The new school year is quickly approaching, and, judging from last week’s school board meeting, Plymouth School Superintendent Andy Hartley seems to be looking forward to it.
“We are excited,” he said. “I mean, I can’t believe I’m saying this – not that we’re excited; we’re always excited. But we’re excited for the upcoming school year because it is right around the corner. It’s what’s on our mind right now. The next board meeting will be on the first teacher day of the school year.”
Students can expect to see some new faces when they return to class. “At this point, we’re going to be welcoming about 20 new teachers to the district,” Hartley said. “[Assistant Superintendent Jill] VanDriessche has been working with a group of teachers and administrators to, I’ll say, reshape the support that we provide those new teachers, in a way that provides a different structure, as well as some individualization, to help ensure that they’re going to be successful going in and throughout the school year. So we’re thankful for that.”
During last week’s meeting, the Plymouth School Board approved the teacher evaluation and development plan for the coming school year. Hartley said there were few major changes from previous years’ plans. “We are recognizing some rubrics that we’ve been utilizing for several years but just were never identified in the plan,” he explained. “Our work with PEA through the discussion process helped recognize that, and we’re including those in there. Additionally, there will be a slight language adjustment in some of the parameters within the rubrics to ensure that we have what’s called parallel structure between the categories.”
Plymouth Education Association President Laura Kruyer elaborated, explaining that some individuals, like special ed teachers, have a different rubric than those who teach in a traditional classroom setting. She said while that wouldn’t typically be an issue, teachers’ eligibility for additional pay depends on those evaluations.
