School reorg plan may be resurrected

By JOHN HOWELL
Posted 1/28/20

By JOHN HOWELL By a 4-1 vote Thursday night, the Warwick School Committee denied Superintendent Phil Thornton's plan to restructure the school administration now that Robert Littlefield has left the post of director of secondary education. Thornton was

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School reorg plan may be resurrected

Posted

By a 4-1 vote Thursday night, the Warwick School Committee denied Superintendent Phil Thornton’s plan to restructure the school administration now that Robert Littlefield has left the post of director of secondary education.

Thornton was looking to name an assistant superintendent and director of school leadership, a move that he said would not have impacted the budget while allowing for greater focus on teaching and learning.

But while reorganization is not going to happen now, it is likely to come up again.

Thornton said Friday he believes in the organizational plan that the system used in the 1990s and is used in a preponderance of districts statewide. He intends to reintroduce the plan at the end of the academic year.

From how this effort played out, it may fly yet.

With Littlefield’s announcement in December he would be taking the job of director of the Rhode Island Association of School Principals, Thornton said he was uncertain whether he would look to name Littlefield’s successor or realign administrators and select an assistant superintendent.

Then, only several days before the School Committee meeting on Jan. 14, Thornton released his plan and intention to name Lynn Dambruch, director of elementary schools, as assistant superintendent. The committee tabled the matter until Thursday’s meeting, but the outcome seemed like a foregone conclusion as Thornton lost support for the plan and teacher union president Darlene Netcoh labeled a mid-year change as a mistake.

School Committee chair Karen Bachus said Monday that Thornton had only spoken to two members of the committee about the reorganization, and while she believes there was unanimous support for Dambruch, the responsibilities of the director of school leadership were not clear.

Bachus called the post “a made up position.” She questioned why Thornton hadn’t simply sought two assistants.

“It’s all in the job description,” she said.

Netcoh expanded on her position Friday.

“I have a concern about the K-12 position. It’s called K-12 leadership. That’s what an assistant superintendent does, so if you’re going to have an assistant superintendent and get rid of director of elementary and director of secondary, then do that, and then there’s no real need to add something else, add another layer. At this point, there’s no need to reorganize. The School Committee has the right to vote on an organizational chart. The superintendent shouldn’t have tried to sneak something in on that,” she said.

On Friday, Thornton said the post of secondary director would be posted and that he is looking to fill the job from within the district. In the interim, Dambruch will serve as K-12 director. The committee unanimously voted to amend Dambruch’s contract to cover both jobs with a “bump” in pay reflective of the increased responsibilities.

Thornton noted that the recent audit of the department performed by Barton Gilman recommended reorganization with an assistant superintendent. He said he aims to try again.

“I’ll continue to propose to do what’s best for students,” he said.

“Do a master plan. And instead of just willy-nilly throwing something together now because your director of secondary left,” suggested Netcoh.

Bachus said she is open to considering a reorganization of the administration, but from the looks of things that formally won’t happen for some time, although Dambruch will be filling both the roles of elementary and secondary director.

Comments

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  • Justanidiot

    so, if they are going to roll a plan out from the 90's, how are they going to hire more administrators. hasn't warwick changed in nearly 30 years or do they plan on rebuilding c. rhodes and opening up all the closed schools and getting rid of the middle school.

    Tuesday, January 28, 2020 Report this

  • bill123

    Someone needs to explain why lawyers and law firms are taking Warwick taxpayer’s money to write non-legal opinions. Thornton should explain why he is relying on such a document. It seems to me the so-called “audit” is actually an improper attempt at a self-evaluation that, as a matter of good policy, the superintendent himself should be required to produce annually, which would be one means to justify his continued employment.

    Wednesday, January 29, 2020 Report this

  • davebarry109

    Reorganize. Close/consolidate schools. We are working with a footprint from a decade ago with a much smaller student body. Get smaller. Fast.

    Wednesday, January 29, 2020 Report this

  • PatrickRamsey

    I couldn't agree more with the above comments. Thornton is talking about a structure that existed 30 years ago, 10,000 more students ago, three additional secondary schools ago, and ten additional elementary schools ago. What's next, re-open Lockwood, hope the tenets don't mind.

    Since Thornton was hired, it's been a bad idea after bad idea. It's clear; he's not good enough for the job, we should accept our losses and move on. People don't remember, the school department reorganized in his second year after a consultant said they needed it. So, that consultant was wrong, but we should believe this consultant, also hired by Thornton.

    What a terrible five years it has been, both for the budget and our academic reputation. Even his cabinet is jumping ship.

    Saturday, February 1, 2020 Report this