AMHERST – The School Committee delayed issuing its formal annual evaluation of Superintendent Maria Geryk on Wednesday over concerns that some members’ written reviews did not comply with her contract and standards set by the state and the board.
Geryk’s annual review is based on a summary of scores and written comments submitted by members of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee, the Amherst School Committee and the Pelham School Committee. They are then compiled into a summary review by regional Chairwoman Laura Kent and presented at a public meeting.
But some members submitted evaluations that did not include narratives explaining why Geryk earned a particular ranking, which goes against guidelines set by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Kent said at a joint meeting of the three boards on Wednesday.
As a result, those members’ reviews would not be able to be included in the public evaluation, Kent said.
“We care deeply about all of our individual evaluations being included and getting a voice of what our committee feels,” she said.
Kent invited all members to revise and resubmit their reviews by Saturday. The full evaluation will be presented at a future meeting, possibly on Monday, depending on Geryk’s schedule.
Some of the reviews also failed to follow School Committee guidelines or breached the terms of Geryk’s contract, which mentions the way in which complaints against the superintendent are to be handled, Kent told the Gazette.
The committees publicly discussed the review process Wednesday after emerging from a three-hour closed-door session. The executive session was held “to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with nonunion personnel,” according to the agenda.
Geryk was not present at the meeting.
Kent did not reveal the subject of the private session, other than saying “the executive session and evaluation are separate from each other.”
Former School Committee member Amilcar Shabazz spoke at the meeting. He said he wants more specifics about the problems with some members’ reviews.
“I think it will be very important when you give your summated report for the community to have some understanding of what these issues are that have come up here and have delayed things,” he said. “What is compliance? Compliant to what?”
Geryk’s leadership was criticiz Regional School Committee member Vira Douangmany Cage and other community members earlier this year. Douangmany Cage was critical of school officials’ handling of a stay-away order Geryk issued to Aisha Hiza, a Pelham Elementary School parent. The order has since been lifted.
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com.