Down River

By John Lipez

Summer Musings:
What’s the most difficult job in Clinton County, do you think?

How about superintendent of schools in the Keystone Central School District? A position requiring its occupant to answer to and attempt to placate the multiple constituencies of students, parents, staff and school board.

Throw in fending off the misguided missives from the clandestine watchdog clan and the superintendent job is a challenging one, no matter the occupant at any point in time.

Having written that, what’s your reaction to the July 1 announcement from KCSD superintendent Jacquelyn Martin that she’ll be stepping down in mid-winter when her first and only four-year contract comes to an end?

That retirement word came as a surprise to many in the community and the district should appreciate her seven months’ heads-up, giving the school board just over half a year to find a replacement.

So how has she done? Dr. Martin in the email she circulated relative to her resignation offered her assessment: “Together, we have achieved so many things over the past several years.” She wrote that the district is strong financially, that instructional improvement initiative and programs “are solidly articulated” and noted completed capital projects and those planned for the future “reflect the importance of our commitment to the best education experiences for our students.”

Down River solicited opinions from several of the district constituencies for an evaluation. From the teaching ranks, one said that her greatest accomplishment was navigating the district through the COVID pandemic including reliance on remote learning which had not been utilized to such an extent until March of 2020.

From the school board, Renovo area representative Butch Knauff didn’t hesitate to speak glowingly and on the record: “I think the district is in a better position both financially and academically than prior to Dr. Martin’s hiring. She has been a very good fit for the district. She has taken the district into national prominence, when she and the district administration present at national conferences it makes us all look good. It will be very difficult to find someone with her knowledge, experience and that cares as much about Keystone Central.”

Another community member who pays attention to these things offered, “I thought she did a good job, got some good people hired; can’t please everyone.”

Which leads to:
For all the positive feedback that has been heard since the superintendent’s retirement plans came out, Down River would be remiss, in the interests of fairness/equal time, if it didn’t pass along the goodbye from Clinton County Watchdog administrator Michele Whitney posted shortly after the superintendent revealed her retirement intentions. Ms. Whitney wrote, “The board should have canned her before she could retire!”

If Down River would offer a grade, it would be incomplete; incomplete only because the pandemic knocked the props out from under Keystone Central as the district was just beginning a full-scale effort to improve its lagging academic test scores. COVID made that effort in the local school district and all across the country a daunting challenge. KCSD had to recalibrate its academic offerings to go all online instruction for a considerable spell, that challenge only magnified by the difficulty of getting online service into the far reaches of the geographically mammoth district.

We’ve all seen the stories of how the pandemic negatively affected test scores all across the country; Keystone Central likewise was not immune from the COVID impact.

Beyond the pandemic challenge, the school district has made significant steps forward over the last few years. These include well planned capital improvements, security upgrades, a greater emphasis on school pride and behavior, plus an ever-expanding CTC program. Superintendent Martin has always been and continues to be a strong proponent for public education and that counts for a lot, given that public education is under constant attack from the shrill right wing in the state legislature.

Add it all up and Jacquelyn Martin, Sugar Valley Class of 1986, returned home and has given her home school district her best effort; the district is in much better shape than when she arrived and for that the community should say thank you.