The Lowell Sun Editorial 03/03/2007

By now, Dracut residents should know how Superintendent Elaine Espindle stacks up in the eyes of the elected School Committee. They should also know whether the school board plans to renegotiate a new contract with Espindle, whose contract expires in 2008.

Instead, the school board has failed to meet its own deadline to complete Espindle’s evaluation in a timely manner. What should have been done Monday, on a public stage, is now being delayed for another month.

The board is making excuses that it wants to get together with Espindle first, in private, to go over the evaluation. It’s a courtesy, says the chairman, Ron Mercier Jr.

How about being courteous to the public?

Last year, the board didn’t even complete a performance evaluation on Espindle, even though an annual review is a stated board requirement.

Espindle hasn’t had a comprehensive review since 2005, when she scored an overall 7.6 rating out of a possible perfect 10.

The school board, it seems, is underperforming. It’s not living up to its stated goals and is keeping school parents and the public in the dark. A superintendent’s evaluation is an important task. How else are residents to determine if the superintendent is being held accountable?

Espindle, meanwhile, has done her assigned duties. She’s never failed to submit a budget proposal on time and never failed to deliver key information — MCAS test scores, class sizes, notices — on the School Department’s Web site.

Rumors abound in Dracut that the politically minded school board does not want to renew Espindle’s contract. Whether that is true or not, board members should have the courage to put the rumors to rest, yet all refuse to answer the question put to them by The Sun. We can only speculate as to their reticence: A town election is scheduled in May. Certain members are waiting to see the results before they act on Espindle’s contract. That’s why they’re not pressing for a review, or at least trying to keep it low-profile. If Espindle comes through with flying colors — and she should — it would be hypocritical of the board to not begin negotiating a new contract.

The board would rather keep the public guessing until after the election, rather than make Espindle’s evaluation and contract a primary issue.

Sadly, political interests are being put ahead of public interests in Dracut. So what else is new?