June 19, 2016
Dear Friend, Neighbor, Colleague, and Current Maldonian,
We are writing to you to share information in the hopes that you will help by contacting the Mayor and your elected School Committee Representative.
A recent posting for the vacancy of superintendent, that inhibits the current high school principal, Dana Brown from applying for the job needs to be corrected.
Do not let the shortsightedness of a search committee or the suggestions of an outside consultant presume that the leadership skills of Mr. Brown and the success of Malden High, are NOT valued in our community. The job posting for interim superintendent of Malden Public Schools should be written to include viable candidates, not exclude a highly qualified candidate such as Mr. Brown.
Please let the Mayor and members of the School Committee know that this mistake can be amended. Mr. Brown should be given the opportunity to compete with other applicants. The staff, students, family community members and elected officials who have worked along side Mr. Brown wish to continue that 13 years of dedication and insight that he brings and pours into his work daily. The support that he has derived from teachers, students, athletes and families has made Malden High a prized jewel among other urban high schools. It does not seem to make sense that the leadership of a quality public high school and the man who helped to shape it should be discounted. The lack of insight into how families, colleagues, educators, home owners value our public schools seems to have been missed by a select group of search committee members who developed the rules and job postings for the superintendent vacancy.
If you live, work, teach, study, or play sports in Malden you are aware of the following highlights regarding Mr. Brown and Malden High School. These few highlights barely scratch the surface of our collective knowledge of the time, efforts, and accomplishments that Mr. Brown has helped to bring to our community.
- Principal of the year 2016
- Fellowship named after Mr. Brown at Tufts University for his on-going support for the reading mentor program
- Malden High School is ranked 44th in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- Oversaw a multi-million dollar renovation of MHS
- A enthusiastic supporter of the Golden Tornado Club
- Hired and supported through professional development highly qualified staff to support use of cutting edge technology and significantly increase advanced placement classes at MHS, some of which are regarded as best in the state for low-income students.
- Supported and crafted programs and schedules that created support for ALL students from those with special needs to those students who have received national scholarships such as the Gates Scholarships to those students who are first generation to attend college and those bound for Harvard and numerous other post-secondary experiences.
Please SEE BELOW and take a moment to contact the Mayor and members of the school committee with your concerns and join the community at School Committee, on either or both June 20 and June 27, 2016 @ 6:30 PM at the City Council Chamber at City Hall. This affects all of us!
| Gary Christenson
Mayor of Malden (781) 397-7000 School Committee Chair mayor@cityofmalden.org 72 Ashland Street Malden, MA 02148 |
Tara Murphy Beardsley
(617) 417-9297 Ward 5 tbeardsley@maldenps.org 166 Bainbridge Street Malden, MA 02148 |
| Michael Drummey
(781) 974-2347 Ward 1 medrummey@maldenps.org 21 Oxford St. Malden, MA 02148 |
Jerry Leone
(781) 635-7070 Ward 6 jleone@maldenps.org 91 Webster Street Malden, MA 02148 |
| Emmanuel Marsh
(781) 526-8724 Ward 2 emarsh@maldenps.org 65 Wentworth Street Malden, MA 02148 |
Catherine Bordonaro
(781) 389-0948 Ward 7 cbordonaro@maldenps.org 20 Wyeth Street Malden, MA 02148 |
| Lawrence Silverman
(781) 912-3000 Ward 3 lsilverman@maldenps.org 240 Hawthorne Street Malden, MA 02148 |
John Froio
(781) 321-0339 Ward 8 jfroio@maldenps.org 38 Prentiss Street Malden, MA 02148 |
| Leonard Iovino
Vice Chair (781) 321-3568 Ward 4 liovino@maldenps.org 33 Spring Street Malden, MA 02148 |
maldencitizensunited 