Congratulations on being one of the 256 district leaders to commit to participation in Massachusetts' Race to the Top initiatives.  As you know, we delivered our application to the U.S. Department of Education on January 19, and Massachusetts is now anxiously waiting alongside 39 other states and the District of Columbia to see who will be awarded funding.

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
Race to the Top Executive Summary	Race to the Top Executive Summary	452 Kb

I am recommending and urging that both the School Committee and the GMEA sign the Race to the Top Memorandum of Understanding.  While there remain many questions yet to be answered, it seems short-sighted not to fully engage as proactively with the state as we can on all fronts – fiscal as well as educational.

The chief concerns raised by RTTT critics is that this is somehow a device for the state to “take over” school districts.  I would submit that the Ed Reform legislation is much more likely to be the catalyst for that possibility than this MOU. 

GMRSD Budget Process

There are two parallel courses of action that occur simultaneously and collaboratively during budget building – a micro, or building-level, process and a macro, or district-wide, process.  Each process informs and guides the other throughout. The Superintendent, Administrative Team, and Staff are responsible for the micro process and the School Committee (in collaboration with the Superintendent) is responsible for the macro process.  The timeline for these processes is dependent upon the deadlines established by local district policy, the Massachusetts General Laws and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  These two sets of actions occur simultaneously and parallel to one another until they converge at the point of the preliminary draft district budget.  Throughout this process transparency and communication between the two processes are critically important.
This proposed budget process is not currently the practice within the district, nor has it been for some time.  For the past several years, the budgets have been “rolled over” and then adjustments made as necessary.  While that is certainly understandable and necessary at times, a more collaborative process breeds buy-in and ownership at all levels.  This is not a zero-based budget process per se, but it does not assume that everything that is in the current budget needs to stay in the next year’s budget.  Staff and administration will be evaluating programs and personnel and analyzing costs and benefits.

It’s been only three months since taking on the superintendent’s position for the Gill-Montague Regional School District. It has been a very interesting, challenging and encouraging few months.  I feel proud to be leading a team of such hard-working and skillful educators and have felt very welcomed by parents and citizens in both communities.

On Wednesday, September 30, voters from the towns of Gill and Montague will once again be asked to attend a district meeting to vote on a proposed school budget.  I would like to explain why the majority of the School Committee as well as the administration and staff feel that the proposed FY10 budget should be approved.