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Photo by Pru Sowers
Curriculum coordinator Jessica Waugh has been tapped to be the new Provincetown assistant school superintendent. |
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Two top school positions to be merged
By Pru Sowers
Banner Correspondent
PROVINCETOWN — Losing no time in beginning a restructuring of the school district designed to ensure its future, the School Committee on Monday created a new administrative position that will lead to combining the jobs of superintendent and curriculum coordinator.
Jessica Waugh, the current curriculum head, was unanimously named assistant to the superintendent, a new position that will allow her to assume the superintendent post once she has received certification from the state Dept. of Education. The current interim superintendent, Janice Lachowetz, is retiring as expected on June 30. Waugh will keep her position as curriculum coordinator, a role that will be restructured to become more administrative, as she is groomed for the superintendent’s mantle.
The reason behind combining the two jobs is economics and an acknowledgement by the School Committee that declining enrollment has created some reorganization opportunities that didn’t exist before.
“We want to look at different ways to tap our resources and our teachers and the whole picture. How do we plan smarter? We have the resources here to do that,” Lachowetz said.
“It’s the statement we made to the community,” said School Committee chair Terese Nelson about the move to examine ways to reduce overhead. “This is the first part of it. Next is the restructuring conference.”
The conference on May 16 and 17 is going to bring together about 80 people from different stakeholder groups in Provincetown and Truro to discuss ways to restructure the school district to help reduce costs and attract more students.
In addition to combining the superintendent and curriculum coordinator jobs, the School Committee is also considering eliminating one of the two school principal positions, putting one person in charge of the day-to-day operations of both Provincetown High School and Veterans Memorial Elementary School. The current PHS principal, Ed Boxer, is retiring this year.
While the School Committee is accepting applications to fill Boxer’s position, the thinking is to hire a person to fill the job for one year. At that time, the VMES principal’s contract, held by Tony Teso, will expire and the committee will be able to combine the two positions if it chooses.
Waugh has worked in the Provincetown school system for 26 years, beginning in 1980 as a reading specialist. Her role in the district has grown to include teaching, director of Title I, MCAS coach, grant oversight, and professional development for teachers, as well as curriculum coordinator.
Waugh said she was “speechless” at the appointment, a remark which drew chuckles from School Committee members because they, as most people who know her, rarely find Waugh in a verbally-challenged state.
“I’m particularly pleased,” Nelson added. “We’ve seen Jessica’s success with driving the curriculum forward. She is a hard worker, totally professional and not afraid to face the challenges the school district is facing.”
(For the entire text of this article see this week’s Banner.)
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Incumbents take P'town, split results in Wellfleet
In the News
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May 4th, 2006