LIVE BLOG: Supt. Candidate Hiersche Interview

As the Hopkinton School Committee looks to replace , their first step is to find an interim superintendent to lead the district while a permanent district head can be found.

The second candidate is Steven Hiersche who until last month served as a superintendent in Framingham. 

Steven Hiersche holds a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of Sarasota. He also holds a Master of Education in Secondary Administration and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Westfield State College. He was recently the Superintendent  for Framingham Public Schools, and previously served as Superintendent for Watertown and Plymouth Public Schools, as well as the Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union in Vermont. Prior to those positions, Dr. Hiersche held various principal and assistant principal posts. He began his career as a mathematics teacher in Enfield, CT.

9:15 end of interview, more handshaking.

9:10 Committee members say: core curriculum alignment, new teacher assessment, 1:1 initiative, school building project.

9:08 "What are the three biggest things that you care about and want in an interim superintendent?"

9:08 Time for questions fro, Hiersche for the board

9:02 Hiersche said the plan is "ambitious" and that the process for creating the strategic plan was done well. "I think what I'm most interested in and excited about is that it's all educational. I think that's something that I would like to be a part of."

9:00 What do you think about the strategic plan?

8:58 In reference to 1:1 initiative "The way you've set it up is great and it works because there is a lot of bang for the buck in the end." "You need to not be talking about not the new laptop and projector that you're getting but how they will impact education and learning in the classroom."

8:58 How do you see our technology plan moving forward?

8:58 "Coming in as an interim I would have the principals tell me what is important to them and explain to me why money has been reallocated or why money can't be reallocated." "I always told my principals that if you can bring me something and say it's revenue neutral there is a much better chance that it will get approved by myself and the school committee and eventually town meeting." 

8:55 "My first year in Framingham I've seen about as much anger and resentment for a school budget that I'd ever seen. this past year I think I had one question." "typically from a budget standpoint I try to look at 'where do we went to be three years from now?' and I work to slot the different initiatives where they fit."

8:53 Developing a budget and selling it

8:50 "I've always prided myself on my educational leadership. I love doing evaluations because it supports the organizational goals and helps us get to where we're trying to get to."

8:48 "Business and finance, because I have a mathematics background, have always been my strong points." 21st century learning and technology are important and exciting "In order for me to get to those things that excite me I need to be able to manage well." 

8:48 How do you see your role as superintendent of schools?

8:45 weekly meetings with PTOs, policy meetings and questions with all sorts of groups of parents teachers and otherwise. "A lot of it is one on one" "Part of my frustration about not being able to go to basketball games (alluded to during the long town meeting discussion) Is that I used to get a lot of work done at those games. People would come up to me and say 'hey, I've got a question for you' and we could talk."

8:45 how do you put people at ease, what have you learned working with people.

8:43 Hiersche higher ed all of the principals he worked with when he was in Watertown and mentoring was "my favorite part." "I'm a very experience building principal so it's very easy for me to help them with problems because I've been there."

8:40 Mentoring and working with administrators

8:38 "I don't mind the nights I don’t mind the hours, it's what I'm doing in the hours that matters." Hiersche said he wasn't happy with the amount of time he was spending on budgeting, especially the 60 hour weeks during town meetings.

8:37 Departure from Framingham

8:35 Hiersche said he had to deal with significant budget cuts (51 staff member reduction) he chose to focus on the classroom and many of the cuts came from administrative staff and sporting. "In addition to that I tend to be the most calm person in the organization so whenever there is controversy people can count on me to be the calming person in the room and the person that will lead us through by asking the right questions."

8:33 Background etc.

8:30 Hiersche said It's a high performing school district in an area that he's familiar with (Just left Framingham school district at the end of June)

8:30 Same questions: Why Hopkinton?

8:30 Hiersche just walked in to the meeting room and shook hands with the School Committee members.

Earlier on Monday night, Dennis Duquette was interviewed by the School Committee. Coverage from his interview can be found here.