Superintendent gets ‘effective’ performance rating
Board of Education releases Jennifer Verleger’s cumulative review
Mt. Pleasant Public Schools Superintendent Jennifer Verleger received an “effective” performance evaluation rating for 2020 from the Board of Education.
According to a press release from Mt. Pleasant Public Schools’ Board of Education, they have been continuously evaluating the job performance of Superintendent Verleger over the past 12 months.
In November, the Board provided a cumulative review.
Specifically, the Board was trained in and utilizes the State of Michigan approved Michigan Association of School Boards’ Comprehensive Superintendent Evaluation Process. With this in mind, they considered the evidence and progress discussions with the Board that Verleger provided throughout they year and accessed her rating through key areas like Governance and Board Relations, Community Relations, District Staff Relations, District Business and Finance, and District Instructional Leadership.
These key areas made up 50% of the evaluation while the other 50% involved the
Board’s ass e s sme n t of her work to heighten
MPPS students’ academic growth based on the state’s standardized tests (40% of the evaluation total) and the progress toward Districtwide Goals (10% of the total).
The Board unanimously gave Verleger that rating due to them feeling that it reflects her hard work and dedication toward the goals and high standards of the district and the expectations of the community.
The Board was also pleased with Verleger’s work since taking on the roll as MPPS superintendent in May 2017 and are also pleased with her efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Board encourages Superintendent Verleger to continue to address the budgetary, relational and collaborative needs of the district while leading MPPS toward higher academic achievement for all our students and to continue to work with our community to sustain an environment that ‘Empowers Excellence,’” the Board said in the press release.
Some highlights include: • Verleger’s superior leadership through the pandemic where she guided the district to pivot out of the buildings and virtual within
weeks. The Board notes she also exhibited great leadership that supported the community’s needs by leading the development of multiple models of education delivery that best supported each grade level. Verleger then worked to update each grade level model to better support the staff and students as more information and experiences were discovered as we moved throughout the fall.
• Verleger’s leadership in restructuring the budget of the district in the spring when the financial structures funding public education were collapsing. She garnered support and implemented a significantly trimmed budget in the last months of the 2019-2020 school year. Then, when the state drastically changed the funding through CARE Act funds, she and her team realigned the budget again and carried through on the promise to reinstate the concessions to the district employees as promised.
• Verleger’s leadership in finalizing the multi-year bond supported construction projects across the district within budget and with
a significant positive educational impact for the students and staff.
For the 2021 district goals, they will be continued from last year’s goal as many were delayed due to the pandemic. This includes:
Continue to implement the 2020-2025 strategic plan for Mt. Pleasant Public Schools.all students at Mt. Pleasant Public Schools will be college or career ready, as determined by the Michigan Department of Education, in mathematics, sciences, social studies, reading, and writing.continue to increase the percentage of students who meet their academic growth targets above 81%.Update
and implement five-year plans for the following district areas: Technology, Facilities, and a new focus: Marketing and Promotion.
“The Board would like to recognize the entire Mt. Pleasant Public Schools’ education team,” the Board press release said. “We know that these achievements could not have happened if not for the hard and dedicated work of this amazing team of administrators, teachers, support staff, bus drivers, and maintenance employees, and most importantly, the students.”