Chang discusses new positions as Walsh listens.
School Superintendent Tommy Chang this morning named former Boston Latin School Headmaster Michael Contompasis interim headmaster until a new permanent headmaster is chosen.
At a noon press conference, Chang and Mayor Walsh said Contompasis, who served as headmaster between 1976 and 1998, would bring stability to the school as school officials launch a national appointment for a permanent headmaster, who would start next March.
Also named today: Jerry Howland as associate headmaster and Alexandra Montes McNeil as the school's instructional superintendent.
Chang said that in coming weeks, he will name two co-chairs of a search committee that will include representatives of various school interest groups, including parents.
Chang said the two men - both also BLS graduates - will help BLS through the transition to a new headmaster. Contompasis, 76, served two years as BPS Superintendent before the appointment of Carole Johnson.
Howland and Montes McNeil also both have extensive experience in BPS.
Walsh said that work into dealing with racial issues at BLS will continue. He pointed to the expansion of both a program to provide preparation for the ISEE test that helps determine BLS admission and of the two-year advanced-work program for fifth- and sixth-graders as evidence of how the city is reaching out to minority students who now make up a much lower percentage of the BLS enrollment than their numbers in the overall BPS system.
Walsh and Chang said they did not select any administrators at the school for the interim role both so they could continue the work they are doing and apply for the headmaster position. Walsh predicted Boston will get a large crop of highly qualified candidates from across the country and in BPS, because the BLS headmaster role is the "crown jewel" of any educational career.
He added there's no way former Headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta and assistant Headmaster Malcolm Flynn are coming back. "We're well beyond that," he said. Even City Councilor and BLS alumnus Matt O'Malley, who expressed deep distress at Mooney Teta's resignation, attended the press conference to say it's time to move forward and do what's best for BLS students. Walsh and Chang were also joined by several other BLS alums, including City Councilor Andrea Campbell, state Rep. Nick Collins and School Committee Chairman Michael O'Neill.
Contompasis did not attend the press conference because he was out of town on a family matter, Walsh said.
Chang reiterated his previous statement that he did not leak information about a student disciplinary matter to the Globe last week. Walsh professed ignorance as well, and asked the assembled reporters to ask themselves who the source was.
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Comments
Funny thing is, I don't exactly think "progressive"
By Dan Farnkoff
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 12:30pm
When I hear the name Contompasis, but I think he'll keep the boat afloat. We were never exactly the best of friends, but that was my fault, not his.
Who gives a ________
By anon
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 12:40pm
If he's "Progressive" , the guy successfully ran the school for 20+ years.
Just so long as he knows the laws
By anon
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 1:53pm
Special education laws
Anti-bullying laws
etc.
Mike the Cop
By Bobp
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 12:42pm
Former headmaster, interim superintendent. Also head of discipline in the good old days under DR. Wilfred O'Leary. The Mayor and the Superintendent trying to calm the disgruntled BLS parents and Alumnae. Me thinks they Mayor realizes now he made a rather large error in angering the BLS community.
Just like I said
By bgl
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 12:39pm
Bring back Mr. C.
I remember Contompasis from the early 70s...
By anon
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 12:52pm
He must be over 100 by now!! Seriously, how current do they expect this guy to be?
76
By adamg
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 1:15pm
And while he retired from BPS, he's been running an educational consulting firm of late, so it's not like they're pulling him up out of Del Boca Vista, phase III.
It's always "Me, Me, Me"
By Gary C
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 12:55pm
I hate phones sometimes
By adamg
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 1:17pm
I posted my initial one-sentence story via my phone. Fixed, thanks.
Caption contest
By Sock_Puppet
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 1:05pm
What's behind that baleful stare?
Why Does The Mayor Always Wear Such A Mad, Angry Expression?
By Elmer
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 1:09pm
No matter what's going on, he always appears to be seething inside. It makes one wonder what he's really thinking — as if he's always preoccupied with internal struggles that are constantly making him very unhappy. It's sad to see someone who never cracks a smile.
It's just his RBF
By MikeBoston
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 1:14pm
I use to think the same thing, but after seeing him a few times in person, I am sure it's his default and he doesn't even know it
Even RBFs Lighten Up When They're Not Resting ...
By Elmer
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 2:12pm
... occasionally smiling at or with others — but not him.
It could be a challenge for reporters/photographers or just anyone with a camera:
âŸâŸâŸâŸâŸâŸâŸâŸâŸ[sub]Can you catch a picture of Mayor Walsh smiling?[/sub]
Mad? Try Mike.
By massmarrier
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 1:58pm
If you want angry expressions, hang around Mr. Contompasis.
Two of my sons are BLS grads, the younger one into Cornelia Kelley's time. Many of us parents can tell tales of when Mr. C. lost it. I remember two assemblies where he felt the students were disrespectful, as in not quiet enough. He switched from his stone-cold look to screaming. His whole head turned red and purple...scary. He seemed to have sublimated far too much too long.
Kelley projected arrogance and ego, but I never saw her turn colors. I was there one time when a firetruck came by so the firefighters could make sure a trashcan inside had been extinguished. She literally stomped her feet repeatedly while we were all on the front steps and swore that she would find and punish the student involved.
By the bye, when Contompasis showed all that color, the students found that all the funnier.
Contompasis is from an earlier era of educators
By anon
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 2:22pm
Contompasis comes from the era when educators and administrators did that. They yelled and screamed and railed at students in assemblies and elsewhere. I saw O'Leary and his long forgotten assistant lackey Devore (or whatever his name was) go off the rails a few times in the early 70s, though he was much too bloodless to turn many colors.
They yelled? Um, Good
By John Costello
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 3:17pm
I got into trouble for something bus related Sophomore Year. Mr. C yelled at me, which is what he should have done, not hugged me and told me that acting like an ass was part of the overall learning experience. I learned a lot from Mr. C yelling at me a lot more than I did on the bus.
As far as Ms. Kelley, who was my Comp. Greek teacher, she is a wonderful woman. I cannot for the life of me see why she was concerned about a fire at a school, wait, isn't that what we call arson? Who would want find out who was doing that? Ha ha, those kiddies and their pyromania.
You administer the education of 2,400 teenagers a day and get back to me about needing to yell and scream, ok?
Puerile modeling
By massmarrier
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 3:43pm
Amusing comment, reminding me of pro-corporal punishment folk who say they are better adults because parents beat them with paddles or belts...
Who was supposed to be the adults here, the 12 to 18 year olds or the middle aged with titles? Honestly if Headmasters C. and K. were unable to model mature and rational behavior, that shows both self-indulgence and poor example. Bullying and being role models are not the same.
Who said I was beaten?
By John Costello
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 5:04pm
Perhaps a few lessons in reading comprehension might help? I said they yelled. Are you one of those words hit as hard as a fist crybabies?
My, my, read please
By massmarrier
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 5:29pm
Note that I wrote your comment reminds me. Your projection to something I never wrote serves only you.
Your odd pride at being what you consider appropriately scolded loudly for misbehavior is what reads like justification. To me, if Mikey C. had to yell to make his point, he failed. On the other hand, if you are using "yelled" hyperbolically, that's another issue. We've taken these small points too far already.
I found Contompasis overly emotional on more than one occasion. I expected better of someone in his position. I won't make excuses for his lack of control or immaturity on those occasions. Maybe he was rational and mature some 90%-plus of the time, but I know it wasn't 100%.
If would have been swell if we as parents could have expected school teachers and administrators to be good examples all the time. We knew better and did our part to teach by word and example as well. We did not find Headmaster C. or K. to be flawless.
Oh, we're aiming for flawless, are we?
By Sally
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 6:12pm
Come on. We're talking about human beings here, not your steak dinner at Grill 23. Flaws are to be expected. Even by your overly high standards (you really expect no yelling ever? By the headmaster of 2400 students?) a 90% is still an A-A-.
BLS appointments
By Anon
Wed, 06/29/2016 - 8:15am
Interesting, MC worked at the school years ago when similar issues and incidents happened. He certainly knows how to keep things hidden and out of the press, good choice BPS! Chang doesn't have a he and probably Walsh doesn't either, but asked the alumni, they can tell you lots of stories that never made it to the newspapers.
oh mahty.....
By bostnkid
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 1:13pm
stop with that look!
Best decision they could have made.....
By Anon
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 1:13pm
I do not think the problems at BLS rose to the level of leaders leaving. And I also believe there are a reasonable number of problems - superficial and unde the radar.
If you are going to bring in someone to improve the situation, bring in someone with district experience and a level head- and a person who actually seeks out the thoughts of the community- students and parents included- Mike Contompasis is the right pick.
"It's time to move forward and do what's best for BLS students."
By Will LaTulippe
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 1:18pm
Oh cool, we're going to buy them bus tickets to a city with better schools?
City with Better Schools
By anon
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 1:53pm
Find one. Just try.
How about every Boston suburb?
By Will LaTulippe
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 2:35pm
I mean, that's why we bus kids there now, right?
Etymology is your friend
By tachometer
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 2:54pm
Maybe you should look up the etymology of the word "suburb" so that you don't sound like an ass.
Here one, maybe you've heard of it
By anon
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 3:18pm
Cambridge!
snark comprehension failure
By tachometer
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 3:56pm
I was snarking on Mr Tulip's reply where he claimed "every Boston suburb" was a better city school as he said in his earlier comment.
But, just to humor you and show you the fallacy of his argument, the City of Cambridge is not a suburb so it fails to satisfy his reply and the Town of Brookline is not a city therefore it fails his initial comment. I was just pointing out the shift in his argument as he was actively moving the goalposts. Your comments mean nothing to that point.
Brookline
By anon
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 3:19pm
Is one!
Yes and no
By Sock_Puppet
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 3:46pm
Brookline has better schools, but it doesn't have a better school.
To put BLS on a level playing field.....
By Pete Nice
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 7:49pm
It excludes many kids who can't get in, other suburban high schools don't do that.
That being said, you don't know how the top Latin kids would do at Newton North High School if they went there or vice versa.
Is kid #26 at BLS more qualified than kid#16 at Newton North who also got into Harvard? Or is it just because kid #26 at BLS comes from a larger pool of students (600K compared to 90K population)
Find a school outside of BLS
By bgl
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 3:11pm
Find a school outside of BLS in the 128 suburbs that graduates ~30 kids per year to Harvard and is also nationally ranked as one of the best in the country. Oh, wait, you can't. Sumus Primi.
I think it was 26 this year
By adamg
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 3:57pm
But in any case, yes, BLS typically sends more students to Harvard than any other high school in the world (I think there's a comparable high school for Stanford out in the Bay Area somewhere).
Yeah!
By statler
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 2:24pm
We can call it busportation, or bus-transit or busin -oh. Oh my.
He said
By Sock_Puppet
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 2:54pm
BLS students, not BPS students.
Get with the program, tulip.
Wait, Latin's not a public school?
By Will LaTulippe
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 3:01pm
Then why is the mayor showing up to introduce the headmaster?
Did you not study...
By Michael Kerpan
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 3:07pm
... "set theory" in elementary/middle school math?
I'll type slow so you understand
By Sock_Puppet
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 3:15pm
Boston Latin School is a great school. It is a public school in Boston.
Try and name a nearby city with a better school.
I'll give you a hint: you have to look outside this state.
If they're great
By Will LaTulippe
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 4:21pm
Which I believe they are, if you say so, then why do so many schools in this city have such a bad reputation? If BLS has the best teachers and classes, then why not webcast their classes to the other schools in the city? Do they do that now?
Because idiots like you
By anon
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 4:51pm
Idiots like you badmouth the schools rather than look up the facts - facts that Massachusetts has the best schools in the nation, and Boston tops all major cities.
I really believe
By Sock_Puppet
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 5:57pm
You actually want to understand this. So I'll try again.
BLS is a great school. By many accounts, it is the top public high school in the state. Note that, as it is one school, we use the singular.
Not all BPS schools are as great - most consider none of them to be as great as BLS. Some BPS schools are even considered to be lousy. When we speak of this multitude of schools, we use the plural.
When a person says, "it's time to move forward and do what's best for BLS students," he is speaking of the students at a single school, not a plurality of schools.
Likewise, one can say "BLS is the best public school in the state," without saying "All BPS schools are the best schools in the state."
Knowing that BLS is considered to be better than all other BPS schools should help explain to you why there is such a fuss about it.
Will's Ideas Are Bad.
By No
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 8:18pm
It's been shown time and time again that raising the class size lowers the educational value of the class. And that's when they are IN THE SAME DAMN ROOM. If those other schools aren't as good, maybe the kids aren't showing up to them in the first place to see this glorious Cable in the Classroom. Maybe they only respect the class as much as they respect the school itself. What if the people in the remote classes just talk the whole time? Is their audio going to be piped into the main classroom? So now the teacher needs to tell the kids to shut up through a webcam? What if the teacher wants to call on a student from the remote locations? Is she going to have a Best Buy showroom display set up to see all these other classrooms? And now she has what, dozens of other students who are technically in her class? How will the teacher have time to monitor their progress individually? Meet with their parents? Score X more homeworks? There's a lot more to teaching than just listening to a teacher lecture. Are the parents cool with their kids not having an on site teacher? These were all concerns off the top of my head about this idea.
Jerry Howland is a terrific
By Christine Langhoff
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 1:22pm
Jerry Howland is a terrific educator who will be an asset to the school, faculty and student body.
Contompasis thinks you can discern merit from the result of standardized tests, as can be seen from his position on the Board of Directors at Achievement Network, an outfit which sells test prep to BPS schools. In a late May article in the Globe, he was quoted:"You can’t argue with meritocracyâ€, as defined by test scores, that is. Not exactly a change agent, more like a return to the past, i.e. almost 20 years ago.
And while it's great to bring in Montes McNeil to the school as someone who knows the building in more modern times, why has there been a third position added to replace two resignations? The BPS as a whole is underfunded - why does BLS get another admin position, even as it looks to instructional cuts?
Save your BTU spin
By Gazelle
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 3:56pm
This is good news to anyone who knows and cares about BLS, And Mayor Marty, who your BTU crew supported, can find whatever money he needs, or have you not learned that yet? Too bad that million dollar investment at election time didn't exactly pay off for you folks.
Not from BTU
By anon
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 4:17pm
But I'm smart enough to know that test scores are a great measure of a parent's wallet thickness and damn little else.
Not really
By anon
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 5:33pm
... plenty of poor kids with good test scores out there. If test scores are overvalued is an interesting topic, but not the same thing at all as what you're trying to sell.
And no smarter?
By Sock_Puppet
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 6:23pm
You never once wondered if there's a reason that poor scores on standardized tests correlate with poverty, beyond boo hoo it's unfair?
And does it occur to you
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 7:49pm
That using the results of inequality to enforce inequality of opportunity in a public school selection process is blatant bullshit, especially when these wallet quality exams are known to be a poor predictor of future success and actual aptitude?
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/sat-s...
http://issues.org/18-2/atkinson-2/
Or is it always just special time in privilege land for you? Patting yourself on the back for special superior genetic contributions, are ya? Go back to reading the Bell Curve at yourself in the mirror.
Somehow, I can't see you looking at "degree to which student outperforms the grand wallet test" as an acceptable grounds for admission over "I got mine fuck you hahahahah". Just like Stanford did in the early 80s, when I blew the fucking top off the wallet test from the bottom quartile of income and they wouldn't send me an application to a trailer court mailbox. Somehow, MIT, Caltech, and Harvard had no such issues (and now Stanford is making up for lost ground on high achieving, but poor students).
You have been spewing racism, classism, and ableism all over these threads on BPL. I'm sorry that you feel both inadequate and fearful of fair competition, but you need to get some science and grow up. You are not special. Your kids are not special. BLS is a public school, and it is NOT special and is NOT immune to the laws governing fair access, anti-bullying curriculum and responsibility and absolutely not exempt from laws regarding people with special needs. Period.
Lol
By Sock_Puppet
Tue, 06/28/2016 - 8:16pm
I got smurfette mad.
You never waste an opportunity to tell us how very special you are. Do you need us to clap for you, dearie?
And do you have any support for that weak little argument that pokes out between your impotent bluster and your ad hominem shit flinging?
I doubt it. It's just the usual, a liberal white suburbanite up on her high horse, needing to feel herself virtuous while she tells other people how they may and may not conduct themselves.
Well, you have nothing but your venom, may you choke on it.
Poverty is stressful (and no, you're not the only one here who has known it). Chronic stress is damaging to the developing brain. That is a major source of the test differential, and the solution is in social support for the very young, not tokenism at the high school level.
We in Boston get to have exam schools, like in all other big cities, and all your sophomoric platitudes won't change that. You don't even get a vote in the matter.
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