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Inside the superintendent's office
By adamg on Wed, 12/23/2020 - 9:07am
Boston Magazine is out with a mixed-message profile of BPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius.
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Boston Magazine is out with a mixed-message profile of BPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius.
Comments
Crying Cassellius
Should be her new nickname.
Really? That's your takeaway?
Not anything about her actual character flaws and strengths, school district politics, the difficult issues facing BPS, any of that? Just that she cries when she's stressed out?
No
Its just what I decided to post.
Is that OK?
Should I write a dissertation on her performance?
I wonder...
Does Boston Magazine include indepth detail about wardrobe and foot apparel for all of the men they profile?
What stands out to me
Is that the bold new plans to close decrepit schools and build new schools have sat on the back burner while the kids aren't in the schools at all. The pandemic would have been the best time to work on renovation and construction.
Still, good on Cassellius for thinking big. The BPS has been rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic for decades now.
The best time, but it came up too fast
You're right that this would be a great time for major renovations or construction but the logistics of planning and bidding would have to have been done prior to this stretch. So without a "shovel ready" project it isn't really possible to do anything.
Not necessarily...
For example, the Westie High complex could be well underway in its demolition process -- to be replaced with a building more tailored to the special-ed students who once learned there.
It closed pre-pandemic, so it's on Cassellius that there's (still) no plan to replace the crumbling building...
Competent managers
Would figure out how to accelerate the planning and bidding processes to make the projects shovel-ready. Heck, even BTD got new bike lanes on the roads before the traffic came back, and being less competent than BTD takes some doing.
They had plenty of time and resources to figure out how they were going to change the admissions process for the exam schools, but not enough to get desperately needed renovations and constructions moving. That's a management failure.
Oh come on. No one can make
Oh come on. No one can make any real plans right now because everything is in limbo.
This is why Boston
went from an elected School Committee to an appointed one?
Not a great article for her
Bet she isn't happy about it. Wonder if she will listen to any of the criticisms?
If your goal, especially as a
If your goal, especially as a public official, in speaking at length to a journalist, is to have only positive statements made about you, I think you will be in for a surprise every time.
This seemed a little like a hit piece though.
I'm thinking he didn't have to include the crying parts. Maybe I'm wrong though.
Ummmm
I think if you are sitting down with a journalist you expect some positive and some negative - I think it was clear from reading the article that the journalist found an abundance of criticism from past employers, current employees, past employees, the Teachers Union and principals. She is doing a poor job, and it is a matter of time before Walsh detaches himself.
She also wears dresses and cries...
That was in there too.
Local eggs
We need to have a Superintendent who is from Boston, is familiar with the politics and school department and will be around for longer than 3 years.
She's a Mess
Everybody wanted Cassellius to win. Her public interviews were a master class. But she has bungled this job from day one. Morale at Bolling is at an all time low, and that's really saying something. This reporter could have told so much more...
Her 'I'm new here' routine is old and parents are tired of it. They want her gone.
Is there anyone who still thinks she should keep this job? Marty only needs her to last through his re-election campaign or his transition to the Biden administration. After that, dollars to donuts she'll be on the first plane back to Minnesota.
No trust from parents OR teachers
She does not listen and her community feedback gathering is a joke. Parents don't trust her and teachers don't trust her. Also Heads of School think she's a maniac. So who is left to alienate? MARTY ARE YOU READING THIS? Put a fork in it, she's done.
Moving to a new place takes
Moving to a new place takes time and energy. Research neighborhoods, go to tours, apply, and reapply. Seeing that Cassellius insisted on 3 (three!) moving allowances in her contract shows where her real priorities lie.
Marty clearly didn't do his homework
So Boston Mag can find people to discuss her qualifications but Marty couldn't/didn't? Not surprising, he's been phoning it in from day one.