The Haines Borough school board recently gave superintendent Michael Byer near-perfect marks on managing school facilities and budget, but lower grades in communication and involving the community in district decisions.
Byer received 87 of a possible 100 points in a scored evaluation completed June 29. Individual scores in five categories included 93 percent for leadership; 93 percent for facilities and fiscal management, 92 percent for district planning, 80 percent in student and stakeholder relations and 77 percent in faculty and staff relations.
One board member didn’t get their scores in on time to be counted, said superintendent Carol Kelly.
“The board encourages Mr. Byer to increase his involvement in the Haines community,” Kelly wrote in a narrative summary of board comments that came during a June 29 executive session.
Kelly wrote that the board would like Byer to “communicate to us the process used to insure staff accountability, as well as results reports” on various board-approved programs. “We continue to encourage Mr. Byer to be more succinct in his communication,” she wrote.
In an interview this week, Kelly said board members want Byer to have more visibility by being out in the community. “Community support is important, and community knowledge is important. The more exposure there is of the public to the school system, the better the school system is.”
In each category of review, positive attributes were stated, allowing board members to rank whether Byer met them “never,” “rarely,” “sometimes,” “often,” or “always.”
Byer’s lowest scores came in valuing stakeholder involvement, maintaining open communication, and engaging in dialogue with school and community groups.
He also received a lower score in “ensuring the recruitment and retention of promising staff.”
Kelly said there was considerable staff turnover this year, but that wasn’t a major issue for her, as there were satisfactory reasons for that. “There was turnover. I’m not unaccustomed to that where I come from, but perhaps other people were.” Kelly worked as a school principal in California.
Byer received a perfect score in ensuring “appropriate fiscal management,” following board policies, “possessing a keen focus on the future” and proposing changes based on data, needs and the district’s mission statement.
In her narrative, Kelly wrote Byer is “a strong leader and has moved the district forward in the past academic year. He is passionate about students and the district and has a progressive mind-set, insuring the district meets the varied learning needs of students.”
Byer is paid $95,000 annually and has two years remaining on a three-year contract. He said last week that he didn’t have a problem with the evaluation. “I look for ways to improve. Legitimate and good progress occurs over time. Continuous improvement is a big part of what we need to be doing.”
Kelly initially refused to release Byer’s evaluation, saying it was a confidential personnel matter. Byer released the document only after the Chilkat Valley News provided an attorney’s opinion that the evaluations of high-ranking, public officials are public documents.
In releasing the document, Byer said he wasn’t certain the newspaper’s attorney was correct. He said, “Forcing the superintendent’s evaluation will only serve to move more substantive communications ‘off the grid’ and reduce the likelihood that the evaluation tool will be used candidly and effectively between the parties.”