Superintendent gives mid‑cycle update: Performance Matters rollout and central office reorganization underway

Superintendent Peter presented a mid‑cycle evaluation update to the Milton School Committee, summarizing progress on district priorities, the rollout of a new data dashboard, and efforts to clarify central office roles.

Peter said the district has prioritized giving staff access to Performance Matters, a data dashboard intended to let teachers and leaders “slice and dice” assessment data and review subgroup performance. He said initial training sessions and half‑day professional development sessions have focused on the tool and that teachers and leaders reported that the dashboard is useful for intervention planning, common planning conversations, and curriculum review.

On central office organization, Peter said the district split an earlier combined HR/curriculum post into two positions and is developing an administrative handbook and clearer procedures so principals and staff understand district processes. He described the work as culture change that will require time and staff engagement; the district plans a second full professional development day in March to bring product to staff and collect feedback.

Peter described three action teams aligned to the district implementation plan: recruitment and staffing; climate, culture and well‑being; and facilities, finance and operations. He said the teams have produced initial work and that next steps include producing tangible materials for staff review and iterating over multiple years.

Committee members praised the transparency, said they were seeing evidence of the superintendent’s priorities in school‑level presentations, and asked about how the evaluation timeline will proceed. The superintendent and the committee’s evaluation subcommittee agreed on a schedule of subcommittee work in February and a summative evaluation period in March–April.