Casavant Quizzed By Narragansett Parents

Casavant Quizzed By Narragansett Parents

+ click to enlarge News staff photo by Tara Vocino Superintendent finalist Christopher D. Casavant meets with parents and School Committee members during a site visit throughout the Narragansett Regional School District on Monday. Tara Vocino Reporter TEMPLETON  Narragansett Regional School District superintendent finalist Christopher D. Casavant paid a site visit to see if the school district is the right fit for him on Monday. Mr. Casavant has served as the Gardner Public Schools school business administrator since 2012. The Winchendon resident earned a doctorate degree in educational leadership from Boston College in 2012. He began the day at Narragansett, toured elementary schools within the district with interim Superintendent Dr. Steve Hemman, and returned to Narragansett at night for a round-table discussion. Mr. Casavant said he visited about 15 classrooms across the district on Monday. Parents and School Committee members exchanged dialogue, talked sports and asked questions about his work style to Mr. Casavant. One parent, who asked not to be identified, asked Mr. Casavant about his perceived relationship between Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School and the school district. He replied that he absolutely supports Monty Tech. The only issue he has is that more students are sent than are allocated for, he said, because of seats that aren’t used in other districts. He said he knows just about all of the Gardner students there. “They’re good kids,” Mr. Casavant said. She also asked about the teacher-student relationship at Narragansett, where her children attend. She said her children’s teachers genuinely know them on a professional level. He responded, “That should be the expectation – feeling that sense of community.” Mr. Casavant wrote at the top of his resume, “Strong communicator and proven leader, with the ability to collaborate with teaching staff, district personnel, and community stakeholders to create, map, implement and evaluate challenging curricular plans.” School Committee member Vikki Chartier said that teachers in the district are passionate and caring. Casavant said he heard from someone n another district that he “doesn’t know of more passionate teachers” than at Narragansett. “For someone to make that statement, that’s pretty powerful,” Mr. Casavant said. Mr. Casavant cites staff supervision and evaluation as well as team leadership as areas of expertise. The question was also posed about his budget and grant writing experience, pointing out that the financial stability of Narragansett is “challenging.” “When I look at Narragansett’s budget, it is widely publicized,” Mr. Casavant said. “It’s a team effort, but we have to watch every dollar. Sometimes, that’s not enough. But that’s where grants come in. They’re out there. I’m pretty experienced in creating a balanced budget.” In his resume, he wrote in a bullet point for his current position: “Oversee funds management for federal and state grants, capital projects, revolving funds, student activity funds and general fund.” He was asked about his thoughts on last week’s Town Meeting vote to move forward with the new Templeton Elementary School. “The older buildings seem so small,” Mr. Casavant said. “The new ones are built with more space.” He said he didn’t attend Town Meeting since he’s not a resident but he said the school seemed to have good community support. Stephen R. Donovan, the other superintendent final candidate, will pay his site visit Friday, also at 6:30 p.m. Mr. Donovan has served as the Acushnet superintendent of schools since 2006. The North Dartmouth resident earned a Doctorate of Education in educational leadership from Northeastern University in January 2015.