Let's revisit the past for a minute...
A response to : Miller To Leave 'Gansett
Miller To Leave 'Gansett
accepts superintendent POST at Pioneer Valley Regional schools
Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer
TEMPLETON Narragansett Superintendent Ruth Miller will be leading the
Pioneer Valley Regional School District next year, having negotiated a
deal that will have her overseeing five schools in the Northfield-based
district.
“Everything is set and ready to go,” Ms. Miller said, adding that she will sign the new contract on Wednesday.
Ms. Miller’s departure comes at a time when school officials are
beginning to reassess the needs of the district, exploring possible
reconfigurations in staffing and administration to better serve
students. The hiring of interim Principal John Jasinski — who has 34
years working in the district — is part of that process, Ms. Miller
explained, and she wants to ensure there is a clear path forward before
starting her new position.
“I’ll try to work on a transition plan for them but also for here,” Ms.
Miller said. “I want to make sure that everything is really nailed down
before I move on.”
In her six years with Narragansett, Ms. Miller said she has strived to
make gains academically — helping to institute new curriculum that has
aided the middle school with achieving Level 1 status, and assisting the
high school in maintaining the same standing — as well as pursued
projects such as the new biomass boiler in the middle/high school
building that improve the district as a whole.
“All that work is done, so I think someone else can come in and continue it along,” the superintendent said.
Coming from a finance background, Ms. Miller said she is looking forward
to once again holding a position where she is both superintendent and
business manager. The Pioneer Valley job, she said, drew her in because,
like Narragansett, it is a regional district, spanning the towns of
Northfield, Bernardston, Leyden and Warwick.
“I love regional school districts,” she said. “I love that interaction.”
For her first year, Ms. Miller said she hopes to jump right in and craft
a strategic plan that will guide the district academically and
administratively over the next several years.
“The challenge of being a new superintendent — which is what I like — is
that you can’t come with preconceived ideas about anything,” she said.
“The fun part is I get to go in and do an entry plan and talk to
everybody — much like I did here — and find out what they are really
proud of, and also what they might want to change.”
The superintendent said she is looking to finish out her career in
Pioneer Valley, and hopes to become more involved with the four
communities that make up the district.
Ms. Miller came to Narragansett in 2009 as the assistant superintendent
and business manager, becoming superintendent in 2012. School Committee
members have said that they will likely select an interim superintendent
before mounting a full-scale search for a new chief administrator.
You poor people at the Pioneer School District. Oh where do I start ? Maybe when Ms. Miller kept telling the people in Templeton how we did not contribute enough, and were under funding the School District. A man from our town had to sit with Ms. Miller and show her a number of times how she was wrong, before she could understand it. Let me see, the very worse Town Meeting in the history of this Town comes to mind. The residents of Templeton voted no, not once but three times, at the polls, before it was pushed through at a Special Town Meeting, where half the people who were in the cafeteria were not counted. This Town is so divided, most people do not have a clue, but I do because I talk to them. People who always attended the Annual Town Meeting, boycotted the last one because they feel their votes do not matter. Only 40 people showed up, and very few people voted in May. When Ms. Miller says she really needs the money, don't believe it. She has no problem taking from the Town who was/is in a financial bind, with no consideration for anyone else. I could go on and on, but I will let someone else have a turn.
ReplyDeleteDid you have a large teacher turn over with her ? and can you explain.
ReplyDelete