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JOHNSTON SCHOOLS - Principal Upbeat About Relations With School Board

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 December 2005, 18:00 CST

By KATE BRAMSON Journal Staff Writer

JOHNSTON - High school principal Elizabeth L. Mantelli told the School Committee last night that she and the assistant principal have been given full support to lead the school.

"There is a cooperative relationship between the school board and the superintendent's office and the principal of Johnston High School," Mantelli said.

This was her fourth report to the board about how the school has responded to criticism from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. NEASC expects to decide next month whether to strip its accreditation from the high school.

NEASC has criticized the school for not meeting four of seven standards. Last night, Mantelli addressed the standard that was more harshly criticized by NEASC than others -- leadership and organization.

"Of significant concern," NEASC wrote to the school in July, "is the state of leadership and organization throughout the district, which negatively impacts the ability of Johnston High School to effect school improvement. School Committee members, district administrators and building administrators, by all reports, are incapable of working with each other and lack agreement on the direction of the school, resulting in a polarization of the teaching staff and causing many initiatives to grind to a halt due to dysfunctional behavior."

Less than a week after the release of the school's first School Accountability for Learning and Teaching (SALT) review, Mantelli relied on many positive comments in that report to show that the school now meets NEASC's criteria.

"The Johnston High School leadership runs the school well and provides a safe and orderly environment for students to learn," Mantelli quoted the SALT report. "The faculty and staff say that they support the principal and respect and appreciate her support. ... Despite a recent history of frequent turnover in both the school and district administrations, school leadership now appears to be stable. This stability contributes to the improved school climate and morale."

The school turned over all documentation challenging the recommendation from NEASC by the Dec. 1 deadline and must wait for the decision.

Some School Committee members last night praised Mantelli for the SALT report, and many in the audience of about 25 people applauded that report.

Mantelli talked about the school's new leadership team -- including the interim assistant principal, two deans of discipline and new department chairs. She said teachers work together on common planning teams that provide leadership for the whole school.

Mantelli makes many decisions at the school based on a formula to determine whether a considered change will support the school's mission and expectations for student learning.

She said the school is working to tweak a program designed to ensure that each freshman has more personal contact with a teacher.

She spoke of a respectful, positive and proud school climate.

Parent Melanie Turner asked the committee to begin videotaping meetings so they could air on cable television for those who cannot attend. She urged the committee, which has argued publicly in recent months and has sat at meetings while members of the public yelled at the board, to work as a unified group.

"It's probably a good thing it wasn't videotaped," she said of the recent meetings. "Because NEASC would have been glued to the TV. ... You guys have to come in here and put on poker faces."

Source: Providence Journal

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