Wellman Report Underwhelms at School Committee

A much-anticipated report delivered during the School Committee's meeting Tuesday night at wasn’t exactly the examination of alleged teacher morale issues many people were expecting, according to public responses to the presentation.

Efforts to uphold the Lexington Public Schools’ culture of high performance and expectations amid a significant change process driven by internal and external forces have led to tensions affecting relationships and job satisfaction, according to the report, which consultant Bruce Wellman prepared and presented after months of work with a steering committee of administrators, teachers and staff. 

But several School Committee members and residents who commented publicly last night said they didn’t feel the report delved far enough into the , which ostensibly led to the departure last spring of three widely respected veteran teachers and prompted the study in the first place.

The report, titled “Improving Professional Relationships in the Lexington Public Schools,” was delivered to district employees on Monday, March 12 and to the School Committee one day later.

To view full report, click on the PDF posted with the images above.

“What has been framed as an employee morale issue has roots in multiple causal factors,” wrote Wellman, an independent consultant. “Some of these drivers are internal to the organization, emerging from the district’s history, leadership changes and working relationships among staff members. … Other drivers are external to the organization, and are related to economic, political and policy forces that are pushing on all school districts in the state and the country. A final driver that merges the internal and external forces is the influence of the current knowledge bases on learning and teaching and the organizational practices that support high levels of achievement for all students.”

After interviewing about 350 staff members, Wellman concluded that changes occurring in classrooms and meeting rooms, in part as a result of directives like No Child Left Behind, collectively represent a shift from LPS’ longstanding culture of autonomy to a culture that emphasizes professional collaboration.

Lukewarm Response

Wellman’s report acknowledged “frequent reports” feelings of a top-down approach from Superintendent of Schools Paul Ash, administrators and middle managers, as well as a lack of  “human touch,” as barriers to deeper engagement among staff. However, some School Committee members felt those issues were not necessarily reflected in Wellman’s recommendations regarding the road ahead.

“I think there is more to the problem,” said School Committee member Sandro Alessandrini, to loud applause from the audience.

Alessandrini also said he would have liked to have seen the steering committee reach out to the teachers who left last year, igniting concerns about teacher morale in the district. He also said he hopes the distict remains somewhere teachers are able to experiment, rather than the kind of place where educational collaboration “looks like ‘Brave New World’ or ‘1984.’”

School Committee member Bonnie Brodner also garnered a few claps for saying she was looking for more direct links between issues raised in the report and Wellman’s recommendations made for moving forward.

Brodner, along with School Committee members Margaret Coppe and Jessie Steigerwald, said they would like to hear from Superintendent Ash sometime soon about his ideas for improving professional relationships within the district. 

Steigerwald also pointed out some of the language teachers used in the report—such as feeling overwhelmed by their workload and difficulty discerning what’s voluntary and what’s mandatory—mirror complaints about student stress.

That was an observation echoed by the School Committee’s student rep, Noah Coolidge, who suggested causes and symptoms of student and teacher stress are absolutely alike, and both must be addressed simultaneously.

During the public comment period, resident Harvy Simkovits said he felt issues that sparked the study were specific, and yet the report was quite vague.

"I don't want to water down the work that's been done, but I'm glad you guys are pushing back," he told the School Committee, "Because I don't think there has been enough of that with the administration."

Resident Susan Kenyon recalled that a group of parents last spring pushed for an independent review of the alleged teacher morale issue in light of Ash's contract extension and the exit of three respected teachers. The facts that Ash sat on the steering committee and Wellman's staff interviews were held in the schools, where administrators could conceivably have known every person he spoke to, do not sit sell with that cohort of parents, Kenyon said.

Moving Forward

Toward the close of the meeting, Superintendent Ash said the schools can’t fix what it doesn’t talk about and he’s committed to honoring the district’s high-performing past and working collaboratively to improve for the future.

Lexington Education Association President Phyllis Neufeld also said she’s looking forward to moving on from here, noting that the personal connections and civility will be crucial.

“It is so important to keep the human touch at the forefront of everything we do as we go down this road so we can solve these problems,” she said.

In its conclusion, Wellman’s report acknowledges the road ahead will not be an easy one for the Lexington Public Schools, but rather one that requires a planning and monitoring team to review recommendations and develop short- and long-term goals.

“Compassion and patience for one another will be essential during the learning and growth process for all involved,” Wellman wrote. “Key to these efforts will be defining the metrics of success and monitoring these on a regular basis. It is my hope that the School Committee and community will respect these efforts and rally around the staff and administration to support the hard work ahead.”

But it’s unclear exactly what that means.

While members of the School Committee expressed support for some sort of follow-up, such as a second survey asking LPS staffers whether Wellman’s report reflects their own personal experiences, the committee won’t really meet again until annual Town Meeting wraps up in late April. 

Stay tuned to Patch for continuing coverage of this issue.