In meetings, she often broke down in tears and said she felt overwhelmed, according to three people who witnessed these episodes. A group of Boston parents has filed a lawsuit against the school committee and Superintendent Brenda Cassellius for what they call a wholly-irrational exam school admissions process, which had recently undergone changes due to the pandemic. Brenda runs down the aisle giving high-fives and the kids eat it up. Over the next 40 minutes, as we tour the facility, she amiably talks to a janitor, a secretary, two assistant principals, and a security guardwhile also dancing, leaping between social-distancing markers on the floor, and, on the playground, jumping down a hopscotch court. Unfortunately, Superintendent Cassellius did not meet it. Lack of uniform start and dismal dismissal times is the root of the problem, report says. Just last summer, the school committee renewed Cassellius' $311,000-a-year contract through June 2024. That is exactly how Briner sees it after working alongside Cassellius in Boston. Its a very bold vision, she said, to get people to stretch their thinking. Of her big ideas, she said, The good ones stick and the bad ones fall away. While the nation tunes in tonight to hear the "She found out what work is. As a leader, she said, its good for people to know that youre human., Casselliuss colleagues, and many of her sharpest critics, however, have never questioned her humanity. Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius will resign at the end of the school year, bringing to an end a three-year tenure marked by COVID-19 upheaval and leaving Boston's new. Brenda Cassellius was born in Minnesota on September 9, 1967, and she will turn 54 in 2022. But she knows where she is. Boston Globe/Boston Globe via Getty Images By Meg Woolhouse Peter Kadzis Henry Santoro February 11, 2022 Morning Edition Share Email Facebook Listen 8:10 I need to come hang out here more often, she says. . Some zip codes, such as Chinatown, Beacon Hill and West Roxbury will have less exam school seats while other neighborhoods that are typically disadvantaged such as Dorchester and Mattapan, will get more. Day? she responds, incredulous. Cambridge's public school superintendent left last summer, and Boston is now in a similar position. It has been this way since March, when Cassellius and Mayor Marty Walsh decided to shut down every school in the district. Cassellius, who was pursuing several jobs at the time, said she felt especially drawn to the Hub. Here's what she said at a press conference the day after announcing Cassellius' departure. Alexi Cohan is a general assignment reporter covering local news and government as well as health and medicine stories. But if I were a betting man, I might put some money on Rachel Skerritt. Will she bring in someone local like they're talking about? Cassellius often describes her plans for reform as bold, which is also a good descriptor of Cassellius herself. She has always wanted to be a teacher and instruct pupils. Henry Santoro hosts midday newscasts on GBH Radio and contributes to breaking news coverage and other hosting duties for GBHs daytime programming. Dr. Brenda Cassellius has spent three decades as an educator devoted to helping all children succeed and thrive. Thats my style, and I think people are getting used to that now. She said that ultimately it was not possible to close McKinley and Jackson/Mann before the 2019 school year began, but that if she could have done it, she would have. The promotions left colleagues, and sometimes the promoted employees themselves, baffled. This button displays the currently selected search type. I was such a go-getter, she told me, and confident and, you know, dig in. But we can assume it will be at least 18 months and possibly two years left on her contract, which could give her a payout of up to $600.000. What they heard was troubling: Cassellius lacked strong executive leadership and strategic planning skills. Cassellius had been on the job less than a year when schools closed, but I don't think Cassellius' response helped build trust among parents in the district. BOSTON The Superintendent of Boston Public Schools, Dr. Brenda Cassellius, has announced plans to resign after three years as leader of the state's largest school system and will address the decision in front of reporters at a news conference scheduled for 10:15 Tuesday morning. A mother who did not want to give her name to WBZ-TV said she was glad to see Cassellius leaving. Aware of the long history of distrust between BPS families and the district itself, Cassellius made a listening tour her first order of business. But its more than that. Meg Woolhouse is GBH News' K-12 education reporter. She quickly won jobs as a teacher, assistant principal, and then principal of a middle school, after Carol Johnson (who would later serve as BPS superintendent) hired Cassellius to work in the Memphis school district where she was superintendent. In a couple of hours, Boston Public Schools families will begin lining up at the door of the school, which has been turned into a food-distribution site. Cassellius will step down at the end of the school year, bringing to an end a three-year tenure marked by COVID-19 upheaval and leaving Boston's new mayor with major decisions on the education and policing fronts. By the fall, when students returned to school, BPS officials were having trouble keeping track of who reported to whom and what responsibilities belonged to each department. It's been two very difficult years for schools, as many teachers and school officials are leaving. Battenfeld: Boston parents and kids deserve a truthful accounting from Superintendent Brenda Cassellius Start the conversation BOSTON MA. This is not a new problem in Boston, having a superintendent leave. Together, we've laid a stronger foundation upon which BPS can continue to build. Outgoing Boston Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius came in under the cover of darkness and is leaving the same way with a potentially huge severance agreement the city is sitting on. She was just four months into her job as superintendent and had a bold idea she wanted to share. Concerned parents want to know how dangerous it is inside the walls of Boston schools. We talked about that challenge routinely, he said. When I told Josh Collins, Casselliuss former spokesman at the Minnesota Department of Education, about Casselliuss troubles in Boston, he said some of the dynamics sounded familiar. It was a flight of fancy, one former principal says. That kind of knocked me down a peg. She picked herself up by reading every book I could find about the craft of leadership, she said. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 14 BPCAE families in U.S. District Court in Boston on Friday. The move would have rendered Cassellius virtually a figurehead, still nominally in control of the district, but with many core responsibilities removed from her portfolio. Let me cite an example: the surprise closing of the Curley school. 2017 columns, Charter schools, Columns (J. Nathan), Dual HS/College Credit, PSEO / The superintendent was about to go into a meeting and she was falling apart, the official says. GRADE 3 READING Virginia Department of Education Home. Last but not the Briner stood close to her and said, Lets breathe in. I want you to run academics for Memphis middle schools, Johnson told Cassellius, assuring her she could handle the job overseeing 31 principals, many of them decades older than her. Go Blue! Because of her background, she says, she has a lot in common with many BPS students. She is confronting an entrenched bureaucracy that wants to pursue incrementalism, rather than radical reform, and she is determined to shake the cobwebs free. The daughter of a young single mother who later became a young single mother herself, Cassellius grew up on food stamps in the projects of Minneapolis and participated in a Head Start program.. Briner had been her right-hand woman in Minnesota, serving as chief of staff and then deputy commissioner throughout Casselliuss eight years leading that states Department of Education. would be stepping down at the end of the school year, Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius to step down, Boston Public School students walk out, call for remote learning, COVID-19 outbreak at Curley School 'caught us by surprise,' says Boston Public Schools superintendent, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility at GBH, Transparency in Coverage Cost-Sharing Disclosures. And thats a good thingright? "My hands - and my heart - will be fully committed to BPS until it is time to pass the baton. Just to cite one example, she's run through four chiefs of staff in two years. COVID was an incredible challenge. She has one of the highest-stakes jobs in Boston, and the second-hardest job in the city after mayor, one source told me. That was after she already had two other meetings this morning. Even though it is a Wednesday morning, Lee K8, a sprawling red-brick building standing behind us, is mostly empty, staffed by a skeleton crew and completely devoid of children. Who is giving that criticism? she asked me. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Superintendent Brenda Cassellius held a press conference Tuesday, a day after announcing Cassellius resignation. Joe Battenfeld is a veteran Herald political columnist and multimedia reporter. Collaborations, School Choice (including dual credit, district & chartered public schools). Dr. Lisa Sayles-Adams is the current superintendent of Eastern Carver County Schools in Chaska, MN. Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius will leave her post at the end of the school year. In addition to his editing duties, Senior Editor Peter Kadzis contributes political analysis and is part of the trio that produces the Scrum Podcast. Cassellius came to Boston less than a year before the pandemic began,. Secretary Cardona to Visit Los Angeles High School of the Arts, Join Roundtable with Parents to Discuss the Importance of Mental Health Services for Students On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will continue touring schools in Southern California with a visit to Los Angeles High School of the Arts at Robert F. Kennedy . Mask up, Superintendent, an aide says, and she pulls her facemask over her nose. Woolhouse: Well, it actually made me think she already has someone in mind. For some reason, I just felt like I was supposed to be here in Boston, she told me. There have even been rumblings that she may not last much longer in her position. Half African-American and half white, some of her formative experiences included being the target of hatred from adults. Here's why. Perhaps that is why she seemed so buoyant when I visited Lee K8 with her and why she meets regularly with her student cabinet, and with BPSs student advisory council. Cassellius recently penned a column for The Washington Post about the teacher and staffing shortage plaguing the schools. How to capture peoples hearts and get them to come along rather than succumb to the tendency to keep doing things the same way.. Cassellius insists she will still be that leader, as long as the city will let her. But hearing it 49 days before the school year starts doesnt give you much hope., The teachers union also criticized the plan, calling it totally out of touch with reality. In the midst of the pandemic, a teachers union taking a shot at a superintendent should be as shocking as an April snowstorm in Boston. While the nation tunes in tonight to hear the The mayor and Cassellius say they arrived at the decision to have Brophy help BPS together. "It does make for a difficult start to the day," she said. Most employees who leave companies get an exit interview thats how most businesses operate. Join us. Worked in the Bismarck, N.D., bureau as a reporter and desk editor. Lets breathe out. Linking the Minnesota MCA III Assessments to NWEA MAP Tests. This button displays the currently selected search type. Her driving passion, equity, seemed to make her a perfect fit for a district where inequality in academic outcomes is glaring. (In an interview in December, Brophy said his work with BPS over the summer was less a rescue mission than an all-hands-on-deck situation.). A bitter irony of 2020 is that even if you believe, as Casselliuss critics do, that she mismanaged the coronavirus response, it is not clear how much it mattered. Meg Woolhouse: Well, Henry, I think there's a lot of optimism around Wu she's a mother of two young kids who are in the schools in Boston, and I think people feel like she might be able to fix what's broken at BPS. She even briefly served as a classroom teacher . In a 5-2 vote, the Boston School Committee selected to appoint former Minnesota's Commissioner of Education Dr. Brenda Cassellius as their next Superintendent Wednesday. "I will be working in close partnership with the School Committee to move forward the search process for a permanent Superintendent. Brenda CasselliusCommissionerMinnesota Department of Education1500 Highway 36 WestRoseville, Minnesota . With your support, GBH will continue to innovate, inspire and connect through reporting you value that meets todays moments. Brenda Cassellius Salary Details Revealed Brenda Cassellius' compensation is very high as she earns $311,000 every year. Hey Marcus, what you got going on these days?. This letter is intended to provide information about AYP, Minnesota's waiver request and what an AYP designation may mean for the school their son or daughter attends. 'Substantial snowfall' likely for parts of Massachusetts, as meteorologists track wintry mix, Howie Carr: The kinked grocery cart under Biden's America, Hire at Massachusetts U.S. Attorney's Office loses job after old racist, sexist tweets emerge, Patriots slammed in NFLPA survey about team facilities, player working conditions, Boston Police seize 37 dirt bikes and mopeds, recover fentanyl and guns, and arrest 4 after 'illegal drag racing' investigation, Student loan debt cancellation could be on thin ice as Supreme Court takes up case, Massachusetts lawmakers push for relief, Milton asks governor to stop demolition of broken MBTA station staircase, Black WWII vets denied G.I. Zip codes are allocated spots at the schools based on the number of students living in the area and family income. Once we got settled in a classroom at the school, Cassellius told me about her life. 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Woolhouse: The pandemic, I think it's been a very rough ride for her. Cassellius had the political acumen necessary to be successful in Boston and also understood the critical role of educational equity and the needs of Black and brown students, as well as low-income students and English-language learners.. In theory, this was a fine idea. Despite Casselliuss public victories, though, BPS officials were alarmed by the mounting evidence that she was an ineffective administrator. Este botn muestra el tipo de bsqueda seleccionado. To some, the practical barriers to implementing the plan seemed nearly insurmountable. They cant see how to get it done, and she hasnt shown them the steps along the way.. After all, equity is her driving passion. 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