Ash to Address Morale Issues in LPS

Lexington Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash on Wednesday revealed his plans for considering questions about teacher morale, a topic that has dominated public comment periods at School Committee meetings for several weeks.

At the School Committee’s last scheduled meeting of the year, June 15, Ash told a maybe half-full he has spent a considerable amount of time in recent weeks considering, and talking to people about, real and perceived problems.

Ash, who’s contract was extended this month, explained he came to Lexington six years ago touting striving for academic excellence for all students and forging caring and respectful relationships as his core beliefs. The four-part plan he unveiled aims to reinforce those principles and get to the bottom of the teacher morale issue.

“This is not just about the adults,” he said. “The environment we create for adults also affects the children.”

The first step of Ash’s recommended plan is working with Lexington Education Association President Phyllis Neufeld to develop a plan to hear concerns in a safe environment, and to assess the level of leadership, learning environment and climate in the schools and administrative offices.

The second and third steps include meeting with other union presidents, principals, central office staffers and others as needed to address concerns about the schools and climate, and to hear their recommendations.

The final part of Ash’s plan calls for taking immediate steps to address concerns raised by LPS employees and taking action where appropriate.

Ash said he would prepare a report for the School Committee for the next academic year.

Neufeld said the LEA looks forward to collaborating with Ash on the report and it was incumbent upon all stakeholders to determine the scope of the problem.

“It’s time to deal with the problem head on and recognize the elephant in the room,” she said Wednesday night. “There is too much at stake not to.”

On Thursday, Neufeld told Patch she believes there is something to the claims of low morale.

“I do not believe it is a perception problem,” she said.

Context and Reaction

The issue of teacher morale began shifting toward the School Committee’s center stage in recent months. Several times, parents and students have spoken out about the climate within the district during the School Committee’s public comments periods, often referring to the retirements of Lexington High School teachers Michael Fiveash, Karen Girondel and Steven Bogart.

Things , when the School Committee revealed it had extended Ash’s contract in a June 1 executive session during its June 7 meeting.

The announcement came as a surprise to the several dozen community members who had attended the meeting

Before and after the meeting, community members said they disagreed with the committee’s decision to extend Ash’s contract without first addressing concerns about the district’s climate and morale. Many called on the School Committee to commission an independent review of teacher morale and thoughts on district leadership.

Since the meeting, two residents – Eric Eid-Reiner and Dawn McKenna – have filed, or gave notice of plans to file, Open Meeting Law complaints against the committee related to the Ash contract. Also, and a pair of recent LHS students completed a survey of 101 LHS teachers, which reports low morale and displeasure with leadership.

After hearing Ash’s recommendation Wednesday night, School Committee member Jessie Steigerwald suggested that the committee might want to include an independent review to the morale evaluation.

School Committee member Margaret Coppe agreed, saying “to go outside the community might be a wise thing to do,” in addition to the team of Ash and Neufeld.

School Committee member Sandro Alessandrini said he believes Neufeld would be an independent voice, and to doubt the union president would be akin to doubting the teachers.

Alessandrini also said what he wants to come out of this is a real conversation about teacher morale and taking the opportunity to get creative about improving the working environment.

“We have an opportunity to go forward and start asking how do you provide the best work environment for teachers when their workload increases with administrative tasks as we start looking at these [educational] standards,” he said.

There is not a clear timeframe for when Ash will deliver his report.

The superintendent said he will have to work with Neufeld to develop a plan before announcing a timeframe, but noted he would likely get complete interviews with principals and union presidents over the summer.