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SAU 29 presents "portrait of an educator" to State Board, proposes evaluation overhaul
Summary
SAU 29 officials presented a yearlong effort to create a "portrait of an educator" that expands the definition of educator beyond classroom teachers to custodial and food service staff and proposes aligning evaluation tools to four pillars: integrity, engagement, connection and teamwork.
Officials from SAU 29 presented the board with a "portrait of an educator" developed across seven districts and a 20‑member task force. The presentation emphasized defining educator to include all school staff who influence student development — custodial, food service, administrative and instructional personnel — and described four guiding pillars: integrity, engagement, connection and teamwork.
Rob Malay, superintendent of SAU 29, and task force members said the portrait emerged from a year of strategic planning, broad staff surveys and community input. Sharon Dion, principal at Chesterfield School, described the process of narrowing many candidate attributes down to four pillars and said the system will next work to align evaluation tools and collective bargaining conversations to the portrait. "We are going to review all of our evaluation tools and redo them all," a presenter said, noting a goal of completing initial work within a year.
Presenters emphasized moving away from off‑the‑shelf frameworks toward a homegrown, role‑specific evaluation system that supports reflective practice across employee categories and avoids checkbox observations. Board members praised including custodial and support staff and discussed how the portrait could be implemented, measured and scaled if early data show positive results.
Next steps: SAU 29 will continue work to convert the portrait into role‑specific evaluation tools, seek union support, and return to the board with early implementation data.
