Parents Ask Questions About Principals' Contracts, Online Grading, Religious Holidays

While Superintendent Bill Olsen’s Monday night outreach event with parents was , other topics of discussion were brought forth during the evening.

Long-term Contracts For Younger Administrators?

One parent asked a question about the , in particular what the significance of a three-year contract when she was able to leave only two years into her term as principal, citing concerns over the effort it took to find Vincentsen and whether that effort was wasted because she didn’t complete her contractual obligations.

Olsen commented that younger administrators had a much different viewpoint toward career planning, with frequent job changes becoming more common.

He also noted that the contract renegotiations needed to keep Vincentsen may have alienated other longer serving administrators who would have felt their long-term loyalty was being punished rather than rewarded, although he stated that it was definitely an unfortunate trend.

“It’s frustrating, because sometimes it’s like a revolving door,” said Olsen. “You have parents and you have teachers and you have children getting used to the management style of someone, and you get used to someone.”

Online Grade Tracking

One parent who worked in another school system asked about whether Westford would be adopting a system where parents and teachers could see grades online comparable to the one she used in her district called “ASPEN.”

Olsen replied that online software called “Parent Portal” would be introduced at the Middle School and High School levels starting next year, while currently Westford schools use the iPass system.

He went on to say that it would likely consist primarily of test and quiz grades, with further discussion over additional data from teachers to parents to be determined later on.

“We want to make sure parents are apprised of their children's progress, that there’s no surprises at the end,” said Olsen. “Because from having four children, I can tell you every time I asked them how things were going they always said ‘fine, fine,’ and whenever I asked what they did today, they’d say ‘nothing’.”

School on Good Friday?

One parent was concerned about the fact that there was school on Good Friday, and disappointed that the Christian holiday was not given the same status as some Jewish holidays.

Olsen noted that Good Friday this year was a half day and in the past the district has had an unofficial policy of respecting the religious beliefs of all parents when asked.

However, he made a pledge that in the future a more concrete pledge of not assigning homework to students who will need to attend religious ceremonies after the school day will be set in place starting next year; however, he stated that he wants to have at least a half day of school in these circumstances given his observation that most weekday religious services take place during the afternoon.