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Interim superintendent urges focus on alignment, belonging and capital follow‑through in transition report
Summary
Interim Superintendent Dr. Galusi presented transition/entry findings highlighting strengths (community commitment, engaged staff) and areas for growth (facilities maintenance, communication alignment, diversifying staff). She said stakeholder input and classroom observations will inform a strategic plan.
Interim Superintendent Dr. Galusi told the Medford School Committee on Monday that more than 200 classroom visits, 30 listening sessions and numerous meetings with staff and city partners shaped a transition/entry report that will inform the district’s next strategic plan.
Dr. Galusi said the report frames three organizing pillars—belonging, consistency and coherence—intended to align instructional practice and district systems. On belonging, she recommended expanding student voice, scaling restorative practices, improving visible supports for neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ students and modernizing facilities and security.
On consistency, Galusi asked the district to complete work to ensure equitable access to high‑quality instruction across schools, citing the district’s instructional vision and the “GLEAM” planning framework (grade level, engaging, affirming, meaningful). She said accountability measures show areas of decline in some subgroups and called for targeted interventions and strengthened vertical alignment of curriculum, including a humanities review.
Under coherence, the superintendent called for clearer, streamlined communications and said the district is updating an organizational chart and standardizing parent/caregiver contact points. She said the district has begun security camera upgrades, keyless entry installations and vape detectors at secondary schools that should be finished by the end of the calendar year.
Dr. Meg Mayo Brown, program director of the New Superintendent Induction Program (NISIP), described the three‑year coaching and cohort program that supports new superintendents. She said Dr. Galusi will receive year‑one content and coaching and participate in 360‑degree feedback each March that is provided confidentially to the superintendent to inform practice.
Committee members asked how the district will use MCAS and other measures to monitor academic progress. Galusi said MCAS was only one data source and emphasized internal benchmark data (NWEA MAP), classroom walkthroughs and coaching as tools to monitor instruction and target interventions in real time.
The committee did not take formal action on the report at the meeting but directed staff to use the findings to launch a community engagement process that will feed the strategic planning subcommittee’s work.
