Ed Tierney, superintendent of schools for 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.
The start of school this year went off seamlessly.
Tierney said, “We’ve had a near perfect start to the year, and I’m grateful for the people who worked all summer, because it doesn’t happen by accident. It is by design. It’s behind the scenes work. But the people in this office who prepared to assist the schools in opening, the principals and teachers and school based administrators who got ready to welcome kids, that did it so effectively, and the bus drivers, the cafeteria workers, the custodians, the people who do that hard work every day, which is just so important, but maybe not always highlighted. So I’m just grateful for everyone’s efforts, and it’s really paying off the students this year.”
Testing helps prepare all students for graduation.
Tierney said, “The deputy Miss Acevedo put a lot of time into organizing as many tests as possible for the seniors and then juniors and seniors who are trying to earn the scores they need to graduate. So we’re going to have five more opportunities for seniors this year to take tests that will allow them to earn their diploma and I’m grateful for the work that’s gone into that. We’re just working through preparing the schools and to assist the students in getting ready for those tests. These are not mandatory tests that shut a school down, but these are tests that are designed for the students who need to earn a concordance score to help them graduate. So they’ll take them as needed. Once they earn that score, they won’t have to take them again, but it’s just that many more opportunities to try to get every student across that stage in May and have a successful completion of their academic career.”
Right now everyone is just sort of settling in.
Tierney said, “You want to get in that first couple days and have transportation and air and food service working well, and that was perfect. And then just the routine of teaching and learning, that’s really where we are. We’re doing the state mandated PM testing right now, which is the progress monitoring to kind of give the teachers a baseline of where their students are. Once that’s done, that’ll kind of drive instruction between now and the holidays. So right now, we just want to be focused on quiet, calm, safe, warm environments and teaching and learning between now and the holidays.”
The district received an A rating as the school year began.
Tierney said, “The warm, safe environment, that culture starts everything. That’s really kind of the building block for academic excellence, which we saw last year, turning into that A rating, which is just so important, and it’s infused such a jolt of energy and confidence and drive into this whole organization. So we’re just looking to capitalize that, continue that upward trajectory and continue to improve outcomes for all students. There’s a lot of really, really good things happening in this district, and Miss Axford turned this district over in great shape. So a lot of it is just keeping the great work going forward. We’re going to continue to focus on helping students to graduate, which we talked earlier, and then just work on supporting the teachers, supporting the schools and principals from this building, in order to have them performing at as high a level as possible.”
How are we doing as far as recruitment and filling positions?
Tierney said, “This is the lowest vacancy rates for instructional staff that we’ve had in many years. So credit to the principals who hire all summer and our HR department that starts the recruiting process right after Labor Day, and not only advertises opportunities to work here and vacancies, but they will meet weekly on a Zoom or Google meet with potential candidates over the course of the year to talk them through the complexities and challenges of moving to the Keys as well as the rewards. So it’s just a year round process designed to help recruit here, and it’s really paid off for us this year.”
Safety is also a critical component and law enforcement in the area certainly helps the district.
Tierney said there is a “very, very strong relationship with law enforcement in Monroe County, the sheriff, the chief of police in Key West. The facilities here are amazing. You come in with fresh eyes and it just jumped out at me. The quality of the schools and the build, and then the amount of resources and effort that the staff put in based on the generosity of the taxpayers into making these buildings secure, the camera systems, the height of the fences that we got feedback from law enforcement on. A lot of effort going into really, kind of wrap around services for schools regarding safety, security, support they’re doing for mental health. It’s just evident that someone knew here, how much work and care has gone into that.”
How is the budget coming along?
Tierney said, “We’re working towards finalizing the budget. And then on our student enrollment. We’re just going to continually message to the people of Monroe County, the citizens that we’re the best choice for students and to keep students coming to public schools, and that we are working as hard as we possibly can to support them in safety, security, mental health, as well as academic excellence. I just want to reiterate this school board’s dedication to the employees and recruiting and retaining the best possible employees. I’m just thankful for the great start, and I’m headed over to meet with the student leaders of each high school and middle school to just get their feedback on how the year is going and then what we can do to improve this. We’re going to have some student voices this morning, and then we’ll take action based on the feedback that I hear.”
Michael Stapleford of Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM pointed out, “I’d like to commend you on your accessibility to the community and your commitment to becoming a part of the community. Right away, we’ve seen you out and about, mingling and meeting with community leaders as well as with students and staff. It’s my understanding you were on site at a number of locations throughout the beginning of the school year, and we appreciate that dedication to your new position here, and we’re grateful to have you.”
Tierney said, “I appreciate you saying that. I said I’m going to try to earn a place in this community. I’m going to work hard to do that.”
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