Around Town

Gateway Superintendent’s Corner

Gateway Regional School District Superintendent Dr. David B. Hopson.

October 15 marks the third phase of returning students to school for in-person instruction under a hybrid model. To date, the phase-in of returning students to school has allowed the district to fine-tune processes and protocols around safely returning students and staff physically to the building, allowed staff to become more proficient with the technology being used, and to change their pedagogy to better meet students’ needs under a hybrid model.
While there is still much to do, I’m very pleased with the dedication and efforts of all of our staff to make the return to school possible. Under some very trying circumstances, the staff has been very accommodating in adapting to change and making the best of a difficult situation.
While we are dealing with these changes to routine, the usual work of the district continues around operations, policies, budgets, safety, and staffing. So, if our staff seem tired, a bit stressed, and slightly hectic, please recall they’re not just doing their normal jobs but doing so much more to meet our students’ and families’ needs.
In addition, the school committee is in the process of seeking a new superintendent as I plan on retiring in August of 2021 after serving the district in various roles for 27 years. The committee is undertaking this process using district resources rather than hiring an outside consultant and has established a ‘Superintendent Search Committee’ as a subcommittee of the school committee. This group of school committee members has already received survey results from earlier this year with over 180 respondents, which included staff members, parents, town residents, and town officials. They have also received written responses from the current administration.
The next step in the process is to offer another opportunity for community members to provide input on the qualifications the new superintendent should possess. This will help the committee create an appropriate job description and list of qualifications so they can begin seeking candidates for the position.
To ensure the public forum provides opportunities for as many individuals as possible to give input, the following process will be used.
1. Written commentary can be provided either through email (addressed to [email protected] with the subject line as “Superintendent Forum Comments”) or via regular postal mail to Stacy Stewart, Gateway Regional School District, 12 Littleville Road, Huntington, MA 01050.
2. Oral commentary will be taken on Wednesday, October 28th, 2020 using a Zoom Meeting (https://us04web.zoom.us/j/79125329789?pwd=TklqbElaSzRUdXlFK3dYTk10QTlOQT09; Meeting ID: 791 2532 9789; Passcode: 1vT888). The committee asks that you adhere to the following guidelines:
a. Sign up to speak using this Google Form. District telephone: (413) 685-1000 Fax: (413) 667-8739
b. Plan on speaking for approximately three minutes.
c. The Zoom Meeting will be recorded for the exclusive use of the search committee.
d. Formulate your comments to focus on one or more of the following topics/questions:
i. What types of professional experience are desired?
ii. What prior successes should an individual have?
iii. What should the educational background of the individual be?
iv. Is there any special knowledge or prior personal experience that the individual should
have?
v. What personal characteristics should the individual have?
vi. What are the most important issues facing small rural public schools such as Gateway
that the individual should be able to address?
vii. Why would an individual wish to come to the district to be superintendent?
viii. What should an individual know about the district before accepting the position?
ix. What are the most important focus issues for a new superintendent in their first year?
I look forward to assisting the committee in finding a new superintendent and ensuring that the district is successful in meeting students’ needs in this very unusual year.

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