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Date: 4/6/2021
HUNTINGTON – Four finalists were interviewed by the Gateway School Committee via Zoom on March 24 and 31. A vote for the new superintendent is expected this week.
The finalists were Gina E. Flanagan of West Suffield, CT., Kurt Garivaltis of Pittsfield, Kristen Smidy of Westfield and William Bazyk of Manchester, VT.
The candidates were asked what strengths they would bring to Gateway.
Flanagan, former principal of East Longmeadow High School who is currently attending Harvard’s School Leadership & Management Program, said her biggest strength was instructional leadership.
“I have served as an educator at elementary, middle school, high school, certified special education, and director of curriculum – I’ve worn many hats,” Flanagan said. She said she has a strong understanding of all those components together, which she called “very unique.”
Flanagan said she has spent much of her career learning and has studied best practices “at some of the best institutions in the country. One of the most important roles as superintendent is to be up on best practices,” she said. She also cited her skills in communication, and said an important piece is making sure that programs and practices maximize students’ education and support teachers.
“I was a teacher longer than I was an administrator. I know the pressures, know the concerns personally. I always keep that in my mind,” Flanagan said.
Garivaltis, who has served as the Gateway pupil services director since 2014, cited his empathy and understanding for others, closely followed by his ability to collaborate and motivate others on behalf of a common cause, as his biggest strengths.
As an example, Garivaltis said he has championed tiered support for students in the district, a data-driven, problem-solving framework to improve outcomes for students.
“There weren’t any when I arrived here, except at the elementary level,” he said.
Working in collaboration with the leadership team, he advocated for tiered supports in the secondary level, and said they now have tier 2 interventions, a student interventions team, and behavioral intervention and incentive plans. The district is also developing tier 3 supports to start next year. He said they are working with the school-based health center to develop mental health supports.
“We meet students where they’re at, use a system that uses data and implement it for a period of six weeks. If it works, great, if not, move up. My role in the intervention structure will be active and robust,” Garivaltis said.
Smidy, the principal of Hampshire Regional High School in Westhampton since 2014, also pointed to her collaboration skills.
“I am happy to be able to collaborate with different members of the School Committee where I’m currently at,” Smidy said. She said that Hampshire Regional High School is its own district with its own council, and she works directly with the council, the Finance Committee, Select Board and teachers – skills which she said are transferable to Gateway.
Smidy also talked about her work in developing the multi-tiered support system at Hampshire Regional. She said the tier 2 supports were lacking when she started as principal, and the special education numbers were higher than the state average due in part to the lack of supports for students.
Smidy said they implemented English language support at the middle school and English and math at the high school. She added another school adjustment counselor to work on social and emotional needs among students. “For students coming back, we need to focus on tier 1 supports, whole class instruction, and really figuring out where students are,” she said.
Bazyk, superintendent of Battenkill Valley Supervisory Union in Arlington, VT, described himself as a sitting superintendent in a rural school district that is consolidating into a large district.
Bazyk said he has spent time carefully and methodically adding more students in his district, and he is excited to bring his experience to Gateway, which he said is going through what Vermont has gone through over the last 10 years – declining enrollment and a push for regionalization by the state.
Bazyk also talked about the money that may be coming into the district over the next couple of years through the new stimulus plan. He said since it will be one-time money, he wouldn’t recommend using it for ongoing expenses. In his district they plan to spend it to improve low reading scores and to mitigate social and emotional stress.
“Spending those grants is something that will be very important to Gateway,” he said, adding that passing budgets is a strength of his.
Chester School Committee representative Jason Forgue asked the candidates to define success.
“If every student walks out of Gateway feeling valued, loved, challenged and cared for, and has the skills to maximize the potential in whatever career they’re aiming for. A culture of excellence defines what we’re after,” Flanagan said, adding that for staff, “feeling they can take risks and enjoy coming to work every day, that’s success, too.”
Garivaltis said, “A successful school is one where students are happy to be in school, even when there’s work to do, and the staff is happy to come to work every day because they have a purpose and they feel like they’re making a difference, and we’re running it within the budget.”
Smidy said, “Students are engaged in school, appropriately challenged, feel good about moving from one grade to another, and when they graduate, they’re able to meet the reasonable goals they’ve set for themselves. The staff’s job is to help them set reasonable goals and push them as far as they can. As superintendent, to set parameters and create a structure (where) every student can learn and every teacher can teach,”
Bazyk said he wants every student to create their own learning plan. “They’re going to define their own success,” he said.
Bazyk said for teachers, he now defines success as getting through the school year. “I’m very worried about my teachers – they had a rough year. We asked a lot of them, and we’re going to be asking a lot more of them in the next few years. How did they come out of the pandemic?” he asked, adding, “Now my definition of success is for them to sustain their profession over the next couple of years.”
The vote by the school committee is expected this week.