Andover Superintendent Prepares To Hand Off District Mid-Pandemic

ANDOVER, MA — Andover Superintendent Sheldon Berman's time with the district has not been without controversy, but he believes it has been a success. Ahead of his mid-year departure in December, Berman spoke to Patch about his five years helming the district.

Berman announced his resignation in October and will stay through the end of December. The School Committee is looking for an interim superintendent and has begun the search for a permanent one.

Berman joined the district in 2015, prior to which he was the superintendent in Eugene, Oregon. He resigned his position to return to the West Coast; his family already has moved.

Berman praised the teachers, administrators and families of the Andover Public School system, as well as the district's partners on the town side.

"For me it's been a privilege being a part of this system," Berman said. "I feel like I've added value but I think it's a great system."

Berman's final year in Andover has been different from what anyone could have expected, with the coronavirus arriving in the region in the spring. But he believes he's leaving the district in good shape.

"We have really established the systems to operate, both the remote academy and the hybrid model," Berman said. "The hardest part of the work has been done."

"Obviously we can always improve, and we're doing a lot," he added. "But I think we are on the right path. I can pass the baton to somebody who can continue to move forward."

Andover was a rare district that quickly moved to new instruction in the spring, when schools suddenly were forced to go remote and most of them focused on review. For the 2020-2021 school year, the district went to a hybrid model, where most students are in school part of the time, although the high school has had to go remote-only due to a crop of virus cases.

That transition has been one of the sources of tension in Berman's tenure. The teachers union voted no confidence in him over the administration's handling of reopening, and staged an action in which they refused to enter buildings for professional development. The state labor relations board declared the action, which lasted only a day, an illegal strike.

The school year still began as planned, with the School Committee recently declaring an impasse in negotiations with the teachers.

Before the virus's arrival, the district was embroiled in another controversy over school start times; the School Committee was exploring options that would allow older students to start school later in the day.

"We've postponed that conversation because it didn't make sense to have it in the midst of a pandemic," Berman said. "I do believe that will emerge again. I don't know where that will go, but I do think, I hope, that there can be a consensus and a good deal of listening."

And before start times, the biggest issue was implementing a new high school schedule, in 2017, Berman said.

"That was equally controversial but if you were to look at it now, it's not controversial," he said.

Despite those issues, the superintendent described a number of accomplishments he was proud of, and said there has also been a great deal of support from parents, particularly the Andover Coalition for Education.

Active parent groups have "been one of the greatest supports that I've had, being here," Berman said. "That's something that is present in a lot of districts, but is so much more accentuated here."

Berman said that the controversies the district has seen are no different from those in other communities, but they are "accentuated because this is such a participatory community."

"Those kind of conversations haven't stalled us," he said. "They've motivated us to move forward."

Berman highlighted progress on literacy in the district as one of his proudest achievements at the helm.

"We've climbed that mountain and really become a state leader in dealing with dyslexia and other reading-related special needs," he said. "That's a credit to everybody aligning together and tackling the problem."

The superintendent also touted shrinking elementary school class sizes, personalized instruction like the capstone initiative and expanding the use of data to make decisions about instruction.

Operationally, he said the district has improved transparency — "The budget document is now four times as long" — and cited progress on the capital improvement plan, including the West Elementary building work.

He also credited the School Committee for two initiatives: eliminating tuition for full-day kindergarten and extending the school day.

Berman listed three main pieces of advice he'd want to pass along to his eventual successor, although he said the key is who the School Committee selects.

1. "You've got to respect the talent that's in the system," Berman said. "You've got to rely on and support that talent."
2. While the district has made progress on literacy, there is work to be done on math learning, Berman said. The district has the potential to address dyscalculia, sometimes known as number dyslexia, he said.
3. The pandemic is going to have long-term social and emotional consequences. "It calls on us to address the mental health issues that I think are going to be even more present," Berman said.

Berman is due to remain in Andover through the end of December, and an interim superintendent will take over in the new year.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.