Ed Tierney, superintendent of the Monroe County School District, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in our schools.
Tierney is wrapping up his first 90 days with the school district. How’s it going so far?
He said, “It just recently occurred to me that yesterday was the end of my third month here. So time is flying, like it always does. But what I initially thought I would find is a very talented staff and a community that’s so incredibly supportive of schools really exceeded even my expectations. The teachers here are very, very hard working and talented, really outstanding. And then the community support for the schools is like nothing I’ve ever seen. So in the process of, kind of quantifying my visits and the things that I’ve heard and the data that we’ve pulled from our internal data analysis and then what kind of a vision going forward on how to improve this really high performing school district?”
Listening to the students is also important.
Tierney said, “This has had a Monroe Association of Governing students that’s been in effect, and that is an online meeting where students from the three high schools meet with the superintendent and kind of give feedback and cast direction for this year, and I’m going to go and face to face meet and kind of rotate through Key West, Marathon at Coral Shores High School. So I’m headed to Marathon High School right now. I’m going to sit down with their students. I’m going to hear their feedback. I’m going to ask them to kind of give me some thoughts on some things that I’d like to propose. That way, I’m hearing not only from the teachers and the parents, elected officials, but I’m also hearing from our most important customers, that are our students.”
What are some of the comments coming from the students?
Tierney said, “What I’ve heard is that they think that the student engagement has been improving over the last two years and significantly improved this year. They said last year they wanted to focus on that engagement in the classroom. And then the first reports that I’ve heard from students that they thought that was an improvement. So that’s nice to hear, and certainly a credit to the teachers that I just mentioned, their talent, their effort. So that’s the initial meeting that I’ve heard and the structured feedback. And then I’m interested to go and hear on this second meeting what their thoughts are. That’s kind of the official method that I hear from students. Unofficially, I’m in and out of classrooms all day, and generally, I walk in and say, hi to the teacher and ask how she’s doing, or he’s doing, if they’re not in front of a classroom actively instructing, then I walk around every student that I can kind of bother and ask, what you’re working on? What are you learning? How is it working? What do you think of the class, the instructions? So that’s the informal feedback that I get, really almost on a daily basis. I’m working hard on doing that, and I’m also working hard to earn a place in this community. It’s just such a beautiful part of Florida and a beautiful part of our country, and so supportive of each other and the schools. I hope that I’ll get to the point where I’ve kind of earned a place in here as well.”
A tentative agreement for teachers was reached recently and the highest starting teacher salary in the state is $62,700 right here in Monroe County.
Tierney said, “The budget came out late, so it was kind of later than normal, but we’re so proud and happy when we got the tentative agreement with the United Teachers of Monroe, and that’ll go to the board on Tuesday. There’s 67 counties in the state, and 16 have settled right now. So we are among a very few who have done that, and that speaks to this board’s relationship and value of the teachers and employees, and also the relationship that this district has with them. So we’re so happy to have an agreement, and we look forward to getting that approved on Tuesday.”
The school board meeting will be on October 7.
Tierney said, “Getting that budget done is big, and getting settled with the teachers and the school related board personnel is a big milestone as well. And then the board will improve the safety plan that the schools have within each school, and then as a district overall, and the facilities that this county has provided for the students, and then the relationship that the schools have with law enforcement is just so impressive. So that will be approved by the board and sent up the Tallahassee on time as well, and to assure the community how hard we’re working on providing safe environments for both students and staff members.”
The statewide schools conference happened recently.
Tierney said, “Every superintendent in the state is focused on enrollment and having as many students enrolled in the schools as possible. So we’re just going to continue to message to Monroe County that we’re the best choice and enroll their students in the public schools, and we’re working so hard to provide a safe, warm, supportive environment, and then, with the help of the teachers, provide an outstanding education that is going to ultimately open the doors for students to live the lives that they want to live. I just want to assure listeners how hard every person in this district is working to provide the outcomes that the students deserve, and that’s just kind of a daily quest that we’re all on so the school district is working hard for the students in the community, and I just like to assure everyone that that’s the case.”
For more information, click here: https://www.keysschools.com/