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Reynolds ‘highly effective,’ board says

News Photo by Julie Goldberg The Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District Board of Education, seen here on Thursday, completed Superintendent Scott Reynolds’ evaluation on Thursday and rated him as highly effective for the past year.

ALPENA — Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District Superintendent Scott Reynolds received a highly effective rating from the district Board of Education on Thursday.

Reynolds was rated as highly effective in the categories of visionary leadership, policy and governance, communication and community relations, and professionalism and ethics, and effective for instructional leadership and organizational management.

“I was very pleased with the process,” Reynolds said. “As an educator, the evaluation process should be a growth opportunity, and, while I was extremely pleased with the rating, that by no means is indicative of my mastery of the position or that I don’t have more to learn and an opportunity to grow.”

A big part of Reynolds’ evaluation is based on student growth and improved assessment data at Pied Piper School. He was given a highly effective rating as a result of the outcomes at Pied Piper.

The board went into closed session at its meeting last month to allow Reynolds to share some of the things he has worked on this past year and share some of his growth areas. He asked the board to complete his evaluation in closed session on Thursday, he said, because it allowed the board to have candid discussions with Reynolds about his performance.

“I think it’s a pretty traditional standard that the superintendent take that into closed session just to allow for a bit more open dialogue,” Reynolds said. “I just believe that it adds for another layer of comfort and being able to have open discourse about some of the nuances.”

The Michigan Open Meetings Act allows school boards to discuss personnel matters in closed session only if the employee being discussed asks for the closed session.

Reynolds, who is in his second year as superintendent, said this year has been a great year of working with professionals who are committed to providing the best educational experience and opportunities for students.

“It’s nice to be at a point where everyone, including myself, is a bit more accumulated to the role and the expectations and I am pleased and confident to say that the relationships that have developed early in the first year have continued to be strengthened,” he said. “That’s provided a deeper platform for some discussions on what we at the AMA ESD internally and externally can do to improve.”

Last year, former Assistant Superintendent Sue Grulke retired after 28 years and, in June, Assistant Superintendent Tony Suszek will retire after 40 years. Reynolds said the AMA ESD team is strong enough and well-positioned to fill those roles. On Thursday, the board approved for Reynolds to assume responsibility of facility management of the district and become more involved in the business office.

Working with the district Board of Education the past two years has been a “phenomenal experience,” Reynolds said. He said the board has a commitment to serving students and he’s pleased the board has dealt well with challenging decisions that have come up.

“I’ve been impressed with our board’s ability to sidestep those land mines and (would) rather come with a great attitude and they appear to enjoy each other and the work that they do,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said he was looking forward to the feedback that he received from the board on Thursday. He knows how they value the importance of his position and the work that the district does overall.

Julie Goldberg can be reached at 989-358-5688 or jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jkgoldberg12.

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