By Clarence Fanto, The Berkshire Eagle
LENOX — William Collins received high marks for visionary leadership and strong communication with staff, students and the community in his first year as superintendent of Lenox Public Schools.
The School Committee's evaluation, a public document, was released at its meeting on Monday. The state requires school committees to provide annual evaluations to superintendents.
Prior to a brief discussion of Collins' evaluation, a majority of the committee's members voted 4-2 with one abstention to elect Oren Cass as chair. The appointment lasts through the annual town election next May, when he would be on the School Committee ballot for reelection.
Cass led the search committee that recommended Collins as a superintendent finalist in May 2023. Veronica Fenton, the committee chair for the past year, was elected vice-chair.
“Obviously, we’ll do our best to make this the most productive year we can,” Cass said.
Turning to the state evaluation document, “on the state’s goal of re-establishing normality in the district by conveying a sense of calm, steady leadership control,” five of the six committee members stated that Collins had exceeded the goal, and one found that he had met it.
“I am incredibly pleased with the work Dr. Collins has done this year,” one School Committee member wrote. “I am also confident that he will continue to lead our district with reason and integrity in the years to come.”
Another member stated that “he is extremely engaging, knowledgeable, a collaborator, a communicator and yet doesn’t seem to settle. After the first year, it is time to get down to the curriculum, scheduling and offerings for the student who is not college bound.”
According to a different School Committee member, “Dr. Collins is a consistent, thoughtful leader. He has provided the district with stable leadership after many years of unexpected change. His inclusive, open leadership style fosters creativity in school leaders.”
Another member praised Collins for assembling a relatively new leadership team working together and effectively “after a lengthy time of leadership instability and concerns related to poor accountability and harmful school culture.”
The evaluation does not require School Committee members who offer comments to be identified.
Collins has done “an extraordinary job with community engagement,” a committee member stated. “He came to our district at a tumultuous time and brought calm, consistency and knowledge. His level of communication is above and beyond with not only the School Committee but with staff and families.”
Here are additional highlights on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s exam. Evaluators can select from four grades: exemplary, proficient, needs improvement and unsatisfactory.
• The six committee members who evaluated Collins cited him as proficient for instructional leadership.
• Four out of the six gave him the same rating for management and operations, while two awarded an exemplary grade.
• For family and community engagement, the grades were the same: four proficient and two exemplary.
• The split was three proficient, three exemplary on professional culture.
The committee members also are asked to assess the superintendent’s progress toward these overall goals:
• On professional practice, the vote was three for meeting the goals and three for exceeding them.
• For student learning goals — aligning school improvement plans with district goals — one committee member checked the box for significant progress, four for meeting the goals and one for exceeding them.
• On district improvement goals, including safety and security, equity and belonging, systems thinking and communication, three evaluators found that Collins exceeded the goals, two that met them, and one cited significant progress.
• Five committee members rated his impact on student learning as high, and one offered a moderate assessment.
In the comments and analysis section of the document, one member touted the superintendent’s presence at many district events involving Morris Elementary and Lenox Memorial Middle and High School.
“Students know who he is, and he makes a good effort to know each student by name,” the committee member wrote.
Following Fenton’s summary of the evaluation’s findings, Collins expressed thanks and appreciation to the committee members for their vote of confidence.