MPUSD Marilyn Shepherd wins yet another award

but some parents and teachers in the district are not celebrating.

Shepherd received the "Women in School Leadership" award from the American Association of School Administrators last week in Virginia, besting twenty other candidates in the mix. In its announcement, the Association says Shepherd "is known as a risk-taker and lauded for her systematic approach to improving the quality of teaching and her ability to implement large-scale change."

MPUSD trustees congratulated Shepherd at the regular board meeting Monday. Others were quick to dismiss the award, saying the Shepherd described for the honor does not match the reality of the Shepherd they know.

"Is this really the superintendent of MPUSD? Was anyone you know asked for their input or opinion? Do you have any idea who has pushed all of these nominations?" writes one of her critics in an email blast to the MPUSD community. "Our friends and business associates have an idea, and think that whoever it is has not had any real facetime with MPUSD employees at the school sites. They clearly are not representing our perceptions. Are we, along with our friends, the only ones who feel that the school board and the superintendent's inner circle perceptions are complete off track? ... The only thing systematic that we can detect is her ability to get people (?) to help her win awards."

At Monday night's meeting, a coalition of parents and teachers presented their demands to the district, the result of three community meetings and long hours powwowing. It'd be interesting to see if the district can meet any of their demands -- they're largely based on hiring more teachers. But Trustee Bettye Lusk expressed a desire to start a dialogue with this group and see if they can bridge their differences.