School Opens For New Branford Superintendent

Hamlet M. Hernandez, Branford’s new schools chief, launched his first school year yesterday by visiting all five district schools and a half-dozen classes. He played a game with first graders and reported that ​“the buzz and the energy” of opening day was high. 

“One youngster came up to me and Mary Peraro [the assistant superintendent] and said, ​‘Thank you.’ And I said the best way to thank us is to do your very best.”

Hernandez has been a busy man since he formally took office two and half weeks ago. Even before he arrived, he met informally with Branford’s top administrative staff, the principals and assistant principals, and others top officials at the town’s three elementary schools, one intermediate school and the high school. 

He said he believes in building consensus, seeking collaboration and fostering strong relationships. This approach, he said, enables teachers and supervisors to take the kinds of risk that help them to grow professionally.

Hernandez, who was the assistant superintendent for the Hamden school district before being tapped for the top post in Branford, has developed a set of ideas on how best to involve the school system’s constituents: parents, teachers, administrators and students. He succeeds Dr. Kathleen Halligan, whose style was more reserved. 

We asked him to elaborate on the differences in leadership styles between himself and Dr. Halligan. He did so as part of a wide-ranging discussion with members of the media. Indeed Hernandez had asked to meet us (the first indication of a new style). He later invited Frank Carrano, Board of Education chair, to join him.

Hernandez said he had never worked for Dr. Halligan so he could not describe her leadership style. He said she had left the district ​“in very good shape. I thank her for that. I will acknowledge there have been some controversial things in the paper; no different than Hamden. As we come out of these things, it is good to know we are still focused on children.”

In his view consensus and collaboration are two concepts that create long-lasting relationships, ​“which truly empowers individuals to take risks, professional risks. So that they grow professionally.”

“I like to be visible; I like to lead by example.that is probably in my DNA from my other life,” a reference to his time in the military. ​“That’s my style. And I know that there are many, many different styles from a systems theory. I have had success with that. That is not to say that I haven’t had challenges and failures, but I also like to think that I am reflective. And I would like the staff to become reflective. If you reflect, you grow.”

There is no doubt that he will use his consensus approach when it comes to negotiating the next teachers’ contract, which now enters its third and final year. It was born during great economic stress and its implementation – without givebacks or getting the union to revisit the contract for cuts – created turmoil for many in the school system.

Hernandez is familiar with that situation because it also happened in Hamden.

“I can tell you that two years ago in Hamden we sent notices to teachers, a significant amount, 36 of them and it created incredible turmoil and disruption. In the past year, we were able to successfully reopen the contract to preserve teaching positions. So I think when stakeholders come together to find common solutions there is a win-win. It took months and months of work getting the data .But we did not lay off a single teacher; we did not close a single school in Hamden.”

Click here to read about the 80 teachers Branford sought to layoff in 2009. Click here to read about its ramifications. Click here to see how the Branford Education Association responded. The concessions did not happen. Click here to see how the Board’s chair reacted.

Hernandez said he absolutely believes in engaging the unions and intends to do so as negotiations for the next contract begin this fall. They will take about a year to conclude.

Asked by the Eagle if he had started thinking about the budget, he replied: ​“pretty much every day.”

He noted the obvious fixed costs: transportation, utilities, contracts, salaries. He said he will study what is not working and what it. ​“Analysis is continuous,” he added.

The Board of Education develops an incremental budget each year, using the previous budget as a base. It does not use a zero-based budget system that starts from zero and examines the entire budget, not just the proposed increases. One question is whether, as a new superintendent, Hernandez will examine the budget from a zero-based perspective.

Hernandez stressed in his conversation that listening is part of his philosophy.

He even created an acronym, – LOAD –. It begins with listening as the first step in his decision making. ​“I Listen, I Observe, I Assess and after I have done those three, I make a Decision.”

Hernandez, who began his first day in Branford on Aug. 16, said ​“there is a tremendous amount of active listening that is happening or should be happening” when a new leader enters a school district.

One of the more controversial programs in the elementary schools centers on Investigations Math. And while Hernandez said he will keep the program, he drew the distinction between a program and a curriculum.

“First of all Investigations is a conceptually based mathematics program. It is not the curriculum. It is a program used to deliver the curriculum. I would certainly continue to encourage the administrative team as well as the teachers to use those other materials that they feel supplement that program to teach the curriculum. And I really want to make that distinction. Programs are not curriculum. Programs are programs.” 

He said he would not rely on Investigations alone and he noted, ​“I have yet to see it in action, though Hamden had parts of it.”
​“What parts of it?” the Branford Eagle asked. 

“Hamden had it in grades three and four. But we did not embrace the program wholeheartedly. We empowered teachers to use a variety of materials, to include pieces of different programs. That is how we approached it.”

In just a few weeks, Hernandez appears to be zeroing in on one key issue, a sense among some parents that it is difficult to have topics put on the agenda and sometimes even be heard on issues. Hernandez said he wants more parents to attend meetings and he wants to find ways to engage them.

Carrano said, ​“It is an issue we are discussing right now.” 

Meanwhile, the kids arrived for Day 1. Hernandez said it all went very well. Principals all over the district greeted students. At Mary T. Murphy Elementary School, Adrianna Barretta and Principal Anthony Buono said hello.

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