Danvers Superintendent Dan Bauer is getting high marks in his first year

DANVERS, MA — First-year Danvers Superintendent Dan Bauer received high praise and high marks in several categories for his 2023-2024 performance during the School Committee’s annual evaluation presented Monday night.

School Committee members acknowledged that Bauer took over at a divisive time for the district in the wake of a highly publicized hockey hazing scandal, as well as several incidents of hate and bias within the school and community in the months leading up to it. his appointment last spring.

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But he was praised for the way he helped navigate the schools to a more inclusive and tolerant place, as well as his communication skills, community involvement and his role in recently successfully negotiating a new contract with the teachers’ union.

He received an overall grade of “competent” – which is the second highest class level on the scale – with his family and community involvement skills rated as “exemplary”.

“Dan’s effort and work this year as superintendent has been very strong,” School Committee President Gabe Lopes said in the evaluation summary. “He has made strides in improving the district by focusing on a safe and supportive learning environment. The district rolled out new learning materials at the elementary level and initiated hiring efforts to make the staff more representative of the school population.

“Dan has taken over at a difficult time for our district. His presence in schools, participation in events and use of social media have had a positive impact on the community, helping to rebuild our reputation.”

School Committee member Eric Crane was among those who credited Bauer with helping to successfully negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement for teachers at a time when many surrounding communities are facing discussions difficult on contracts before the summer expiry date.

“People don’t necessarily understand the challenges of negotiations,” Crane said. “You negotiated — not alone, but still — with four different bargaining units and concluded all of them with fair, reasonable and affordable contracts. A lot of help came from different places, but it helped you really embrace and put together a collaborative scheme. to allow many of us to help.

“The results speak for themselves. It’s a tremendous accomplishment for a superintendent, especially in your first year. You should be very pleased and proud of your performance…I think we’re really pleased. Nothing’s perfect, but it’s nothing negative to say about the work you did.”

Bauer said the mission now is to build on the foundation that was created in his first year.

“Our goal is to be better in Year 2 than we were in Year 1,” he said. “Knowing that this job is too big to do alone and there are certainly so many people who have given so much and continue to give so much.

“We can’t sit on our laurels and say, ‘It’s great,’ because there’s a lot of work to do. There are a lot of great things that are in place. But we have to keep moving forward. . .. We have to look forward to getting better.”

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)