connecting the dots. that okay, they want to institute only Spanish and they bring a Hispanic educator to kind of run the program. The feedback was like so emotional and negative that we had to offer an evening forum from some of the families. In that evening forum, families were expressing a lot of frustration. And something that I did say to them is that I come to education and to these administrative roles as a public servant, that I don't come to this role thinking I'm the expert who's going to bring solutions that the community have not even asked for. In that public service stance, I asked them for some grace to allow me time to sit with the dilemma, with the feedback I was hearing from them, with the consolation that has been done at least for one year by the time of my arrival for me to understand what are the forces that led to that consolidation and what is the impact that that is having on families and students. Being honest to that and upholding that promise, we were able to reinstate French into the middle school program. So then the program was designed to have two languages instead of just one. I was not able to bring back Latin in the way families have hoped. In order to maintain that promise, I really tried to keep vibrant Latin program at the high school. That was kind of like my evidence of holding that promise. And I just communicated to families that while I could not deliver all the expectations that I did stay open to be humble and listen to the perspective and understand the perspectives and try to remediate that as much as possible. So I think that's an example of when negative feedback comes one's way is to really sit in that place of humility and be able to open up the conversation to be able to not have so much pride into a specific outcome, but be able to be humble and be able to change course if the information, the new information that it comes to one kind of informs that it was basically a bad decision at the beginning. So that's my example of how I try to build trust in challenging situations.

All questions.

I appreciate that noting humility and being able to reflect before reacting. That's important. I'm wondering how will you establish regular lines of communication with different groups, whether that's families, educators, community partners, kids, when there's not a crisis? The everyday communicating.

Yeah, I think that communication similar to equity is not a, is really a commitment to structures that will allow for genuine engagement. And as you say, not to engage when a situation is a crisis. Something that I learned from the Salem High School students is that there's a superintendent council with students and they were describing how even they have elementary school students and that really blew my mind because of having the, being able to visualize not just the typical reaching out to high school students because they are older and more mature, or maybe to an extent the middle school students, but I say that it's intentional in trying to even include, when it's developmentally appropriate, a student's perspective on conversations. As I mentioned in one of my previous answers, visiting with the community, visiting, not always waiting for the community to come to the schools, We're actually understanding where are the regular points of meetings, where are the regular spaces and ways that people communicate regularly and to not be a stranger, to try to come to I had a meeting with a group of families recently in which I told them that I was valuing frequent communication and not crisis communication by sharing with the community, even if they're just nuggets. It doesn't have to be a big news. It doesn't have to be a resolved issue. you know, really welcoming community partners as partners, not as guests, you know, when it's a school event or something like that. So I think that is really looking at what we have as regular practices and making sure that these regular practices of meeting with different constituencies have covered the ones, especially the ones of the communities I mentioned that are more vulnerable and less visible. In addition to that, I feel it's important to have a portfolio of media, not just always expect the evening in-person meeting, but also to be able to acknowledge and recognize that some working families, some families that is hard, almost impossible for them to come in person to an evening event, that they may need communication that is still virtual, uh that is still via email not bombard people with bulletins and newsletters but really find ways to just share little nuggets so they are hearing often and frequently and don't have to wait for the big earth saturday news to hear from the superintendent number miranda

Thank you. I sincerely appreciate your interest in our district, what you've shared about your philosophy around centering dignity when it comes to in the educational experience, not just with students, but also with staff and also some of the nontraditional educational experiences that you would bring to the table as a leader. And with that, I would like to ask, can you share the ways, having not held a superintendent position before, or an assistant superintendent position, please share the ways that you believe that you're ready for this role?

Thank you for the question. I guess I will start with something that my family they kind of raised me in this concept. I'm going to say it in Spanish first and then I'm going to translate it. One that is faithful in the small things is also faithful in the larger things. because of role constraints. I have not had the opportunity to be invited to have the role of assistant superintendent or superintendent. Previously, I think I have a track record that has shown what my values are, my approach to leadership that is based on relationships. I had, for the last four or five years, I have been part of the at the senior team level and I have, because of my role, I have worked closely with the superintendent in challenging decisions because every time there's an issue that has to do with DEI, it tends to be challenging. Those exposures and opportunities are giving me a deeper understanding of how a district works. Currently, my current district, while on the surface might seem the opposite or not aligned with what Salem is, it's similar in size, it's similar in the student population, and it's similar in comparable as in the number of schools. And that also has given me a sense of how to navigate the different levels in a district from the superintendent lens. So I don't... Personally, honestly, I feel that I am the right candidate for this position, not because I have all the answers because of previous experiences, but because I can convey, because of my track record, that I am someone who will actually will sit with the problems, will listen carefully, and will be very thoughtful of finding solutions that are responsive. So it is, in a way, what I'm What I'm hoping a district will value is the how the superintendent would present. How would the superintendent show up? How would that person be faithful to our families when no one is seen, when the budget is tight, and when decisions have to be made? So I think that I may not bring all the There's a resource of someone of people that have held positions very cool closer quote unquote to the superintendent see I think my lead experiences as a profession and the commitments and values that I have using all the different levels of my career. could be solid evidence that could hopefully Salem could believe in and could trust that I will be faithful to those commitments if I'm invited to come to Salem.

Thank you.

Any further follow-ups? Member Hoffman?

I just have a quick follow-up, because we were talking about DEI and inclusion, and my question is how will you show up to help the LGBTQ community, especially in these trying times with the trans ban in sports, which doesn't really affect Massachusetts, but I know there's lots of concerns with families, and how will you make, how will you help those families feel comfortable coming and talking to you?

Yeah, that's a great question. The way that we have shaped the work is to make sure that students see themselves in the curriculum and instruction. But to your question about how families would feel comfortable approaching me as a director or as a superintendent, I think it's based on the actions and based on showing care for the the experiences, not necessarily because of coming from an intellectual lens, like I understand but coming from a commitment that I am there and I will be there when challenging times come. For example, I have shown courage regarding the curriculum inclusion or representation and also by connecting with other stakeholders in the town where I currently reside by making sure, like for example, at the high school where I work, there's a display of flags of different countries. And also there's a BLM flag and also a pride flag. In working or attending the school council meetings, for example, the school council in my current community recommended that those value principle flags were not at the same level as the national flags. As a DEI director, I show my support in those kind of recommendations and also in advising the superintendent on how to implement those things. So I would maybe answer that question that I'm not sure if I, just by being, people would feel comfortable. I don't want to fall into that cliche of I have friends and family. That's so not appropriate. But I hope that my actions are showing that I truly believe in those values and I truly believe that our students should feel safe and seen in all our spaces. And the third level, might be a little more micro, talking about the smaller things. We have a system of reporting when incidents happen, and allow incidents, sadly, what is the reality, happens among students. And I will say that because I'm the recipient of those reports, either from students or educators, after race, gender identity, sexual orientation are the ones that are second and third in the number of incidents. I think that While my work tends to be a little more behind the scenes, but people that know the work will know that when those situations happen, we try to respond timely and in a visible way so that the students that were the target feel that they are respected and valued. And that is the work that I... my role kind of like asked me to kind of put in place for the welfare and support of LGBTQ plus families and students.

Any final follow-up questions yet? Member Cornell.

I have a question that follows up on Veronica's question, which is, as a new superintendent, you'll have a new experience of having to build relationships with the school committee. And so I'm wondering how you'll go about developing relationship with us as a body and also individually, what your approach will be.

Yeah, that's a great question. I don't know if it's a local configuration, but in my experience, I tend to see the superintendent interacting more with the chair and the co-chair of the school committee. I think I have been able to build the relationships, and I feel that even as a superintendent, relationships are built by doing things together. And I think that it's not the social, you know, pleasantry exchanges, but it's actually the moment of doing the work. It's actually what brings strong connections. As a superintendent, it's important to participate in school committees, subcommittees. For example, we have one for policy. We meet with two... SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO ARE NOT THE CHAIR OR THE VICE CHAIR. SO THOSE WORKING GROUPS ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR A SUPERINTENDENT TO KIND OF BUILD THAT RELATIONSHIP WITH INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS. I THINK WE'LL CIRCLE BACK THAT IS REALLY, BECAUSE OF THE OPEN MEETING LAWS, WE CANNOT DO TOO MANY THINGS AS A GROUP, BUT IT REALLY COMES FROM FINDING OPPORTUNITIES TO WORK WITH EACH SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER INDIVIDUALLY. as a school committee member or as a president in whatever work or advocacy duties or participation that they have in the community also. So I think I will close by saying just by doing this together, that's how relationships are built.

All right, Dr. Allen, a closing statement, if you'd like.

First of all, I want to thank you all. I want to thank the school committee for the opportunity for me to spend now, you know, a full day and then now this evening here with Salem. I came to this evening wanting to highlight two things. It was, one, that I feel that Salem is not trying to restart something. I don't feel that Salem needs or is looking for someone to create something new, per se. I personally believe that Salem would benefit from having someone that actually will sustain the work. will shepherd the work and be a humble partner and listener with the initiatives that we already have underway. And the second thing I wanted to highlight for this evening and coming back in the closing is about the concept of valuing the richness of this community. that I'm really excited about participating in a district that really values that and try to include that intentionally in their curriculum and in the educational experiences of their students because of, you know, locally rooted which is your curriculum and your spaces are kind of showing that, and also globally ready. This is kind of the more envisioning part that I would like to sell today, that I think there's a lot of potential for Salem to see itself as a place where students are developing that global competency. I'm circling back to what I'm saying. I think that my lived experiences as an immigrant myself, someone that had to navigate the public school systems, someone that I feel if I were to be invited to be a superintendent, I would be honored to be in a district that has taken the courage to name their new school. after Sarah Perkin, Parker, Ramon, knowing the history and the influence it has in African-American history of the area. And I think that those elements and understanding my leadership style and the values that I will bring to the district, and most importantly, that I will be a guardian and a someone that will strengthen our equity commitment, but I mean the superintendency as well. I feel really fortunate to be here in front of you at this moment. I appreciate the moments like in the community forum when one of the community members actually stood up to the microphone, asked a question in Spanish in a public forum, I want to be in a place where that is not an exception. It's actually the rule. And Salem, so far, in my experience, has shown evidence that you are that type of district. So thank you very much for the opportunity. And I would like to thank you all for the... friendship and the hospitality you have offer me and I and I would like to wish you the best and I hope hopefully I will be part of that that journey moving forward. Thank you.

That concludes the interview. Thank you Dr. Allen for joining us this evening. Is there a motion?

Motion to adjourn.

Second. Well, Shirley's not here. She can get it from the recording. Under discussion, seeing none, all in favor? Any opposed? We're adjourned.