SAD 31 board, superintendent pursuing goals

HOWLAND – Professional. Ethical. Goal-oriented. Positive. Proactive. Achieving. Unified. Communicative.

The SAD 31 board of directors and newly reinstated Superintendent William Ziemer will have a chance in the next two weeks to exhibit what they see as their more positive qualities, as listed in a recent workshop, and respond to a state report criticizing their leadership.

Ziemer and the board are simultaneously pursuing three equally important goals: to reinvigorate the planning process that will result, it is hoped, in a new high school; to develop next school year’s budget; and to respond to the state report, the superintendent said.

“Things have been going in a very positive direction,” Ziemer said Friday. “I think that one of the most important steps that both the board and I have undertaken is to develop a set of mutually agreed upon goals for the short term, and those goals will guide the progress of the district. There are a number of activities going on simultaneously.”

The high school building committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 10, at the superintendent’s conference room to review a draft copy of educational specifications for the new high school.

The board will hold a special meeting and workshop Wednesday and continue a review process begun last month that centered on the state report, which criticized the board for political infighting, lack of leadership and communications breakdowns. The report led to SAD 31’s state approval rating being changed from “approved” to “provisional approval.”

A state education official will visit the school system, which serves students from Burlington, Edinburg, Enfield, Howland, Lowell, Maxfield and Passadumkeag, on Thursday and Friday. SAD 31 has to formulate an action plan in response to the state report by the end of the month, Ziemer said.

The board’s next regular meeting is Jan. 19.

Since returning to work late last week after several months of paid administrative leave, Ziemer has been catching up.

“Really, the most significant challenge is just to coordinate the work that has been done in my absence and help to move that forward, but there has been a good response to working collaboratively, and I foresee a positive outcome to the work that has been done,” he said.

One of the plans in the works is to hire a technology coordinator who would ensure that SAD 31 complies with state mandates regarding computers and other high-tech tools, Ziemer said. This was mentioned in the state report.

The board workshops also have appeared to have been helpful. During the first leadership workshop, held last month, the 10 board members who attended discussed the state report and conceded that many of the problems it mentioned were real.

“Our biggest problem is communication,” board member David Saucier said. “We need to work on that.”

The board reviewed state SAD guidelines and codes of conduct, at one point breaking into small groups to discuss them individually. They also listed qualities they would like to reaffirm.

Board Chairwoman Beth Turner seemed satisfied with the board’s progress.

“I think we are starting to make a change,” she said during the workshop. “We are starting to work together, but the community needs to see that.”

Ziemer said Friday he looks forward to working with the board.

“I think that the board is very interested in involving people from the district and the community in helping to shape what this district is going to look like with the work that they do over the next six months,” he said.

Things within the school system also look good, Ziemer said.

“The interactions that we have had in committee meetings have led to some very promising outcomes,” he said. “I think this is a good time to be in MSAD 31 because we’re really focused on being productive and looking toward the future.”