AMHERST — Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools Superintendent Dr. E. Xiomara Herman took time during the Amherst School Committee’s Aug. 20 meeting to provide a few updates around the district as the new school year is right around the corner.
Herman said she has pinpointed three top priorities to take care of during the new school year’s first quarter, most notably being an audit of the district’s budget office and process. She also would like to audit the human resources office and their process and operations.
Herman said she has already started to identify quotes for auditors to come in and look at the district’s internal audit and processes. When asked to explain further her plans for these audits by committee member Jennifer Shiao, Herman explained she hopes an audit can look closer into the district’s budgeting process and expose areas where the district can be more efficient.
“[I’d like the auditors] to come in and kind of strip back on the internal controls that we’re missing. What do we need to do? We need a clear, neutral, expert eye to come in and say, ‘here are some suggestions for improving this process. Here are some things that need to be done differently,” Herman explained.
Herman added she wanted the same purpose served in an audit of the district’s human resources office. The third priority mentioned by Herman is to formalize and homing in the district’s mental health and behavioral services division.
Overall, Herman is driving these efforts to create a more efficient district across the board.
“It’s critical because as we’re trying to replace individuals, fill positions, we’re also in the middle of a budget crunch and I don’t want to be replacing individuals when we have some individuals who are underutilized, and we could shift the work to them in a division. Or we may need to recreate, based on our current needs and current situation, how divisions have been operating prior,” Herman said. “The work isn’t where it should be in a lot of what I’ve observed so far and in a lot of what I’ve interacted with so far.”
Herman added, “So it’s really looking at, who do we have, what are we doing? And going through and saying, ‘how do we streamline our organization so that we can support our students?’”
Another update Herman had was the district plans on rolling out a new anti-bullying platform that helps raise accountability and transparency across the district. Herman explained the district will begin implementing BRIM, an anti-bullying software, in the new school year as an effort to better respond to claims and concerns of bullying in the district.
“The previous platform just wasn’t user friendly or district friendly,” Herman said. “[BRIM] will be fully rolled out for the start of the school year to be fully transparent. There was a test run over the weekend and I was like, ‘wait a minute school hasn’t started yet and I’m getting a bullying report already.’ So, it’s triggering not just the respective school, but the district leads as well that a bullying report has been filed. We’re again promoting better accountability throughout the district.”
BRIM pairs a smart, cloud-based incident management panel with mobile reporting apps for students, parents and teachers. BRIM stands for Bullying Reduction Intervention and Monitoring. More information will be provided to families and students with the new school year’s start.
Herman was also happy to report the district’s backpack giveaway was successful and thanked the Amherst Police Department for their assistance. She added they were able to give out over 700 backpacks across all three districts.
“Amherst has a larger amount of elementary school students, so it was great to engage with the families and students and to see my team doing such,” Herman said.
With the new school year quickly approaching, Herman added the same day of the meeting was new educator orientation for the district. She added it was important to be supportive of all staff but also the new educators as they adjust to their new district.
“It was wonderful welcoming everyone to the greatest profession that there is, and just again charging them with knowing that they’re not in this alone, but more so that we’re in this together to shift and impact the lives of children in all three districts,” Herman said.
