METHUEN — After a chaotic year for the public school district, Superintendent Brandi Kwong received a largely passing grade by the School Committee.
In a recent evaluation for the previous school year, the committee scored Kwong as proficient in instructional leadership, family and community engagement and professional culture. However, she was categorized as needing improvement in management and operations.
The review comes after a year in which the school department faced uncertain funding, maintenance issues that burst into the spotlight coupled with prolonged union negotiations amid staffing shortages.
Two of the seven School Committee members chose not to participate in Kwong’s review and voiced concerns about the process as well as school leadership.
Committee member Mary Beth Donovan-Grassi added that many of the members that had completed the evaluation had been surprisingly close in their appraisal of Kwong’s handling of the past school year.
The committee reported that chronic absenteeism had been reduced in four of the five schools and community engagement had also increased. Chronic absenteeism at the high school decreased by more than 5% versus the previous year to 37.2% for the 2024-2025 school year, according to state data.
Chronic absenteeism is described as missing 10% or more of the school year.
In its overall evaluation, the committee reported that the poor grade in management and operations was due to the “issue surrounding communication, supervision and expectations for building cleanliness.”
Officials noted how poor sanitary conditions had been a problem the entire year even after substantial efforts had been made to clean up the district. Members discussed a concerning review of conditions at the Tenney Grammar School in the early summer.
“Due to the fact that there was an issue in the fall, it was our expectation that there would be procedures and policies surrounding the cleanliness of the buildings,” officials wrote. “If that were done satisfactorily, there would not have been a significant follow up issue in June at the Tenney.
“This reflects on your office and has resulted in more costs, distrust within our community and attention pulled away from educational efforts. Moving forward, there needs to be a plan that is executed at the building level without incident.”
The report states that there is “a general positive view” of the culture at the school.
“That said, there have been notable concerns brought up and it will be important that the superintendent act on the forthcoming audit recommendations to strengthen areas where improvement is needed,” it reads.
Member Ken Willette said he had refused to complete the evaluation for a variety of reasons including that he felt there was a rush to do the evaluation before the results of a cultural audit of the school district were released.
Vice Chair Laurie Keegan, who compiled the evaluation, said the results of the audit would not matter for the purposes of the evaluation since the evaluation only judges Kwong’s progress on preset goals.
Willette said he would give Kwong an overall negative review that was reflected in a past vote against extending her contract.
He added that the city’s cleaning contractor, Bridgewater-based Pest End Inc., is also being unfairly blamed for the administration’s failure to act on the company’s reports.
Willette said the evaluation was also flawed, in part, due to it trying to encapsulate the committee’s reviews of an entire year in only a few sentences. He also did not wish to have his evaluation “culled” into a general consensus.
Willette said Kwong was “overwhelmed in her capacity” and criticized some of his colleagues for being too passive in the face of problems.
Keegan said Kwong “… is doing the best she can in an impossible situation.”
Keegan noted the number of challenges faced by the district this academic year and a historic pattern of committees cutting everything but teaching jobs that has left administrators and custodians short staffed.
Keegan also discussed a lack of funding that has limited Kwong’s abilities to implement changes.
“It’s not Brandi’s fault that we don’t have any money,” she said.
Keegan also criticized the format of the evaluation and said it was not equipped to judge Kwong’s handling of unforeseen events, rather solely a test of whether she had met goals laid out the year before.
The review format was given to the school department by the state and was the same as the evaluations given to district teachers with the difference that Kwong’s evaluation is public, Keegan said.
The evaluation had not been rushed but was actually turned in late and that the results of the audit would be used to further set goals for Kwong, Keegan said.
Member Kristen Maxwell, who did not complete an evaluation, said the report was not a true reflection of Kwong’s performance as it reflected the goal’s Kwong had set herself.
Maxwell also questioned literacy data used in the review.
“We are consistently hearing concerns about her leadership and about upper administration, which I can’t ignore,” Maxwell said. “Last year, I submitted a thorough evaluation, yet none of my input was reflected in what was ultimately reported to the state.”