School Committee Ponders Third High School Assistant Principal

The School Committee took no action Tuesday on the proposed high school salary budget for the coming fiscal year, which includes a request for a third assistant principal.

Principal Joseph Finigan met with the committee for about an hour.

Overall, “Respectful of the budget (in this economic climate), things are good,” Finigan told the committee, “but good enough is not good enough for our kids.”

One reason to add a third high school assistant principal, Finigan said, is the number of students at the high school: about 1,400, he said.  Other schools with that many students have three assistant administrators or more, he told the committee. Billerica, with a similar size student population, has three assistant administrators, down from four, he said.

Area high schools with enrollments in the 900 to 1,000 range have two assistant principals, he said.

Lexington, with just under 1,900 students, has a high school principal, associate principal and four housemasters, according to Finigan.

Assistant principals handle more than discipline, Finigan said. They are also involved in the school’s curriculum and instruction.

Woburn is unique, Finigan said, in that its high school department heads do not evaluate teachers in their department, by contract.  So administrators observe and evaluate the 125 teachers on the high school staff.

School Committee member Michael Mulrenan said a high school accreditation report made reference to a third assistant principal.

They just looked at the numbers of students, Finigan replied.

Several committee members suggested that Finigan try to find some money in the high school budget for a third assistant principal.

That would be “an easier ‘sell’ to the community,” said committee member Joseph Crowley.

"I will look (again at the budget)," Finigan said.

Budget-wise, “We’ll be lucky” to maintain the staff we have, said committee member Denis Russell. If the school would be that much better with this position, maybe there’s a better way to do this, he said.

The issue with adding a third assistant administrator at the high school is not about “maintaining the status quo” but, rather, about moving ahead, school Supt. Mark Donovan told the committee.

How would someone judge whether the high school was better with a third assistant principal? committee member Dr. John Wells asked Finigan.

Talk to students, parents and teachers, Finigan replied. Look at test scores:  MCAS, college boards and Advanced Placement tests.

With teacher contract negotiations underway, maybe now is the time to modify the contract to have department heads evaluate teachers in their departments, Wells said.

The committee voted to hold the high school personnel budget until the next budget meeting, scheduled for this coming Tuesday, April 12, starting at 6:30 p.m.

The committee recommended, on a voice vote, the non-salary high school budget, which includes $6,500 for one year to start a freshman mentoring program by juniors and seniors that Finigan proposed.

The committee went into executive session at 9 p.m., after speaking with Finigan, to discuss teacher contract negotiations strategy, minus three members, who recused themselves from that portion of the meeting:  Crowley, Wells and committee Chairman Patricia Chisholm. The four committee members who went into the executive session planned to return to public session only to adjourn, according to Russell, who took the gavel from Chisholm for the executive session.