At their meeting last week, the Monroe County School Board gave Superintendent Edward Tierney high marks across the board for his performance in his first year on the job.

Using words like “incredible”, “near perfect” and “impressive”, each member spoke highly of his performance. They said the speed at which he got to know the district, its employees and the Keys community was remarkable. Board chair John Dick asked that a new contract be presented at the next school board meeting extending the original contract time and giving him a raise in pay.

At the meeting, board members listened to a progress report on student learning. Superintendent Tierney and Deputy Superintendent Amber Acevedo presented the results of a detailed examination of progress monitoring from the Spring Semester which showed improvement in English Language Arts and Social Studies, College and Career Acceleration, Career and Technical Education and an improvement in Graduation Rates. Acevedo credited early learning initiatives and a stable curriculum as two factors she believed contributed to the growth. Tierney said slight losses in the areas of Math and the Sciences are where the district will be focusing extra efforts in the coming year. To see a detailed presentation of the progress monitoring, click here.

The meeting also served as the second Budget Workshop of the fiscal year. Charlene White, the Executive Director of Finance for the District presented a budget breakdown, pointing out that the district has a balanced budget and is not asking for any significant increases this year.

Tierney has worked on making organizational changes emphasizing schools over administration. His “One Team, One Goal - Student Success” initiative in the spring sent administrators out to schools for several months to help out in various areas and also ensuring those administrators stay in touch with the agency’s purpose - educating the community's children. He has also made administrative personnel cuts, including eliminating positions through attrition and by transferring a number of positions from Administrative Headquarters to schools.