WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.—The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee this month discussed moving its evaluation of the superintendent from the spring to the fall starting in 2027.

 

Chair Julia Bowen brought the idea to the table as part of her proposed calendar for the committee's work during the 2026-27 academic year, saying that a move to the autumn will allow the committee to factor data from the preceding year into its evaluation.

 

"To the extent that [Superintendent Joseph Bergeron's] goals are tied to school performance and, specifically, MCAS [scores], we don't get that or other end of school year summative information until the fall," Bowen said. "Many schools I've worked with and know of actually moved their school leader evaluation to the fall so they can take advantage of all the data that's actually available, rather than doing it in the June time frame.

 

"The other point on that is, as it is, we otherwise vote for Joe's goals in September/October and evaluate him in May, and that's not a year. If we can do it fall to fall, we actually get a full year of work from when we agree on the goals."

 

The committee's most experienced member, Carolyn Greene, raised a concern about breaking with the practice of completing the evaluation process in May and June.

 

"It feels natural to evaluate a superintendent at the close of a school year, not the beginning of a school year," Greene said. "We're still in it in May and June. We're still in it in terms of our mindsets. Sometimes we don't meet in July. We come back in August and do a ‘retreat.' We're now meant to hit the ground running with an evaluation in September based on the work of the previous school year. And the reason is we don't get all the data from the previous school year until September.

 

"The rhythm is off for me. But it could just be that I'm so used to the previous rhythm. I don't want to oppose it. I just do have some reservations about it."

 

Greene later noted that the School Committee does have data to look at when doing an evaluation each spring: data from the previous school year. For example, it had all the numbers on the 2024-25 school year when doing the superintendent's evaluation for 2025-26 last spring.

 

Complicating the discussion is that while the district will have its internal numbers on a given school year compiled relatively soon after the last day of school, the outlier is the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System. The commonwealth does not release data from its standardized tests from the prior academic year until October.

 

"If it wasn't for MCAS, maybe the right time to do the evaluation would be August," Bowen said. "But it's going to be hard to get our attention in August."

 

Greene asked Bergeron when the committee could expect another piece of data it will use in its evaluation: the results of a district-wide, year-long Panorama survey project to assess school climate and support the district's social-emotional learning efforts.

 

"The final round of Panorama data from this year should be available early to mid-June," Bergeron said. "Part of the challenge there is we try to make sure that during MCAS we're not then also saying, ‘Can we squeeze in a [Panorama] survey as the schedule allows?' So we make sure we push that to the end of the year. Then Panorama needs a couple of weeks to finalize data after that."

 

Bergeron told the committee he does not have a firm preference between the spring or fall evaluation timeframe but noted that moving the evaluation to the fall would align with the setting of goals for the year ahead.

 

Bowen said she could not say what the "normal" time frame is for school committees to evaluate their superintendents, but she knows of districts that go through the process in the fall and "it just seems off in May/June."

 

"Either way, it's going to feel off," Greene said. "The shift is to capture information we wouldn't normally capture. So let's try it. That's all we can do."

 

The committee did not vote on the updated schedule for its 2026-27 meetings but it did vote unanimously to approve Bergeron's goals for the year ahead.

 

Bergeron walked the committee through the specifics of three broad goals outlined in his plan: "increased student and staff sense of belonging through Panorama survey data responses; progress within students' diagnostic assessment data and MCAS scores in literacy; and (developing) a shared vision across key stakeholder groups for what success looks like in our district."

 

Greene asked Bergeron which of the goals he was most excited about.

 

"I'm excited about each of them, but for different reasons," he answered. "With the first one, understanding students' sense of belonging within the district, it's driven by a lot of different factors. But success there means you're giving students an equitable chance of succeeding. Achieving there feels like that's the best thing possible.

 

"The renewal in the ways we're looking at what to … to do next in terms of ELA and math, that's really rewarding work because it creates a tangible sense of progress that, hopefully, we can feed and encourage people with. With the final goal, laying the groundwork for a long-term understanding of how we, as a district, view success … and what steps we want to take to get there, that's rewarding work in a different way.

 

"It's all the stuff needed so you can sleep well and know we're making progress. At the same time, at times, it's overwhelming," he said.

 

Supporting Bergeron in that work starting this fall are two new employees in the district office who were presented to the School Committee at the September meeting along with hires in all three of the district's school buildings.

 

Mayra Weiskotten joins the central office as Mount Greylock's new director of student, staff and family support.

 

"Mayra will lead district-wide efforts related to social-emotional supports, family and community engagement, staff culture, behavioral systems, and the development of proactive supports that help ensure every student, staff member, and family feels supported and connected within our schools," Bergeron wrote in a memo to the School Committee.

 

Rashaan Powell is the district's new communications and community coordinator. He brings "extensive experience in school-based program leadership, community engagement and relationship-building," Bergeron wrote.

 

Powell may help Bergeron with one of the personal aspirations he mentioned during the goal-setting discussion.

 

"We are, this year, across the district office, without great dedicated funding … how we can make our website become a better place to always point people to for: ‘Here's how we're doing things. Here are the artifacts,' " Bergeron said. "In some ways, our website is helpful. In other ways, in my opinion, it's an outdated nightmare.

 

"That holds especially true for the district level and the two elementary schools. The middle/high school has had a more active maintenance approach with it. That's a pain point with me that I need to resolve because it hasn't been addressed directly in 10 or more years."

 

Bergeron is the sixth district superintendent (counting interim superintendents) in that 10-year time span.