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Superintendent presents end-of-cycle evaluation, flags middle-school learning gaps and announces $450,000 career-pathways grant
Summary
Superintendent Jason DeFalco presented his end-of-cycle evaluation to the school committee, highlighting district goals, equity work, student-learning data showing middle-school challenges, plans for summer acceleration supports, and a $450,000 grant for career pathways ("BV Excel").
Superintendent Jason DeFalco presented his end-of-cycle evaluation to the Blackstone-Millville School Committee on June 23, framing the packet of evidence as the district's work rather than a single-person review.
DeFalco outlined four standards used in the evaluation: instructional leadership; management and operations; family and community engagement; and professional culture. He told the committee he organized evidence in binders tied to those standards and asked the panel to review goal-specific evidence before the July 12 evaluation vote.
Among substantive takeaways, DeFalco highlighted:
- Middle-school learning and mental-health concerns: DeFalco said grades 6 and 7 showed lower-than-expected growth on nationally normed assessments (STAR), with middle-school students showing notable declines that he linked to pandemic-related interruptions and social-emotional stressors. He urged targeted interventions and described planned summer ramp-up programs and an "acceleration academy" the week before school starts to help students regain ground.
- Special education and instructional supports: DeFalco said special-education outcomes remain a struggle in some inclusive settings; the district will examine pullout timing, core materials used in interventions and co-teaching/communication strategies between special- and general-education staff.
- Equity work and regional engagement: DeFalco described deep equity work in the district and said he would present the district's approach at a statewide superintendent conference, alongside a superintendent from Lynn, noting that both systems are taking customized approaches despite different demographics.
- Grants and career pathways: Fiscal staff reported nearing $1 million in managed ESSER funds and the superintendent announced the district was awarded a $450,000 grant to stand up "Black Swan Valley Excel" (BV Excel), a career-pathways initiative. The grant will fund a full-time internship coordinator and launch credit-bearing pathway courses (including an audiovisual program) with seats reserved for students across the Black Swan Valley region.
DeFalco also updated the committee on personnel searches (district social worker recruitment, posted facilities director and groundskeeper positions) and said the district will prioritize having coaches and intervention resources in buildings for fall implementation. He asked committee members to return evaluation rubrics by the July 12 meeting; the committee agreed to review evidence, complete scoring, then hold a public evaluation and an executive session to negotiate contract matters.
Quotes and exchanges during the presentation included committee praise for community collaboration, questions about credit-bearing courses (Spanish 1 and Algebra 1 offered in middle school) and discussion of graduation recognition and Abigail Adams exam status; staff committed to report back with precise counts and policy clarifications.
What happens next: Committee members will review supplied evidence binders, return rubric scores prior to the July 12 meeting, and the committee will finish the public evaluation before moving to executive session to discuss contract negotiations.
