NMRSD leader sets 06/07 goals
By Caitlyn Kelleher

The new superintendent of North Middlesex Regional School District has set aggressive goals for herself and the district - some she hopes to complete by the end of October.

The first four Maureen Marshall would like to accomplish include: developing a district vision, core values, a mission statement and a new five-year strategic plan.

"If we don't have these we can't move forward," she said.

Marshall set 15 goals in all, which the school committee approved and will be developing an evaluation method for at their next meeting on Monday, Oct. 23.

Marshall said she developed her plan for the year after a discussion with school committee members during their August meeting and through her own observations after two months in the district.

Students at or entering the regional high school may be the ones who notice the biggest changes as Marshall works to achieve her plan. Two of those - reviewing the high school graduation requirements and upgrading the outside athletic facilities - will have direct impacts on the current eighth-graders and the high school students.

"We're going to try to rest fields," Marshall said. "It's free money wise, it's not free politically."

She said this would take work on scheduling field usage, some fertilizing and other maintenance as well.

"Turf management really means managing the turf," she said. "It's really getting to be unsafe for our kids to play on."

Marshall said she also would work on reviewing the graduation requirements, which was something school committee members asked her to do. The review process has to be completed by January, if requirements are going to change so that incoming freshman can make the necessary scheduling choices.

Marshall predicts she will have a proposal to present to the school committee at their Jan. 15 meeting. She will be working with students, teachers, administration and parents to develop the proposal.

Other goals include a plan to upgrade the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system; decrease the number of students school-choicing out of the district while increasing the number of students coming into the district; as well as begin a compliance plan for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation review.

"It's an admittedly aggressive schedule," she said.

In other business:

 The district hired 30 new teachers over the summer to replace teachers who had left. Associate Superintendent Robert Dempsey said most of those departing teachers were early retirements.

 Marshall also announced it appears the school district has about 200 fewer students this year than last year, which she says is a trend across the state.

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Caitlyn Kelleher can be reached at (978) 827-3386, ext. 15, or e-mail: caitlynkelleher@ aol.com