Holyoke advisory team plans community forums to gather input on superintendent evaluation and communication

At a community advisory team meeting for Holyoke Public Schools, members and community participants discussed plans for two community forums meant to collect public input on the receiver's superintendent goals — with special emphasis on the superintendent's professional-practice goal of strengthening communication with stakeholders — and to surface priorities that could inform both the current evaluation and future hiring.

The advisory team, which falls under the local control subcommittee of the Holyoke School Committee, is charged with gathering evidence for the receiver's evaluation. Mildred, chair of the local control subcommittee, described the receiver's required submissions: a personal professional-practice goal (she said the receiver's was to "strengthen communication with stakeholders"), a student learning goal and two to four district improvement goals. The district goals discussed in the meeting include use of STAR beginning-of-year data for a student learning goal; implementing early-literacy best practices with an 80% target for high-quality lessons measured by walk-throughs; a four-point reduction in chronic absenteeism; and schoolwide systems to promote student connection measured by an MTSS heat map and a reduction in suspensions.

Organizers presented a draft format for the community forums: two concurrent or closely scheduled sessions (one tentatively set at the high school cafe on April 22), an early-evening start with food and childcare, live interpretation, and breakout tables where small groups (roughly five to seven people) would answer three to six focus questions on poster paper, then post and "star" the responses they most agreed with. Gabriella Stitler of Great Schools Partnership framed the meeting and said she would collect feedback and revise the agendas. "I'm with Great Schools Partnership," she said as she introduced her role in planning and debriefing the forums.

Attendees raised logistical and substantive concerns. Several members questioned holding forums during spring break and recommended moving the date to increase turnout. Participants requested pooled transportation supports, broader outreach through school-based coordinators and community partners (for example, PTOs, the Y, the Boys & Girls Club and local media), and language access beyond Spanish; one participant also urged Haitian Creole interpretation. Organizers agreed to revisit dates and outreach plans.

Community members asked for clarity about the forums' scope and suggested sharper questions. Multiple participants recommended adding a direct question about the qualities and characteristics residents want in a future superintendent and providing a short description of the superintendent's role so respondents could answer with that role in mind. Miguel, who said he has worked in Holyoke schools and is a parent, urged more transparency from the district and told the group, "there's a lot more that's going on behind closed doors than what we're talking about."

On process and next steps, organizers (Eric and Gabriella) agreed to revise the draft agenda and questions, circulate a short outreach blurb for partners to use, and reconvene to confirm dates and locations. Mildred said the advisory team and school committee have asked the interim commissioner for an in-person special meeting to discuss exit assurances; that scheduling was described as pending. The advisory team intends to hold a third meeting after the forums to analyze the collected input and bring formal recommendations to the full school committee.

The meeting produced no formal motions or votes. It resulted in documented directions: refine forum questions, finalize logistics (food, childcare, live interpretation, transportation), expand outreach to community organizations, and confirm dates after reconsidering the April vacation timing. Organizers said they will leave poster paper and the draft questions at the meeting site so attendees can propose language changes and additional questions for the public forums.