For the next hour, she listened warmly and keenly to the advice of her most important constituentsstudents. It has been this way since March, when Cassellius and Mayor Marty Walsh decided to shut down every school in the district. Students in the zip code with the lowest family income will be placed first. She even briefly served as a classroom teacher . Covered spot news and enterprise stories, primarily in education, crime, human services . Current and former BPS officials came to believe that the root causes of Casselliuss scattershot ideas were her lack of attention to detail and short attention span. Parents have seen at least a decade of turmoil, as you said, with a revolving door of superintendents and interim superintendents. Brenda's parents have consistently encouraged her career goals. Battenfeld: Boston parents and kids deserve a, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Battenfeld: Boston parents and kids deserve a truthful accounting from Superintendent Brenda Cassellius, Editorial: Focus should be on saving Social Security, Lucas: Heres hoping for a Biden-Trump rematch in 2024, Howie Carr: The kinked grocery cart under Bidens America, Woodward: Blame organized crime for shelves under lockdown. The district is primarily Black and Latino, and parents have been promised much over the years and bore the brunt of the pandemic illnesses and job losses. "Brenda Cassellius is the right choice for the leader of the BPS,'' he said. Battenfeld: Boston parents and kids deserve a truthful accounting from Superintendent Brenda Cassellius Start the conversation BOSTON MA. If we heard this plan two or three months ago, we may have said, Lets all work toward this, said Shah Family Foundation executive director Ross Wilson, whose organization works closely with BPS, on a podcast the next day. Strike a blow for transparency for once. Her husband Jason is a stay-at-home dad. Will they be encouraged and challenged? Sorry to keep you waiting, she says. For the next eight years, she served as Minnesotas commissioner of education. . [], Joe Nathan / We could use more of that honesty and advocacy for school children. Most recently as Boston Public School Superintendent. BOSTON (CBS) - Boston Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius is resigning at the end of the school year. Cassellius had the political acumen necessary to be successful in Boston and also understood the critical role of educational equity and the needs of Black and brown students, as well as low-income students and English-language learners.. Its a very bold vision, she said, to get people to stretch their thinking. Of her big ideas, she said, The good ones stick and the bad ones fall away. It is tradition for the President to recognize special guests during the State of the Union address each year. She has always wanted to be a teacher and instruct pupils. Brenda's parents have always been supportive of her professional endeavors. Back in the cafeteria, before we leave, she nods with approval as an administrator explains the schools grocery-distribution system. 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Cassellius was a former commissioner of education for the state of Minnesota, where she oversaw schools there for nine years. The problem, Casselliuss critics alleged, was that it arrived too late and too light on details. But they found her methods strange. The windows open there. Before her aide could object, she was off. Can Wu deliver? Hey Marcus, what you got going on these days?. Meg Woolhouse is GBH News' K-12 education reporter. Denne knap viser den valgte sgetype. OK, you didn't have all your credentials right in the first place!". All of this landed in her lap precisely when the district was trying to figure out how to reopen schools in the fall. Cassellius often describes her plans for reform as bold, which is also a good descriptor of Cassellius herself. She has overseen defections and ousters among her senior executives, a revolt from school principals, and public excoriation from influential nonprofits and activists. This button displays the currently selected search type. Cassellius took the top job in Boston eight months before the pandemic prompted a shift to remote learning that has since transmuted into staffing shortages, mask mandates and other complicated issues. The. She does not have a day to spend on me. When [Casselliuss predecessor] Laura Perille was in front of an audience of children, she seemed stiff, the official says. The BPS officials listening to this concept were stunned. The warnings that a recession may occur continues but fears that it will happen in 2023 are fading. When she was selected as a finalist in the spring, BPS staffers at Bolling, as well as executives at education nonprofits, had called their contacts in Minnesota to get the scoop on the promising candidate. BPS was a troubled district; that was no secret. Santoro: So is this a wait and see thing now? Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius taught a fourth grade class Wednesday as school districts across Massachusetts struggle to reopen due to COVID-19 staff shortages. Per her contract, Casselius must be paid a years base salary, or the rest of what she would have been paid, had she stayed until 2023, whichever is less. Near the end of our final interview, during which I detailed her critics charges, Cassellius cut me off. Aware of the long history of distrust between BPS families and the district itself, Cassellius made a listening tour her first order of business. When I told Josh Collins, Casselliuss former spokesman at the Minnesota Department of Education, about Casselliuss troubles in Boston, he said some of the dynamics sounded familiar. Brophy might have seen it this way, too. On an unseasonably warm day in October 2019, Brenda Cassellius took the floor during a meeting at the Bolling Building, BPSs headquarters in Nubian Square. She's super smart. Yet even by the standards of a city that has had five superintendents in the past decade, Casselliuss first year and a half on the job since arriving from Minnesota, where she served as the commissioner of the Department of Education, has been tumultuous. 2017 columns / Brenda married her partner in life Jason Cassellius, they lived together and had three children, Christian Michel, Ani Grace and Charles Justice. Publicly, at least, Cassellius still had the backing of the two allies she needed most: the school committee and City Hall. Midday, I say. By winter of the 20192020 school year, concern over Casselliuss leadership had extended beyond the central office and reached BPSs principalssome of the districts most important employees. Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments ? Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius will resign at the end of the school year, bringing to an end a three-year tenure marked by COVID-19 upheaval and leaving Boston's new. But why stop there? Superintendent Brenda Cassellius: "Working alongside so many people - parents, educators, community and faith leaders, and philanthropic partners - all dedicated to helping our children achieve their dreams has given new meaning to my vision of all hands on deck. The promotions left colleagues, and sometimes the promoted employees themselves, baffled. Cassellius's name on the list is no surprise, since she has publicly shared her interest in the job. Joe Battenfeld is a veteran Herald political columnist and multimedia reporter. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Brenda runs down the aisle giving high-fives and the kids eat it up. Anything you think we should spend money on, you guys? she asked. In addition to his editing duties, Senior Editor Peter Kadzis contributes political analysis and is part of the trio that produces the Scrum Podcast. parents, and others. Superintendent Brenda Cassellius: "Working alongside so many people - parents, educators, community and faith leaders, and philanthropic partners - all dedicated to helping our children achieve their dreams has given new meaning to my vision of all hands on deck. When BPS faced a lack of staff, Brenda took a substitute teacher position at Nathan Hale Elementary School, Roxbury. She has a deep gift for connecting with children, says a current BPS official who is critical of her leadership. Three months into her first term, Wu will now search for a permanent leader to take over atop the city's public schools at the same time that she is engaged in the process of appointing the Boston Police Department's next commissioner. When Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius resigns at the end of the school year, she'll take with her hundreds of thousands of dollars from a separation agreement. She worked her way up from teacher to assistant principal to associate. The parents of all Boston school children will appreciate the rare candor. See all the student videos on the Dual High School/College Credit page. Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said she supported the change because it is easy to understand, maintains academic rigor, and increases the opportunity for disadvantaged students. During the second half of 2019, she visited every school in the district and met privately with parents, religious leaders, activist groups, and politicians. According to sources with direct knowledge of this effort, as well as contemporaneous records, the officials were seeking candidates to step into a new role: czar for BPS operations and pandemic response. Santoro: Meg, it seems clear that parents want and actually need a level of stability considering the pandemic, the turnover of superintendents. She is the head of school at Boston Latin School. People felt heard. In mid-summer, City Hall and school committee officials called several current and former BPS staffers. It began when the new superintendent came to town. Wu hinted earlier this week that she wants someone local for the job. Tell us what she really thinks of the joke of a school committee and the oversized influence of the powerful teachers union. Shes had an extraordinarily difficult maiden year as superintendent, and I think shes performed remarkably well under the circumstances. But, he adds, There have been times when Brenda had such a bold vision that its overwhelming to people. Her hometown school board, which had watched her work closely for years, passed her over, citing the scarce progress on closing achievement gaps during her eight years as the top education official in the state. Henry Santoro hosts midday newscasts on GBH Radio and contributes to breaking news coverage and other hosting duties for GBHs daytime programming. Before working with . Through the early summer, officials had grown concerned that Cassellius and her new leadership team might not be up to the task of managing the pandemic response. The plan, which was pursued without Casselliuss knowledge, was never consummated. Brenda Cassellius will resign at the end of the school year, roughly three years after she was hired away from Minnesota. The Boston School Committee has voted to confirm Brenda Cassellius a career educator who rose from paraprofessional to state commissioner, mostly in Minnesota as the next superintendent of. Instead, invitations will now be issued by weighing student performance, zip code and GPA or MCAS results, a change that was considered a historic win for underserved communities when it was approved. Once, a BPS official saw Briner and Cassellius huddled in a hallway in the Bolling Building. She was named superintendent in May 2019 by then-Mayor Marty Walsh. Linking the Minnesota MCA III Assessments to NWEA MAP Tests. 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