NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Tuesday's School Committee meeting was a passing of the torch — or rather the nameplate — as Superintendent Barbara Malkas gave her last report.

 

Malkas is retiring after nine years with North Adams (her retirement party was last week) and her report was about the new administrators who will be leading the school district. At the end, she called incoming Superintendent Timothy Callahan up, handed him his nameplate and gave him the seat next to Mayor Jennifer Macksey, committee chair, in the Brayton School library.

 

"It has been my incredible luck and great pleasure to serve as the superintendent for North Adams, and the only reason I am able to effectively step aside is because I am so excited about the leadership that is coming on board," she said.

 

Callahan, assistant superintendent and former Drury High principal, she said, "has devoted the past 27 years of his career to the North Adams Public Schools, starting as a long-term substitute teacher in an English classroom at Drury High School in 1998.

 

Over that time, he has risen in responsibilities and earned his master of education degree from Cambridge College and doctorate in educational leadership from the Sage Colleges in Albany, N.Y.

 

"He is deeply committed to working with students, families and colleagues to provide creative solutions to meet student needs and to ensure equity of access and equity of outcomes for all learners in the district."

 

Annie Pecor will step in has assistant superintendent after time as director of Northern Berkshire Adult Education and director of the 21st Century program. She

 

"She fell in love with teaching while subbing at Conte Middle School in North Adams Public Schools in 2006, she was hired to teach sixth and seventh-grade English, which she did for 10 years at both Conte Middle School and Greylock Elementary School," said Malkas.

 

She then went on to become assistant principal and principal at Craneville Elementary School in the Central Berkshire Regional School before returning to North Adams in 2021.

 

A graduate of Siena College, she earned her teaching license and master of education, certificate of advanced graduate studies, and Leadership Academy certificate from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and earned her doctorate in transformational leadership from the University of New England.

 

Lastly, Kimberlee Chappell, the Literacy/Title 1 coordinator, will take on the role of director of professional learning.

 

Chappell has more than 20 years experience in public education and bachelor's degrees and master's in education from Salem State University, later completing her certificate of advanced graduate studies, and Leadership Academy certificate from MCLA.

 

"Kimberlee has focused her career on dismantling the barriers that lead to predictable outcomes for students from communities impacted by systemic inequities," said Malkas. "Through her work providing professional development, Kimberlee has seen firsthand the impact that high quality teacher training can have on student access."

 

Committee member Richard Alcombright, who also served as chair during his terms as mayor, said the district "is blessed with nice people, good people, smart people, articulate people, people who look out just for our kids."

 

"I'm so proud to be part of this, and I'm so proud of all of you, I really am," he said. "And Tim, just wishing you the best of luck following in these footsteps over here, this magnificent woman that's led this district for nine years."

 

Alcombright hired Malkas nine years ago to replace James Montepare, who spent 40 years in the district and a dozen as superintendent.

 

 "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," he told Pecor, referring to her father, longtime educator Donald Pecor, and her mother, Nancy Pecor. "You come from a beautiful family, and it shows in you not only the drive to teach and educate, but Just the drive to be that nice person. 

 

 "And Kemp, if nobody's ever seen you present up here over the last few years, if they can YouTube or pull something up to see you present, they'll know exactly why you're being elevated to this position."

 

 Malkas afterward said she'd been lucky in having good school committees that had supported her. 

 

Callahan said he's spoken at her retirement party of how influential she'd been on the district and himself personally.

 

"So I just want to thank you again, officially, for all the support. And the last thing I'll say is just, I'm so honored to be in the seat, and I'm so looking forward to all of our work next year and for years to come. Thank you so much," he said. 

 

In other business, the committee:

 

• Approved a memorandum of agreement on the reorganization of the team leadership at Drury High. Principal Stephanie Kopala explained that consultants have said the principal's job is to be in the classroom 80 percent of the time, working directly with teachers to improve their practice, to improve student outcomes. 

 

"Unfortunately, a lot of my job is also operational, and so it has been very difficult to meet that need, which is something that I really want to do."

 

The proposal would replace team leaders with a director of assessment and data analysis and director of operations and school logistics amd facilitators for the STEM, humanities and arts and movement departments. The salary differentials would be $3,900 for directors and $733 for facilitators.

 

This would allow some of operational functions such as records request, public relations and school functions to be taken of principal's desk.

 

"It would actually free myself and my director of curriculum and instruction up more to spend at least 80 percent of our day in the classroom, where research shows is where the change will happen, the principals in the classroom and the directors in the classroom," the principal said. "And then what it does is it actually elevates more leaders in our school into the facilitator positions, because we'll have people that want to enter leadership be able to step in."

 

The cost would be $9,999, compared to the current structure at $15,000. Kopala recommended this be built into the budget to ensure stability; the current model has been grant-supported. 

 

Callahan said the proposal had come through the joint labor management committee and that the teachers' union had verbally agreed to the changes. Kopala said there have been multiple applicants for the roles, which were posted as anticipated openings.

 

• Approved the fiscal 2024 audit by Scanlon & Associates and authorized budget line transfers to close out fiscal 2025. Business Administrator Nancy Rauscher, in answering questions, said the budget is in good shape and she anticipated not using all the school choice funds approved. 

 

• Approved the 2025-26 school calendar with the amendment to move the Nov. 4 meeting to Nov. 12. The date would fall on election day and the following day would be a City Council meeting, and Nov. 11 is a holiday.

 

• Heard from Colegrove Principal Amy Meehan how fifth-graders and "partners in crime of Ramona, Annabelle and Allie" created a slideshow to convince their teacher and the 21st Century program director to run a theater program.  "And 17 students started. We had 14 students finished, and it was very rigorous, like clear expectations, modeling what students would rise up to for the jury theater experience," she said. The one-act performance was successful and may become a two-act program next year. 

 

Brayton Principal Anne Riello said the school had hosted a literacy night that saw participation of at least 100 students and parents that including storybook reading and examples to parents of how their children are being taught to read. "They had a popcorn bingo literacy activity in the cafeteria. The gym was set up with three different educators. They made cozy little spaces for students to come and listen to read aloud, and then in this room," Riello said. "And we also gave away tons of free books."

 

Callahan spoke of the Drury seniors walking through the elementary schools in their gowns and caps on Tuesday morning. It was the first time the North Adams schools had done that. 

 

"We heard nothing but rave reviews from the students. The high school students were energized after doing their tour,"  he said, adding the elementary students talked about it all day. "They saw friends, they saw relatives, and it's another way to build those aspirations towards college and career readiness."