Scarborough sets open school forum for Oct. 12

SCARBOROUGH — Barely a month into his tenure, Scarborough’s new superintendent of schools, Dr. George Entwistle III, has fulfilled an early pledge to gather the forces to debate the foundations, and the future, of how the town delivers public education.

Anyone with an interest in Scarborough schools is encouraged to attend an open forum entitled, “Charting the Future of Scarborough Public Schools, says Entwistle, be they taxpayers, students, parents, teachers, school staff, church leaders, business people or elected officials. The conversation will take place Wednesday, Oct. 12, 5-8:30 p.m., at the high school. A “light meal” will be served. Anyone interested in attending is asked to RSVP by calling 730-4100.

However, Entwistle cautions that he will not make any grand speeches, or even answer many questions.

”The agenda for the evening is completely 100 percent set by the people who are there,” he said. “What I’ll be doing is a lot of walking around and listening.”

After topics for discussion are introduced, the crowd will break into groups, with attendees gravitating to whatever item interests them most.

“I think a community dialogue helps to engage the public to shape the future for this school department. And then we use that roadmap to guide everything we do,” Entwistle said. “This event will basically provide a direction and articulate our priorities for 18 months.”

As an example, a similar symposium held in Entwistle’s last district, in Belmont, Mass., uncovered teacher dissatisfaction with their professional development program.

“Both young and experienced teachers said that, despite our best efforts, development days were really a waste of time,” Entwistle said. And so, out went the age-old parade of motivational speakers, replaced by yearlong research projects by small teams into various teaching methods.

Since coming to town, Entwistle said he’s conducted more than 100 one-on-one interviews with various stakeholders. Development days are likely a source of frustration to be featured front and center at the Oct. 12 event, he said. Also expected to vie for participants’ attention is the annual budget.

“There is worry that the community seems to be divided, or at best undecided, about how much investment in our schools is enough,” said Entwistle.