Superintendent passes the test with high marks
For a second year in a row the evaluation of superintendent for the Department of Education gets a thumbs-up.
December 30, 2014Updated: December 31, 2014
By KUAM News
By KUAM News by Jolene Toves
Guam - For a second year in a row the evaluation of superintendent for the Department of Education gets a thumbs-up. DOE is ending the year on a good note as the evaluation of Jon Fernandez was revealed to be above satisfactory.
Guam Education Board member Maria Gutierrez told KUAM News, "For his performance in the goals in the District Action Plan the board finds that Mr. Fernandez has demonstrated above satisfactory performance for his performance in the duties and responsibilities in the Guam Code Annotated the board finds that he has demonstrated above satisfactory performance for the overall performance evaluation of superintendent Fernandez the board rates his performance as above satisfactory."
Each board member rated the superintendent in three areas and after reviewing the evidence presented by Fernandez and his team compiled the scores to generate the final performance evaluation. Fernandez says he is humbled by the results, saying, "I think the evaluation itself is not just a reflection of performance as an individual but I really more reflective of the performance as a department and an acknowledgement of all the hard work that all of our employees are doing to try to move this department forward for the betterment of our families and our students."
"I think the board's evaluation itself is a sign to the department to the employees and to our customers that we have the support to continue moving in this direction and to pick up the momentum and accelerate the progress that we can all be satisfied with the results of what we are doing for our students," he added.
While over the course of the year the focus was improving the environment for our students by addressing over population through opening a new high school and expanding Untalan and Okkodo as well as moving the DOE headquarters to a cleaner and safer environment he acknowledges that they still have a long way to go to get the results that the department wants. He said, "I'll start with what I think have been distractions and issues of the past with regard to things like facilities we are hoping is this $100 million that we were successful in getting commitments from our partners in the legislature and the governor to really invest that money in the school system."
Fernandez says as we speak a final request for proposal is in the works which they hope to get out in January this will not only address Simon Sanchez High School but will support the completion of the Master Facilities Plan to address the neglect and differed maintenance that has been an issue for the school system. But that is just the beginning.
In the works for 2015 is the expansion of the pre-kindergarten program, the redesign of the alternative school and the implementation of the newly adopted State Strategic Plan which lays out the road map of where doe wants to be over the next five to six years. Fernandez said, "The most important thing of course is what we want to see in student achievement I think what we want to do as Dr. [Jose] Cruz was saying is continue that communication about our new state strategic plan and the goals and objectives that have been set forth."
Fernandez says 2014 is the year that DOE will be transitioning to the ACT Aspire Assessment, which will allow them to move forward with the common core aligned assessment this spring. He intends to tackle all of this while looking at accrediting not just our individual schools but the DOE system as a whole.
Guam - For a second year in a row the evaluation of superintendent for the Department of Education gets a thumbs-up. DOE is ending the year on a good note as the evaluation of Jon Fernandez was revealed to be above satisfactory.
Guam Education Board member Maria Gutierrez told KUAM News, "For his performance in the goals in the District Action Plan the board finds that Mr. Fernandez has demonstrated above satisfactory performance for his performance in the duties and responsibilities in the Guam Code Annotated the board finds that he has demonstrated above satisfactory performance for the overall performance evaluation of superintendent Fernandez the board rates his performance as above satisfactory."
Each board member rated the superintendent in three areas and after reviewing the evidence presented by Fernandez and his team compiled the scores to generate the final performance evaluation. Fernandez says he is humbled by the results, saying, "I think the evaluation itself is not just a reflection of performance as an individual but I really more reflective of the performance as a department and an acknowledgement of all the hard work that all of our employees are doing to try to move this department forward for the betterment of our families and our students."
"I think the board's evaluation itself is a sign to the department to the employees and to our customers that we have the support to continue moving in this direction and to pick up the momentum and accelerate the progress that we can all be satisfied with the results of what we are doing for our students," he added.
While over the course of the year the focus was improving the environment for our students by addressing over population through opening a new high school and expanding Untalan and Okkodo as well as moving the DOE headquarters to a cleaner and safer environment he acknowledges that they still have a long way to go to get the results that the department wants. He said, "I'll start with what I think have been distractions and issues of the past with regard to things like facilities we are hoping is this $100 million that we were successful in getting commitments from our partners in the legislature and the governor to really invest that money in the school system."
Fernandez says as we speak a final request for proposal is in the works which they hope to get out in January this will not only address Simon Sanchez High School but will support the completion of the Master Facilities Plan to address the neglect and differed maintenance that has been an issue for the school system. But that is just the beginning.
In the works for 2015 is the expansion of the pre-kindergarten program, the redesign of the alternative school and the implementation of the newly adopted State Strategic Plan which lays out the road map of where doe wants to be over the next five to six years. Fernandez said, "The most important thing of course is what we want to see in student achievement I think what we want to do as Dr. [Jose] Cruz was saying is continue that communication about our new state strategic plan and the goals and objectives that have been set forth."
Fernandez says 2014 is the year that DOE will be transitioning to the ACT Aspire Assessment, which will allow them to move forward with the common core aligned assessment this spring. He intends to tackle all of this while looking at accrediting not just our individual schools but the DOE system as a whole.